Adding A New Bookish Goal/Resolution…In March!

March 22, 2013 by · 34 Comments

So this week I talked about, in my latest installment of Before & After,  how I used to be an avid rereader and how now that I’m a blogger I really don’t do it anymore. I LOVED all your comments and different habits, I have to say, and some of you cheered me on after I mentioned that I should have added made this one of my bookish resolutions for the year but that I will try to reread 5 books for the rest of this year.

I decided that I needed to be intentional about it and write it out — for accountability and for myself. After all, I’ve completed my resolution of starting a book club and sort of completed my resolution of culling my books (I still have a little bit more culling to do). So, I’ve done some thinking and here are the 5 books I plan on rereading this year:

  • Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: I LOVED this book and I’ve been waiting not so patiently for Isla and the Happily Ever After so I figured it would be fun to reread this one because I adored it — despite my adversity to it at first because of the cover.
  • On The Road by Jack Kerouac: This was my favorite novel through high school and college but I haven’t reread it since then. I think I need to reread it to see if it still has a place on the favorites shelf.
  • If I Stay/Where She Went: Ok, so technically this will be SIX books because I’m counting this as one for the sake of my list but I’m really craving some Gayle Forman after reading Just One Day. I actually want to reread Just One Day, even though I just read it in November, but I just want to read it over and over again because I loved it so much.
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry: This was my favorite book as a child and I mentioned in my post about re-reading that I read it probably 10-15 times. I haven’t read it in a LONG time and I never knew it was part of a series so perhaps I will pick those up now.
  • The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: This was my favorite book in high school and watching it come to life on the big screen was quite incredible. I finally got around to watching it recently and it was definitively THE BEST BOOK TO MOVE ADAPTATION I HAVE EVER SEEN. I  wept, I laughed and remembered why this book was so important to me and still IS so important to me even as an adult. Bonus points for the fact that Will, who has very different movie tastes than I, enjoyed it along with me. I cannot wait to reread this one!

I will say that I’m nervous to reread because what if I don’t LOVE it the way I used to? I mean, I think that’s ok to have a favorite in a different stage of life but I want to remember it as such rather than reading it now and thinking it doesn’t measure up to what I thought it was. I am hoping this doesn’t happen to me. Typically though I find I label FAVORITES as books that really had a profound impact on me and I think they will still speak to me. Some of my favorites are purely based on how FUN they were to read and how much I loved them but most resonated with me in some way.

What books have you re-read this year? Do you PLAN on rereading any this year? Have you read any of the books on my reread list? Have you ever reread a book

Filed Under: discussion Tagged With: , , , ,

A Moment Of Truth On The Blogging Front

March 17, 2013 by · 86 Comments

I’m sitting here today and honestly the last thing I want to do is blog.

Yep. It’s not that I’m in a blogging slump and need help getting out. I actually have tons of post ideas and am really excited about them. I have reviews I’m itching to write for books. I’m not in a reading slump. Not at all. I’m in the mood to read a lot.

So what is it then?

It’s mostly a matter of seeing a whole lot of things (not one thing specifically) about how bloggers should blog, seeing snarky comments about things bloggers do, comments that make people feel BAD about what they are doing, etc. It’s not at all that I PERSONALLY feel like I need to listen to these things. Because I don’t. I won’t. I roll my eyes and move on because you all know I’ve been doing my own thing for a long time. I don’t really care what the blogosphere is trending towards — if I don’t like it/enjoy it/feel right about it then I’m not going to do it. It has to feel right for me because I spend my free time doing this — I’m not getting paid a salary here and who wants to spend their free time doing something that they don’t enjoy? I’ve only got limited amounts of time in this life.

It’s just this whole draining energy I’m feeling from all of that (and other dramas).  That’s not to say the blogsosphere is all negative/draining as a whole — quite the opposite because I have some of the most hilarious or inspiring conversations with you all. There are some amazingly positive people who there who make me happy to know them. It’s just more of this feeling of, “WHEN DID THIS ALL BECOME SO SERIOUS?” When did we decide there was a right or wrong way to talk about books that we read? When did we care so much about if someone writes a short review or a long review or reviews only books they like or reviews only new releases? If someone posts every day or if they don’t? If someone writes a review in a way that best expresses themselves whether it be a conversational review talking about what they liked (even if that is KISSING) or a completely literary analysis?

WHY SO SERIOUS, PEOPLE? I mean, for me, blogging is not a life or death matter. I’m not going to cry in my beer over it. Ok, I did cry when I was moving to WordPress because of stress and I do rant privately to close friends — but in general I’m not going to get my panties all in a bunch about what other people are doing.  And HEY — diversity is awesome. That’s the awesome thing about the blogosphere — if you want recommendations based on literary merit there are blogs out there that write analytical reviews. If you want something more conversation and based on emotional responses, there are those. There are hybrids of that. There is a blog out there for everyone. I promise! I read blogs who do it all differently and they all are equally as fab.  Not every blog has to cater to your personally preferences — I don’t read the ones that don’t do it for me.

I mean I take seriously promoting literacy in many ways, recommending books and the posts I’m putting out every day. I put pride into all I do and really care deeply about this blog and community but this is not my job. I don’t take myself as a blogger too seriously or feel like this blog is the end all be all of my life. I created my blogging manifesto early on and it has helped me to maintain focus with this blog and addresses a lot of these things. I love this blog but this is not my life. I’d imagine that’s the truth for a lot of you. This blog is a space where I am free to be me and talk about something I’m very passionate about. If publishers, readers and other bloggers enjoy what I’m doing…YAY! But I refuse to ever make this a space where I’m not doing what I want just because other people say it’s “wrong.”

I’m always doing it right because I define what is right for my blog (minus you know like plagiarism or things like that. Also “doing it right” doesn’t mean that people are going to like it). And you define what is right for your blog so when someone tells you that your GIF-filled review is WRONG because it isn’t SERIOUS enough you can brush your shoulder off because you know that being serious isn’t in your agenda but rather telling all your feels via GIFs and a conversational tone. Mission accomplished, friend. (And vice versa — someone says your reviews are stuffy? You know that you are providing your thoughts in the way that work best for you and that may be on a more scholarly level).

I know what I want for my blog and when I don’t know I try it out and see if works for me. I write my reviews and sometimes they end up short and sometimes they end up long. I write where my heart takes me. I don’t do blog tours a lot and have to feel passionate about what I’m promoting — even if it is an opportunity from a major publisher. But Im’ so glad that other bloggers do them because they work well with what they want to do with their blog. You won’t see me writing scholarly reviews that are super analytical. I wasn’t an English major and trying to force myself to write that way (I tried early on) didn’t work for me and felt like I was back in school. I find that I like to write conversationally as if I was sitting down with a friend and talk about what stood out to me most in my likes/dislikes. I don’t use many gifs but I find them hilarious in other reviews. I stink at finding THE RIGHT ONE. But I totally read blogs that are more analytical in nature and ones that use GIFS amazingly. I’m so thankful for them all. I probably won’t post every day. I might take off for a  week and not have posts pre-scheduled. I’ve just found in my almost three years of blogging the things that work for me and my blog and I have never felt happier — even if my blog isn’t doing the trendy thing or even if some people don’t like it. I don’t expect them all to.  I’d never want anyone to be made to feel bad about what works for them just because other people don’t like it. And I’m so, so sorry if I’ve ever made a comment that has made anyone else feel differently about their blog — their little corner of the internet.

So, get down with your bad self. Feel free to change up what you do and to tweak it through the years. Remember that you probably started your blog to talk about books and connect with other book readers…and you are doing it right, no matter how you go about it, if that’s what your blog is doing. Have fun, know what you want for your blog and remember there isn’t one way to do anything. And when someone makes you feel bad about what you are doing, remember that you’ve got readers who clearly enjoy what you do and that’s a win in my book. Just like with reading, we bring our own life experiences and interests and what not into our blogs and that’s what makes it so awesome.

As for me and my slump? I’m going to do what I do in other facets of my life when I’m feeling negative energy — refocus, cut out the proble, focus on the good.  I’m probably going to take a little time away from social media this week/cull the blogs who frequently post things that exude the things that are bringing on this slump for me. I’ve been too surrounded by it lately and it’s clouding my feelings toward blogging in general. I’m going to read and hopefully respond to comments and visit the blogs that make me smile. Hopefully I’ll feel like blogging soon with focusing on all the positive things about my blogging life. You guys and your lively discussions here on my blog always do the trick.

Filed Under: about me, personal Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Recap of My Life in 2012 — aka the year with the most life changes!

December 30, 2012 by · 26 Comments

Gosh, 2012  was  simultaneously one of the best years and one of the worst  and I feel the need to debrief here in this space if you’ll allow me. Lots of  happymaking  things happened but I just really struggled — with my job and then Will losing his, figuring out what I want to do with my life, with longtime friendships floundering and just altogether feeling like I’m not exactly happy but not sure why. Lots of smiles, lots  of tears, lots of laughs, lots of NEWNESS in my life….2012 was most  certainly a memorable year. Got to take the good with the bad, yes? And with some of those BAD things I do see hope for the future. I am having high hopes for  2013.  So let’s just recap my life in 2012:

Let’s preface this with that most of my life revolved around wedding planning this year!

2012 started off marvelously! In JANUARY my beautiful niece, Genevieve Grace, was born and that has changed my life in the most wonderful way. I’ve loved watching her grow and  learn and she’s just such a blessing and has brought my sister and I closer together.

Genevieve

 

In FEBRUARY I got  to see the lovely April from Good Books & Good Wine when she roadtripped to come to the Breathless Reads tour that was here in Philly. Great authors and a WONDERFUL time!
breathless-reads-tour

In MARCH my company moved buildings and so my life was consumed with moving, moving, moving and then wedding planning. Nothing of note.

In APRIL I got to meet my blogging bff JEN from Makeshift Bookmark FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME and hang out with my other besties again — Anna and Tara — in Chicago for RT Con. This was honestly the most fun weekend I had all year and one of my best memories..and that’s saying something considering HUGE life changes happened!

 

RT-CON

MAY was definitely busy with wedding planning but we had a great Memorial Day with new friends! May also signaled the crazy in my life — mostly everyone at my company got laid off.

JUNE started off amazingly! I couldn’t get off the whole week for BEA but I went for a few days  to go to some publishing parties & Book Blogger Con. It was so amazing to be reunited with great friends! It was the type of few days I really needed in the midst of crazy wedding planning. The rest of  June was crazy awesome — we got our apartment that’s closer to the city & then I had my bridal shower.BEA-bloggersPicMonkey Collage

JULY brought CRAZY wedding planning stress (I mean, AHHH ONE MONTH), a nice family reunion & CrabFeast and my bachelorette party!PicMonkey Collage3

And then AUGUST rolled around in all it’s glory and I LOST MY JOB a week before the wedding (knew it was coming), I got stressed induced shingles that week BUT I GOT MARRIED TO MY BEST FRIEND AND LOVE OF MY LIFE after dating for 5.5 years! We then went and honeymooned in Mexico!

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SEPTEMBER brought meeting JOHN GREEN with Alexa and a ridiculously fun trip to DC for the National Book Fest!

National-Book-Fest-John-GreenOCTOBER brought all things FALL — we did pumpkin patches and pumpkin cookies and just all things Fall! I celebrated my 27th birthday and dun dun dun…Will got laid off  (but got hired back  within a month). Luckily the weather was beautiful so we did some hiking on our unemployed days together.

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NOVEMBER brought our first Thanksgiving, family and lots of  eating.  I fell off the working out bandwagon.WOMP WOMP.

And DECEMBER brought our first Christmas, new traditions, and an end  to a year that had  really life-changing things happen. It sure had some real struggles, sleepless nights and days where all I could do was cry but I’m learning and growing and that’s really all that I can do.
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I’d say the word that best sums up 2012 would be CHANGE. And, despite the fact that some of it on the surface seems like bad change, I’ve always personally welcomed change into my life because it means new experiences and that I’m not staying the same. So as hard as I’ve tried to hold on to some things this year, I’m letting them go in 2013 and embracing moving FORWARD — with a new perspective, hopefully a new job and new friends.

Filed Under: about me, End Of Year Tagged With: ,

Best Of 2012: All Things Not Books!

December 27, 2012 by · 25 Comments

You’ve already gotten the run down of my highlights of 2012 in books through my End of Year Book Survey & my top ten books of 2012 so let’s do a rundown of my favorite NON-bookish things of the year! Shall we?

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You can see more of my monthly music choices in my Monthly Rewinds

Twelve Most Listened To Songs On My Ipod In 2012

Hey Ho – The Lumineers
Lost In My Mind — The Head & The Heart
The A-Team by Ed Sheeran
Concrete Wall by Zee Avi
Somebody I Used To Know/ Eyes Wide Open by Gotye
Skinny Love by Bon Iver (for like the 3rd year in a row I think — never gets old)
We Are Young by Fun (Most overplayed song but I still love it lol)
It’s Time by Imagine Dragons
Harbour Lights by A Silent Film
Either Way by Beta Radio
Atlas Hands by Benjamin Francis Leftwhich
How Do I Know by Here We Go Magic

Thirteen Most Listened To Artists/Bands In 2012

Florence  & the Machine
Grouplove
Fun
Gotye
Zee Avi
The Lumineers
Of Monsters & Men
Fleet Foxes (always)
Company of Thieves
The Head & The Heart
Imagine Dragons
Beach House
Wild Nothing

8 Favorite Albums That Came Out in 2012

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EPS I Loved: Churchill’s Change EP & Atlas Genius Through the Glass EP
Honorable Mentions: Neon Tree’s Picture Show, Imagine Dragon’s Night Vision, Passion Pit’s Gossamer

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New shows I started watching this year (some long overdue & some new!) in addition to the shows I’m already watching (Parenthood, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy etc.)

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Revenge: SO GOOD. Will and I devoured this one this year so we could catch up to the current season. I LOVE NOLAN. And I just love how kickass Emily is. And how the plot is so twisty and complicated and DRAMARAMA.

Revolution: This has been one that has grown on me but there are still things about it I don’t LOVE but I can’t drop it because it’s so addictive and I find myself getting sucked in! I am interested to see where it goes from here!

One Tree Hill: SO late on this band wagon but LITERALLY Will and I (on days when we weren’t doing wedding planning) BINGED this series. The earlier seasons where definitely WAYYY better but I still loved it! CHAD MICHAEL MURRAY!

The Walking Dead: Seriously, I would have never thought I would have liked this one much less be OBSESSED with it like I am. ZOMBIES! And I just care so much about some of these characters and the outcome. This show is incredible, brilliantly written & casted and they pull out crazy things like  four episodes in to a season that you would expect of a season finale or something.

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I am a serious Sephora addict and this year feel like I hit the jackpot in finding some of my all time favorite products! It’s always amazing when you find THAT product that you’ve always been looking for and this year was incredible for me. Bad for the wallet but my face and hair have never been better haha. All links go to Sephora because that’s where I bought them and can vouch for them being a good company to deal with and has an AMAZING return policy or I would have never spent the money on some of this stuff to try it.

best-makeup-products

1: Alterna Caviar shampoo & conditioner: I have used Pureology (still love them!) for the past 6 years and this is the first time I’ve liked a shampoo enough to take a break from Pureology and I LOVE this stuff. My hair has never felt so great. I also do things like put coconut oil in my hair at night, use split end serum from Pureology, Moroccan oil, heat protector, etc.
2. Boscia Luminizing Black Face Mask: I LOVE this mask but it’s somewhat messy and time consuming to peel off at first. I also make sure I put moisturizer on immediately after because it can dry your face out but I love how my face looks the next day.
3. Benefit Total Moisturizer: I have jumped from moisturizer to moisturizer my whole life. I find one and LIKE it but go through about 2 bottles and then switch to something new. Sometimes I’ll come back to them (Aveeno & Fresh Soy moisturizer) but this one is going to be a fave for a while I think. The ONLY con to it is that there is a scent but I don’t smell it much after it sits on my face for a few minutes.
4. Origins Checks and Balances face wash: Like with my moisturizer, I am constantly switching back and forth! I have a few go-to’s (Fresh soy face wash, Neutrogena naturals) but this is my new fave and it smells amazing. I have combo skin just for reference and I love how my face feels after this and I honestly feel like my face is so much more clear than it used to be!
5. Amazing Concealer: This is one time where the name describes the product PERFECTLY. It’s seriously AMAZING. Just ask Anna, Tara and Jen who have all used it and I believe two of them bought it! I have never found a concealer that works this well and blends so well. I will never buy anything else!
6. Makeup Forever HD foundation: This is the makeup I wore for my wedding and it is incredible. It’s especially great if you are getting pictures taken or making a video or something. I love how my face looks in our wedding pictures and it blends really great. It’s definitely VERY high coverage so it’s not my every day foundation (I have a Tarte one I love) but I love using this for special occasions or going out.
7. Naked 2 Palette: This is like a cult favorite but this was the first year I decided to actually try it and I AM IN LOVE. Pretty much I use it all the time and all my other eyeshadows rarely get used. If I travel light, I only bring this for eyeshadow because I know I can figure out something with it.

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I love when I discover new favorite foods or find new snacks to obsess over. These are my new FAVES!

These pumpkin spice cookies.: And they are lowfat! We took them to several dinner parties during the Fall and they were devoured!

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Trader Joe’s Roasted Gorgonzola Crackers: I have always loved cheese crackers but these blow Cheez-its out of the water!
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Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Powerberries: SO YUMMY! I can’t buy them much anymore because I eat them so quickly. I justify it by saying that they are healthy because there is fruit in them haha.
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Quinoa — 2012 was definitely the year of quinoa for me. I had never eaten it before!
Trop50 Farmstand Apple (we always have gotten the orange juice but the apple is AMAZING)
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Green Smoothie: They can look kind of gross but are quite tasty AND can be super healthy for you.
Greek yogurt — I thought I hated it but now I love it!

 

 

Tell me if you you listen to/watch/use/eat any of these!! Also, I’m so down for other recs if you think there is something I’d like!

Filed Under: Best Of, End Of Year Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ho Ho Ho…Or Something Like That!

December 24, 2012 by · 10 Comments

christmas-card

 

In years past I’ve gotten a bit personal on Christmas but this year I’m going to keep it rather brief.

Wishing you and yours a very wonderful holiday. I’ll be sporadic more than likely for the rest of the year but I wanted to take a few moments to tell you just how much I appreciate you guys and the fact you all support me being ME here in this space (even if I’m talking about my butt…and your butts too OBVIOUSLY). I’ve loved our conversations, your recommendations, our laughs, etc. etc. The amazing thing about books is how they interconnect us. Our reactions and thoughts from these books are little windows into each of us and I feel like I’ve learned a bit about you all to some degree. Because of that, I truly and honestly wish you a happy holiday and wish I could send books to all of you to show my gratitude for you all. Because, in addition to cookies and presents and candy canes, Christmas is about showing those you love how much you appreciate them and cherishing them! And you all have become this weird, crazy (sometimes dysfunctional — in the best possible way) family to me!

In the meantime, if you are looking for some books to read with all your gift cards to bookstores (hopefully Santa is good to you), check out my top ten books of 2012, my End of Year Survey for EVEN more 2012 faves and my ten favorite new-to-me authors of the year.

Filed Under: about me, Chirstmas Tagged With: ,

Today We’ll Be Talking About My Butt…Yes. My Butt.

December 13, 2012 by · 42 Comments

You all know I love (am insanely obsessed with) reading. And I love blogging. And I love have an addiction to Twitter. OBVIOUSLY I LOVE ALL OF THESE THINGS.

But from time to time I’ve really struggled (especially recently for some reason) with how much of the things I LOVE LOVE LOVE the most involve SITTING. I know this is a really strange post to write but let’s be honest..you know me…a post talking about my ass is probably not the most random post you’ll ever see.

Truly, lately, I’ve been struggling with not wanting to read or blog because I’m so darn sick of sitting to do these things. When I had a job before I got laid off, THAT required 8 hours of sitting with self imposed frequent breaks to make tea or go distract other people. So by the time it’s five o’clock  and I come home to read and blog — I’ve been sitting for FOREVER and my ass is ready to revolt. And then I’m going to sit some more? And more? And then I’ll go to bed and and lie down. I mean, I have other things that don’t require sitting (you know — that time I get off Pinterest to make a receipe) but the  two things I love doing most — reading & blogging — require an awfully lot of sitting. Some days it doesn’t bother me because I’d like nothing more than to snuggle up on the couch and read ALL DAY and just power through how bad my butt hurts. But other days I swear my butt and my legs are just going to get together and the next thing I know I’ll be frolicking around the apartment complex.

I know, as Americans (I’m an American..you may not be lol), we sit probably more than most people in the world (generalizing here) but sometimes it just GETS TO ME and then I have major reading slumps and don’t feel like blogging anymore (or just can’t sit down to comment on your blogs. Sorry. Sorry. I love you) because I think maybe I could find something better to do that doesn’t require sitting (though we all probably know it would end with me finding something else to do that requires sitting).

You all know that I’ve discovered that audiobooks HAVE helped me get more fit with my plan (though since Thanksgiving I’ve fallen off the wagon) but even with audiobooks in the mix while I work out or do household chores I STILL sometimes feel like not reading because I don’t feel like sitting. And I honestly…to add even more audiobooks into my day would be hard because I like reading with my eyes so much better and am wayyy faster than the narrator.

So in short, this ridiculously pointless post is a result of the fact that I sat down to write this post and my ass really hurt. So you get NOTHING of substance (ie: something that takes me longer than 10 minutes to write) from me today. NOTHING.


GIFSoup

 

What about you — do you often feel like you spend a lot of time sitting between reading and blogging? Do you ever feel really antsy about it like I do?  How do you balance all that SITTING with being mobile to still accomplish all of the reading and Interneting you do? And if I’m the only one who feels this way..we are going to pretend this post never happened. Let’s do that anyways. I just needed to express my frustrations!

Filed Under: discussion, most popular posts Tagged With: , ,

Things I’m Afraid To Tell You – A Book Blogger Confesses ALL!

August 31, 2012 by · 38 Comments

This post is inspired by this past Tuesday’s Top Ten Tuesday topic in which we all shared our most scandalous bookish confessions & the popular meme that was going around other blogging communities called Things I’m Afraid To Tell You. I saw it here.

I limited my list this Tuesday to more reading/habit based confessions. I left blogging out of it. But then I got to thinking, since I’m all about being open and honest and genuine on my blog, maybe I should do a little confessing of the book blogging variety. It’s easy for us to glance around at the community and see shiny, perfect blogs. It always looks like everyone has it together. Everyone is so confident. Maybe some of them do and are. I certainly don’t. You will see that by the end of this post.

Things I’m Afraid To Tell You About My Blog & Myself As A Blogger

 

1. I often feel inadequate as a book blogger because I don’t read nearly as many books as my fellow bloggers. It’s a combination of a busy life, being really easily distracted on the internet & sometimes loving to savor what I’m reading. I see book bloggers churn out so many book reviews and see their end of year reading stats and I feel like I’m a horrible book blogger. It’s just hard for me to juggle ALL of the other things I love to do with reading…and seriously my inability to get off the damn internet is also a problem. This always results in me feeling less well read then most bloggers. Conversations go like this:

Blogger: Have you read this book?
Me: No, I haven’t gotten around to that one.
Blogger: WHAT? Surely you’ve read that book. Everyone has. It’s like the holy grail of YA books. How could you have not? I bet you’ve read this book then…
Me: Nope. Haven’t read that author yet.
Blogger: Who are you?

2. I struggle to write reviews. I’m not really a great review writer to be honest. I could talk your ear off all day and tell you what I liked and disliked and all my favorite parts but I really struggle to put pen to paper and organize my thoughts in a coherent manner. I’m all over the place. That’s why most of my reviews tend to be more conversational than anything. Gotta go with what you know, yes? But I do envy some bloggers who write these incredible reviews.  I wish I could.

3. Sometimes I feel like an outsider sitting at the uncool kids table. I know I’ve got my blogging bffs and my amazing readers but sometimes I get all insecure (psh yep I thought that would go away when I got older) about if people like me and if they like my blog. I think it stems from the fact I’ve never really had girl friends before so I’m awkward and insecure about it all.  I think it’s probably pretty natural to want people to like you and appreciate what you do but sometimes, in my head & to Will & some very close blogging friends, I’m a big baby about it. Wahhh..nobody likes me. Wahhh nobody is talking to me. Wahh nobody appreciates or recognizes anything I do.  Wahhh everybody is all bffs and I want to be friends too. Wahh I feel excluded. Seriously, in these moments I am the stupidest person alive. lol. And then logic and sometimes a good kick in the pants from a blogging bff and I’m all back to normal — knowing that I have the support of a good chunk of the blogging community. I know that when my brain isn’t having a Toddlers And Tiara sized meltdown.

4. Related to numero uno on this list, I have stopped reading some chunkster-esque books on my TBR because I feel this insane pressure to pump out reviews. It’s also led me to not read some of the classics I’ve had on my shelves for so long. I am working on this because there is no reason why I shouldn’t read things I really want to read just because they might take me longer.

5. I am never ahead with the blog. The most posts I’ve ever had scheduled ahead of time is 2 or 3. That was a big deal. I know bloggers who are months ahead. I WISH. I am a world class procrastinator and most of the time I am furiously typing away before I go to bed to get a post done. I wish I was more organized but this is how I work apparently. Hey, it worked for me in college. I’d be writing a paper up until the last second and running out the door to hand it in and I’d still get the same A as the girl who had the paper done a week in advance. I don’t get myself.

6. I used to be really fanatical about having posts all the time but I’ve really relaxed in the past year or so. It probably had to do with some blog soul searching & reflecting  I did and creating my blogging manifesto but I do NOT care one bit if my blog goes silent for a week or two. The wedding was the ultimate test of that because my blog was prettyyy silent this summer. I used to feel panicky and my palms would sweat at the thought of not posting every day but now I feel so less stressed about it.

7. I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulder once I moved to WordPress and could no longer have the google friend connect widget anymore. While I never let follower counts be a main focus of my blog (I value content and community), I would secretly obsess over the count. I remember I was freaking out that I’d lose all 1,500 of my followers if I switched and about what publishers would think without my follower count. Then I did it and BOOM. I can’t even tell you how much I love not having it anymore. Seriously.

8. I don’t get swag. It just doesn’t appeal to me at all. Neither do a lot of the other things in the blogging community but I don’t want to name them for fear of making someone feel bad.  It’s just me. I’m really kind of simple in terms of my blog and don’t do a lot of the other things. Just a personal preference.

9. I am the worst giveaway host in the world because I take forever to send out giveaways. They always go out but it takes me SO LONG because I can never get to the post office at the times they are open and my Saturdays are never free really.

10. I don’t read a lot of book blogs anymore. I have my favorites in my reader, visit people who leave meaningful comments (when I’m on my game and commenting!) and I’ll click on links when something piques my interest but I have severely cut down on the amount of blogs I follow. I don’t have time to read all the book blogs out there. I wish I could so I could encourage everyone but it became too much. Also, I just found myself to feel like a lot of blogs clumped together in my mind and so I kept the ones that vividly stood out to me either because of their personality, their spot on recommendations, their tastes, etc. There are many reasons that keep me coming back.

11. Sometimes I get jealous. Not so much of because of what people get from publishers (I think I’m blessed that I get anything at all and I’m thankful when I do) but more so I feel like I am so uncreative and not as eloquent as everybody else. I’m jealous of those posts that are genius, that make you think, that make you laugh or that motivate change. It’s not a bitter jealousy but it’s jealousy nonetheless.

12. My blog email is overflowing. I am the worst at managing it. I have like a thousand emails in there. It’s my goal this fall to organize and delete.

13. Since I started this blog (and The Broke and the Bookish) at the end of June 2010 I have almost quit quite a few times. Sometimes it’s when I’m in one of those Blogger Pity Party modes for myself and I get all down on myself about my blog, sometimes it’s when I am super busy and blogging seems like a burden. Sometimes it’s when I feel uninspired or like nobody is listening. Other times it’s because I contemplate whether or not I WANT to read this much and spend so much time online when I could be out doing other things. I really do think about that sometimes. I LOVE reading but I have never read this compulsively or quickly before blogging. And then blogging about it takes even more time. I think about how every moment I’m blogging I’m giving up time to do other things…just like with anything else you spend your time doing. But when I’m RIGHT THERE on the edge of YES I AM QUITTING something pulls me back in. So, until the day I go over the I Quit Blogging Cliff, I’m here. I’ll quit when I’m done and clearly I’m not.

14. I don’t read every day. I try to read every day (and mostly succeed) but sometimes I go for days or even a week without picking up a book. Sometimes I just need to do something else. I get burnt out. Or sometimes I’m just too busy.

 

Annnd that’s all my blogging confessions for now. It was quite therapeutic. Not that you ever thought I had my crap together but if you did…the veil has been lifted! :P   Tell me..if you are a blogger…do you have any blogging confessions? If you aren’t a blogger, tell me some of your bookish confessions!

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