And that’s a wrap!!!! My first full year as a book blogger.
As a complete newbie to this whole blogging scene, I am pretty pleased with what I have achieved so far and I wanted to share with you the highs and lows of my bookish year.
The Highs:
The most high ‘high’ was reading 90 books…in just one year….approximately 9 times more than I have read any other year previously. That amounts to 29,894 pages.…That’s HUUUUGE!!!
Having hardly picked up a novel in years I discovered some amazing new to me authors – Taylor Jenkins Reid, Lisa Jewell, Jojo Moyes, ,….and revisited some all time faves – Alice Hoffman, Liane Moriarty, Mhairi McFarlane.
I read quite a few self-help books… I don’t know how much self-help I got but I’m hoping I got some…and a not small amount of non-fiction.
I discovered the world of audiobooks and developed a somewhat love/hate relationship with the whole narration thing; finding that the narration really can make or break a story. My absolute favourite audiobook was This is how it always is by Laurie Frankel.
I had a go at writing some bookish reviews, which I absolutely love doing but OMG am I sloooooooow. It takes me an absolute eternity to get my thoughts down on paper…or screen….the slowness thing might actually be a low….I would really like to getter better, faster and more confident in this area. I find I write better when I don’t like the book for whatever reason but that’s not the kind of book reviewer I want to be…I don’t want to focus purely on the negative. I foresee a fair bit of practise on this in 2020.
And last but not least…my favourite high……people actually started following my blog….87 people actually….I know by most bloggers standards that’s not many but to me that means the world. I’m so grateful to have you all here, reading my ramblings and sharing your love of books with me.
The Lows:
I read some shonky books over the year….some amazingly brilliant, entertaining and unputdownable books as well….but some really mind-numbingly boring, ridiculous, nonsense books as well. I even had my first DNF in the history of ever with The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer.
I got a little bit brought down by inability to keep up with other bloggers and bookstagrammers and put way too much pressure on myself for someone just starting out.
And once or twice I fell into such a reading slump I didn’t know if I’d be able to get myself out….luckily I did…and I’m still here reading and writing. Yay!!!
A mixed bag:
- First book of 2019: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Last book of 2019: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
- Favourite book: too many…..Daisy Jones & The Six, City of Girls, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Family Upstairs…..
- Least favourite book: (that I finished) The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
- Favourite author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Most read author: Taylor Jenkins Reid (not surprisingly with 4 books)
- Favourite audiobook: This is how it always is by Laurie Frankel
- Favourite narrator: Tom Hanks narrating The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- The longest book: It’s not me, it’s you by Mhairi McFarlane (544 pages)
- The shortest book: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown (138 pages)
- The most popular on Goodreads: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
- Highest rated on Goodreads: Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Favourite format: Paperback
- Favourite genre: Drama, Chick lit, Rom-com…who can choose?
There you have it….the highs and lows of my bookish year….How did your year end up?
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