ANNAFROMUNI

Overall Mood: replenished – May was a month to reset, to refill a cup that had long been left with dregs, and to take time away from the books and return to the purpose of it all. I was able to attend many literary events in May, contributing to my rediscovery of my reasons for turning to books, and the experience has been so humbling and inspirational. I have also been able to conduct many…

Overall mood: hopeful – As you may have noticed, I have been a little M.I.A. here on annafromuni over the last month. This isn’t a bad thing; if anything, it has been for a good reason. I have taken the time to do a system restart of my brain when it comes to annafromuni content, hence the weeks off posting, but in the process, I have been dipping my toes back into reading, as you have seen with…

I have written a bunch of posts about the struggles of social media and navigating life online for hobbies, work, and in general over the past weeks, and I think it is about time that I try to bring some sunshine to this area of discussion. Social media is a tool; it is not all bad, and if it is utilised in moderation and for good, it can be a wonderful thing to incorporate into our lives. So how…

I am still easing back into reading, but I feel that I couldn’t have found a more perfect book for the task than Hwang Boreum’s Every Day I Read. I love the cosy slice-of-life atmosphere and introspective findings of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, so I knew picking this up that the narrative style and voice would resonate with me. I just didn’t know just how much I would come to love this…

In my stunted attempts to re-engage with my fantasy manuscript and turn it into a dark adult fantasy manuscript, I found myself really struggling to connect with the words I wanted to write. It wasn’t quite writer’s block, but definitely adjacent, given my general creative burnout and difficulty picking up a book. After a lovely writing session with a friend, one which I spent making notes and…

Overall mood: restless – time seems to be slipping away from me, and with my inactive reading bug remaining in a slumber, I didn’t read anything in March. I am also posting this a day later than scheduled, so please forgive me for that. Life has been busy yet pretty stagnant for me, especially when it comes to creativity and my pursuit of the arts. Hopefully, with the Easter break on the horizon…

With the discussions over the last month, from bookish content creation and the increase of publications over the last decade, to creator burnout, authors doubling full-time jobs, and the general struggle for people to keep on top of the fast-moving train that is bookish social media, it all begs the question: can we change things to make them better? If bookish social media on platforms like…

Apologies for the late post, but yesterday was a busy day for me, and I wanted to give this discussion a serious moment and the time to really articulate some of the realities for authors. Going off my last discussion about creator burnout in the digital age, it is time to bring in the ones who are really doing the hard work here – the authors. The job of an author has shifted in recent decades…

We live in an era where digital content is at the heart of so many aspects of life. Online shopping is a go-to option for millions of people, so many businesses have online presences, especially smaller ones trying to get out there to their communities, and everyday life is something a lot of people share with followers on social media. We are all digital content creators to an extent, sharing…

In the race to keep on top of new publications and at the forefront of the book discourse, are we neglecting the backlists and older books? I briefly touched on this idea of authors’ backlists in my last discussion, and I want to build out this idea a little more. Because it isn’t just the backlists we are leaving to collect dust, it is the books we loved not that long ago. I mean seriously, when…

With the number of books that come out each month, let alone each year, it is no wonder we are struggling to keep on top of the new titles and authors debuting. This is even harder for someone like me who reads a variety of genres. Is this a matter of publishing competition? Why was it easier to read the books as they came out in the 2010s? Is it bad if I just wait it out and see which books…

The more I spend time on bookish social media, the more I find myself stumped by this question. On some days, the answer is one way, but then a few weeks, or even days later, it will change. It shouldn’t, but it does. Why is that? I don’t think I am alone in this conundrum; in fact, I know I am not. What is it about these spaces that makes us feel we need to give more of ourselves, or worse, all…

Another big book award lineup was announced at the end of February, and I am a little behind on mentioning it, but the Booker Prize for 2026 has an outstanding longlist of thirteen books. The main criteria for these books are that they are “long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026”, but…

The Ockhams 2026 finalists have been released, and I have been pleasantly surprised by the line-up. I think it is pretty safe to say that I have more books to read over the next month, as these sixteen shortlisted titles provide a great range of reading and voices to appreciate and experience. Let me remind you all of the premises and provide more information for the non-fiction titles. If you’re…

It has dawned on me over the last week or so that I have never taken time away from annafromuni since my first post in May 2023. While I can commend myself for sticking with it and continuing to read, review, and contribute to discussions about books and the literary world, I am realising that this also means I don’t have a mental break from reading books and writing reviews. It is time that I…