4 Year Blog Anniversary!

Wow! I posted my first review on this site back on November 15, 2010! I can’t believe it’s been four years since this blog started, and that I’ve kept with it! In the past, I’ve had a tendency to pick up a hobby and then drop it after losing interest, but reading is always something I’ve loved – and I suppose ‘talking’ on this site about books is something I’ve enjoyed for the past four years. If I didn’t love doing this so much, I certainly wouldn’t be doing it now so many years later.

And I’ve read so many amazing books that I might not have heard of had I not been blogging and interacting with other bloggers and readers.

I thought I’d note a few things I’ve learned over the four years that I’ve been keeping up this blog:

1. Scheduling reviews/posts makes my life so much easier

I used to write and then post a review as soon as I finished reading a book. That led to sporadic posting, with some weeks full of reviews and others with no content at all on the site. As someone who is only comfortable with routine and consistency, when I learned that I could schedule posts, it changed the way I worked on my reviews. Now I tend to write them out by hand when possible (trying to write them on my computer takes forever because I’m very easily distracted by the internet), then type them up on the weekend and schedule them. I try to have at least two reviews/week scheduled, and I’ve got reviews scheduled into mid-December at this point.

2. Blogging and writing about books is fun, but it’s made infinitely more so by connecting with other readers and bloggers, both online and in person

I’ve made some great friends here in Ottawa, people I wouldn’t have met were it not for blogging. I’ve also met fellow readers and bloggers online, and love chatting with them via Twitter and checking out their blogs. And of course I went to BEA this year in New York City and got to meet some of those people face to face! Talking about books I love (or don’t love) is so much fun when I’m talking with people who love to read as much as I do.

3. I’ve learned which kind of books appeal to me the most

I tend to stick mostly to YA, and have a major preference for supernatural/paranormal fiction (ghosts, demons, basically anything you’d find on an episode of Supernatural!), mystery/thrillers, and some contemporary (although I’m not a huge contemporary lover, there are some topics that I am drawn to). While I do try books out of my comfort zone now and then, this self-knowledge usually helps me to read books that I know I’m going to enjoy, and it also helps me steer clear of ones that I probably won’t love.

4. Life is too short to finish reading a book that I don’t enjoy

I used to struggle with DNF’ing. I couldn’t do it. If I started a book, I had to finish reading it, even if I hated it. Now, though, I’m able to put down a book that I’m not into. Life is way too short to waste my time reading something that I don’t like. I want to read as many books as I can and I want to love them all!

5. The library is awesome!

I cringe sometimes when I think about the money I’ve spent on books over my blogging life. It’s A LOT. And many of those books are still on my shelves, unread. But the library lets you take books home FOR FREE! And they have e-books, which means sometimes I don’t even have to leave my house to take out a library book! I don’t always read the books I borrow before they’re due back, but I’m saving so much money by borrowing from my local library. And I’m very proud to say that I’ve never had a late fee during this site’s life!

I hope by this time next year I’ve been to BEA again, read another 100 or so books, and had as much fun with this site as I have the past four years!