Long time no see!

I've gone from being a blogger to just a reviewer for another blog. It takes a lot of the stress away when you don't have to run a whole blog on your own, and just submitting reviews for another blog has been the extent of which I am able to supply the book blogging community. Because of this, my own blog has almost come to a complete stop, which weighs on  me as I feel responsible. I made this blog 2 years ago, and while I have come and gone as I pleased, I still don't like knowing I haven't posted anything here in months. Working on posts for meme's and reviews and just random rants is a lot of work, and never understood why bloggers referred to "working on blog posts," because it takes a lot of time and coordination and tweaking to get a blog post ready. 

I post reviews on the Page Turner's Blog, which you can check out here, and I'm still keeping up with the blogs I follow because that's the only way I can keep track of all the amazing and grab worthy books that are coming out (cover reveals and showcase sundays are the biggies).

It's not you, blog, it's me. I  know we'll make it through, but I just needed to explain myself and my need for space lately. 

Pitch Dark Dark Days - Harvard Coop Event

See that little weirdly shaped state in the North East? Yes, I was there for this event of Tour Leg 1 for the Pitch Dark Dark Days tour at the Harvard Coop bookstore on February 7th with:

Veronica Rossi, author of Under the Never Sky, Roar and Liv (e-novella), and Through the Ever Night

Tahereh Mafi, author of Shatter Me, Destroy Me (e-novella), and Unravel Me

Brodi Ashton, author of Everneath, Neverfall (e-novella), and Everbound

Cynthia Hand, author of Unearthly, Radiant (e-novella), Hallowed, and Boundless

Very long post with lots of photos...enter at your own risk!

My apologies

As all of us know, blogging can take up a lot of your time, whether it's scheduled or free time, it seems that sometimes it can fall between the cracks with reality takes center stage.

Over the Christmas holiday, I lost an uncle. I am not going to blame my lack of blogging on this, but it has definitely helped me put things into perspective more clearly since I found out. While it feels like we have forever to accomplish what we want on this earth, some of us get the short end of the stick and have to visit heaven earlier than scheduled.

I started blogging in January 2012, and it was slow going and interesting to experiment with learning what I could about the blogging community and how I could adapt it into other aspects of my life. At this moment, looking back on my blog posts, I'm happy with what I put out there. But each time I posted, I didn't feel particularly good about any of them. What I've come to learn and respect is that blogging is not fun or enjoyable when you stop having fun doing it. It sounds silly to say out loud, but it's true. The moment I start to stress about posting a review or doing a "Showcase Sunday," it loses that appeal and interest it held previously. I admire those bloggers who dedicate hours to their blogs, and they have so much to show for it as many of their blogs are fantastic and well organized and inviting.

But I didn't start blogging to acquire followers. I started blogging to meet new people and learn about books I might not have a chance to have heard of otherwise. Over the past year, I have infinitely more knowledge about the publishing business and what it takes for a book to actually make it to the bookstores. This is information I wouldn't have been able to garner with just sly curiosity. Many bloggers have experienced the publishing world first hand through author interviews, book signings, author tours, events and panels that are not readily available to someone of my location, on a small island, in the smallest state in the U.S.

I have made friends with bloggers and authors which I value above all else because sharing an interest in reading with people from all over the U.S. has broadened my chances of learning and honing a skill that can only be exercised with conversation and enthusiasm.

There's always a moment before the New Year when I tell myself that if I don't make a resolution, I won't be letting myself down if I fail. But this year, I was thinking about the stress of having more than one item on your plate and how that could be alleviated. I told myself that no matter how much or how little I blog, whether it's a short review, a long rambling one or a simple update on how my TBR pile is growing and not decreasing, I blog for me. I blog for the experience. I don't want to put a deadline or a due date on what I choose to spend my free time doing. Going through school and finishing college has taught me that finishing a project is the worst thing you could do to yourself. Everything is always a work in progress and I seem to forget that from time to time. It's okay if I post an extra long review of a book that really bothered me. I can go back and edit it, trim it, delete it all together.

I'm not in the spotlight. I don't depend on daily hits or followers or requesting books for early review. I make due with what I have and I try to enjoy it as much as possible. If my fingers hurt after posting, I know I've let a little bit of myself into the world, allowing it to begin its journey and start to form itself. Whether it happens quickly or over a long span of time, I'm okay with whatever it takes.

There will always be another book to read, but the experience will always stay with you.

Happy reading :)

Money vs. Time

The two questions I've had since I began writing this blog and following other reviewer blogs is how reviewers choose books to review and how they manage their time doing so. 


Almost all review blogs I've visited have a Review Policy which details the types of books they will review (whether it be genre, length, series, or personal interest), a loose timeline of when their review will be posted, and where they'll post it (their blog, Goodreads, Amazon, anywhere else the author/publisher requests). 


But when do you say no? Even if you can read a book every two days, when does it become a chore? Personally, I can't force myself to read. Some bloggers say they dedicated time each day to reading, and if they can do it and enjoy it, all the best to them. Two or three weeks will pass where I won't pick up a single book, and it doesn't phase me. I have to be in the right mood to read a book. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for contemporary and others it's dystopian or paranormal, but I never try to make myself read when I just don't want to. Although there are weeks where I can read a book a day, staying up through the night and falling asleep only when I've read the last page or there's a big enough plot pause that I can wait until the next day to continue. 


There are a few blogs I follow that buy, borrow and win books every week, yet their review turnover doesn't seem up to par with how many they take in. I think this is one of the issues that most review bloggers face, because it's easier to say yes than no. It makes you realize just how many novels are published and how valuable reviews and reviewers are, when one book can be chosen over another - it goes to show what people are willing to spend time on. Because that's what it comes down to. Yes, novels cost money for the publishers and the customers, but the time that people devote to reading and reviewing is what can push that novel up to recognition. 


Money translates into time. If I buy a novel for $18 the first week it's released and I sit down and devote 2-5 hours on a novel, I am more likely than not to tell someone about that book. And weirdly enough, the worse the novel, the more people talk about it. At least that's what I've noticed. Negative reviews get infinitely more attention because people are quick to defend, which can spiral out of control even more quickly because of the phenomenon that is the internet. People are drawn to drama whether they want to admit it or not.


Even bad publicity is good publicity, I've heard many times. Doesn't matter if the talk is bad, just as long as someone is talking about it. And to be honest, even if I hear or read a negative review, it won't deter me from reading it.