To All The Books I’ll Never Read | Revisiting An Old Post

If you’ve been following me for a long time, I had a post called “Why Have I Not I Read You Yet?”

I posted it way back in early January when I was just a tiny blogger, and, basically it was just an entire post about all the books on my TBR that I feel like everyone else in the world has read…except for me. Since then, I’ve culled my TBR down by asking if I’m REALLY ever going to read those books, so I’m going to revisit this old post by looking at some books that are still on my TBR and some that are no longer there anymore!

The Martian

Status:

Kept

Why:

I’ve started really getting into sci-fi lately, so I’m definitely keeping this one on the TBR! Also, I think this author is coming out with another book later this year, so, maybe I’ll have some incentive (probably not, but still).

Ready Player One

Status:

Kept

Why: 

Again, sci-fi! And because the concept is so intriguing, I can’t turn it down, especially since people keep comparing Marie Lu’s Warcross to this book! And the trailer for the movie looked absolutely gorgeous and badass, so I must read!

The Girl with All the Gifts

Status:

Kept

Why:

Basically, because I love zombies. And I’ve heard brilliant things about this book and haven’t been spoiled by it, so I definitely want to read it someday! And I want to watch the movie. I guess it’s not as basic as I thought it’d be.

Room

Status:

Removed

Why:

I think my excitement and interest in this one has worn down to the point where I’m not really intrigued to read it anymore, unfortunately. I might watch the movie though!

All the Light We Cannot See

Status:

Removed

Why:

I think I was brutally honest with myself and realized that I’m just not going to ever end up reading this one or being in the mood for it, so off the TBR it goes!

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

Status:

Kept

Why:

Because it sounds absolutely amazing, this one is definitely staying on my TBR! I will read end up reading it someday; I know it!

Fangirl

Status:

Kept

Why: 

I WILL FINISH THIS BOOK NO MATTER WHAT, DAMN IT.

I’ll Give You the Sun

Status:

Kept

Why: 

I’ve heard fantastic things about it and I’ve had it for so long that I feel like I at least need to give it a chance! This one’s a bit rocky though, and I might just take it off my TBR, but it’s here to stay for now!

On the Jellicoe Road

Status:

Removed

Why:

Pretty much all of my Goodreads friends loved this book and this author, but I feel like I mainly added it because of the hype and not because I was really intrigued by the premise, so I’m taking it off.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Status:

Kept

Why: 

This is another Fangirl situation where I’ve started the book but just haven’t finished it yet, so I think I’m going to attempt to finish it, especially since it’s so short.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Status:

Kept

Why:

Again, another unfinished book I’m going to try to complete one day. MIDDLE SCHOOL ME WAS NOT ON TOP OF READING LIKE I AM NOW, OKAY?

Poison Study

Status:

Removed

Why:

I was initially really interested in this one, but, first of all, the series has way too many books and spin-offs to catch up with, and since I can barely complete series now combined with the fact that I’ve heard meh reviews about the sequels, so I’m not going to waste my time.

The Name of the Wind

Status:

Removed

Why:

Yeah, I added a lot of fantasy books to my TBR because that used to be my main genre, but I’m not that obsessed with fantasy like I used to be, and these books are so long, that I know I’m just never getting to them.

American Gods

Status:

Kept

Why:

The premise sounds amazing, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the show, so I’m definitely going to read this someday (even though it’s a behemoth).

Nimona

Status:

Kept

Why:

It’s a pretty short graphic novel that I’ll probably get through fairly quickly that I’ve only heard good things about, so I have no reason to kick this one off my TBR!

Carry On

Status:

Kept

Why:

I freaking love Simon and Baz’s fanfiction in Fangirl, so I’m definitely reading a full-length book about them. SOMEDAY.

Fairest and Stars Above

Status:

One kept, one removed

Why: 

I’m keeping Fairest because I’m pretty sure it’s not a very long book, and I love reading villain backstories, but I’m removing Stars Above since I’m not one to really read novella bind-ups and I’ve lost interest in it.

The Host

Status:

Removed

Why:

I was originally motivated to read this because I watched the movie when it came out, but, again, my interest is gone, so I’m not going to keep it on the TBR.

The Lies of Locke Lamora

Status:

Removed

Why:

Again with the whole fantasy thing. It’s just not going to happen.

The Secret History and The Goldfinch

Status:

Kept

Why:

I WILL FINISH THESE UNFINISHED BOOKS.

The Death Cure

Status:

Removed

Why: 

I don’t think I’ll ever finish this series, and I’m okay with that! It’s not because I don’t like the series anymore or because I’ve heard meh things about the finale, but it’s been so long since I’ve read the first two books that I’ve just lost interest.

Game of Thrones

Status:

Removed

Why:

The books are too long, the sequels don’t seem to be coming anytime soon, and I don’t think I was ever that interested to read this one in the first place, so I’ve given up on this one. I think I’ll just watch the show.

Me Before You

Status:

Removed

Why: 

I was interested in this one originally because of the hype when the movie released, but I’m not a huge romance fan, so I’ll probably be bored while reading it.

The Assassin’s Blade

Status:

Kept

Why: 

Pretty sure this one’s obvious enough.

Made You Up

Status:

Kept

Why:

I’ve only heard amazing things about this book, and everyone talks about how mind-bending it is and such, and I love those types of books, so I’m definitely going to read it someday!

The Scorpio Races

Status:

Kept

Why:

Because it’s Maggie Stiefvater, of course.

Hopefully, you enjoyed reading that!

I’ve actually taken a lot more books off of my TBR besides these ones a couple months back, and it’s definitely been really good for me because for once, I looked at my TBR and thought, “This is manageable. I might be able to read all the books I want to!” And that’s always a more positive thing, right?

What do you think about my list? Do you think I’ve made the right choices (even though I’m not really going to add or remove any books at this point)? 

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15 Fictional Worlds I’d Like to Leap Into (Ft. Lots of Pictures of Books with Maps)

As bookworms, we all want to live in a fictional world.

Who wouldn’t want to get their letter to Hogwarts or have Rhysand appear out of nowhere and ask you if you want to come with him to the Night Court or go trekking in Cabeswater with the Gangsey or hang out in Camp Half-Blood with Percy Jackson and the gang? We all would, duh.

So, I’d thought it’d be nice to talk about some of my favorite fictional worlds that I’ve read about, and even talk about some  that I haven’t read about yet, but are on my TBR, and have cool maps, so I couldn’t resist them. Also, as the title says, this post will feature lots of pretty pictures of books with maps. So be prepared for book porn.

The Legend Trilogy

So, this is probably one of my favorite trilogies of ever, but it also has totally awesome dystopian world-building. This was published in the midst of The Hunger Games phenomenon where lots of people published their dystopian novels and they had really shoddy world-building. I was really happy to see such interesting world-building from Marie Lu, where America is split into The Republic of America and The Colonies of America, especially since we see the world from both sides – the rich and the poor.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy

As I’m sure you guys know, Laini Taylor has a way with words, and is fantastic at world-building. I mean, the world of Eretz is a horrifying one, but monsters! Magic! Angels! I sort of can’t resist? Not to mention that this is some of the best world-building of ever.

The Grisha Trilogy

I actually didn’t like this trilogy that much (and only read the first book and nothing else – oops), BUT, you can’t deny that the map is stunningly gorgeous. And I love how Bardugo’s world-building has a sort of European influence, specifically Russian. IT’S JUST ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS AND I CAN’T.

The Chaos Walking Trilogy

I actually haven’t even read this trilogy yet (I KNOW, I KNOW), but I was flipping through the books I owned to see if they had maps in them, and I stumbled upon this one! I’ve heard brilliant things about this series, and A Monster Calls was one of my favorite reads of last year, so I can’t wait to dive into this one! Also, the covers are freaking beautiful. Guilty as charged.

The Winner’s Trilogy

Again, another series I really don’t like, BUT I LOVE THE MAP. And the covers. It’s probably why I’m still even keeping the books, to be honest. And, in my opinion, the world-building was actually the strongest part of the book for me (besides Kestrel, who is pure and everything), so the map is perfection.

The Divergent Trilogy

This is actually from the collector’s edition of Divergent (I don’t even know why I have a collector’s edition since this isn’t even one of my favorite series…a mystery), but it’s actually really nice to get a visual of what the Dauntless compound looks like because I suck at visualizing places and things. And, also, DAMN, that chasm is big and scary.

The Young Elites Trilogy

I’ve already mentioned Marie Lu’s other trilogy, but this one is a dark fantasy trilogy, and absolutely one of my favorites (even though I haven’t read The Midnight Star yet. Oops.), and the map that goes along with the books is absolutely stunning. I would totally love to go on an adventure with Adelina (and especially Magiano. Not for any special reason or anything). And I highly urge you to go read this series; it’s fantastic.

The Shades of Magic Trilogy

Okay, TECHNICALLY this isn’t really a map, but I absolutely love the title pages of this trilogy. They’re just so intricate and filled with so much detail that I can’t resist including them in here. Not to mention, who wouldn’t want to adventure with Lila, Kell, Alucard, and Rhy through the three Londons, because I know I totally would! And, fingers crossed, the STUNNING collector’s edition will have a map (pretty please?)!

The Shattered Sea Trilogy

Okay, I’ve only read the first book in the series, and, again, TECHNICALLY not a map, but I absolutely love the drawings on the end pages of the last book of the trilogy. It’s just really pretty to look at, and I like to marvel at drawings in any way, shape, or form because how does one art? But, again, really hoping to finally finish this series someday.

Three Dark Crowns

I actually haven’t even read this book yet, but the cover is total map porn, so I’m including this one anyway. Actually, the entire book is just book porn in general, when I think about it. I’ve heard mixed things about this book, but I’m super excited to read it anyway because I always have unpopular opinions.

The Red Rising Trilogy

Okay, I can’t really say that I want to REALLY leap into this world because, first off, SPACE IS TERRIFYING. And, two, the characters in this book sort of live in an oppressive society filled with war, death, and betrayal at every turn, and I’m not really about that life. But, the map in Morning Star is very pretty, so I’ll give it that. And I like Sevro, Darrow, and Mustang enough that I might visit for, like, a day. Maybe.

The Six of Crows Duology

BUT WHO DOESN’T WANT TO HANG OUT WITH THE DREGS?

The A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy

I WOULD LITERALLY GIVE ANYTHING TO VISIT RHYSAND THE NIGHT COURT. The town of Velaris just sounds so beautiful and the way things are described, and, yes, I love the Night Court gang, so I obviously can’t help myself and I literally want to meet them all. TAKE ME THERE.

The Throne of Glass Series

Okay, this is another war-torn series, so, technically, it wouldn’t be the best idea to visit, BUT I’M DOING IT ANYWAY. The sacrifices I make because Sarah’s characters are just so damn worth it.

The Falling Kingdoms Series

I haven’t picked up this series in SO LONG (which is utterly ridiculous), but I remember that there was magic in this series, and I love magic in fantasy series. I like to think I’d be one of the special ones, even though I probably would just be that one person who dies in that battle in the first book.

How much do you like maps in books? Which ones are your favorites? Which fictional worlds would you like to be a part of?

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[LET’S CHAT] Are Bookworms Becoming Materialistic?

Will this be controversial? Hopefully not.

I feel like this is a weird discussion topic, but I did want to talk about it. Because, clearly, I like to talk about things I observe because I am weird. I can’t help myself. I find it funny how we as bookworms jokingly talk about how we don’t judge a book by its cover, when we totally do, and that got me thinking about how bookworms might be a bit materialistic in other areas, especially with the rise of bookstagram, and I thought it’d nice to talk about it!

Usually, I’d put stuff like Funko Pops, t-shirts, pillowcases, candles, jewelry, laptop skins and stickers, etc. under merchandise. I’ll tell you right now that I’m not a huge fan of merch. I find most of it completely useless and a waste of money, and the only type of merch I’ll purchase are t-shirts because they’re clothes and I’ll eventually use them by, you know, WEARING them. 

I feel like fandom merchandise is definitely fun, but can be unnecessary, much like a lot of things that people enjoy. I feel like merchandise has definitely grown over the years with the rise of bookstagram – I’d literally never heard of Funko Pops or all these different candle companies or even pillowcases with quotes on them before I joined the community, and all of a sudden, I was completely bombarded with it. It always slightly annoyed me because I literally couldn’t care less about what candle companies the person was repping for – I came here for BOOKS – and those people who always feel the need to flood your feed for a million rep searches for a million different companies.

(Also, Funko Pops are completely useless and I don’t get the hype, sorry!)

I definitely don’t think it’s a bad thing to buy a whole bunch of books a month. I mean, I wish I could do that! More power to you if you always have the ability to buy 20+ hardcovers a month because I only get to do that twice a year, and that’s only because it’s my birthday and Christmas in the same month.

But, I do see some people who are hardcore collectors, and by hardcore, I mean the people who have multiple editions of the same book because they need to collect all the collector’s editions, all the signed books because if one book is left unsigned by an author THEY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT IT, and all the foreign editions that they can’t even read but buy just because the cover is nice. It’s not a bad thing to be a collector – people can do whatever they want with their money – but I’ve seen people act like they’ll die if they don’t get the five-year old ARC of a book they already own a final copy of that will complete their collection via ARCs for Trade on Twitter, and it’s really not that big of a deal, in the end. 

I’ve also seen the whole rise of pre-order swag, where if somebody pre-orders a book before a certain date or shows proof that they did, they get some sort of swag, that, to me, looks totally useless, but it seems to really be working if publishing companies use the same tactics over and over again. 

Again, all of these things aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re also unnecessary – especially considering people who don’t have enough money or access to all the newest, hottest releases, whether it’s because of where they live or because of their library not having the ability to carry every single book under the sun (like my own small library).

This really has zero to do with the fact that we like to look at pretty covers – that’s never a bad thing, and is really up to a matter of opinion on whether you really care about a book’s cover or not – but more on the whole obsession with keeping our books in pristine condition.

I know I’m one of those people who wants to buy my series in hardcover because it looks pretty, and I hate it when there’s a tear or rip on the spine or I accidentally close a book wrong and fold a page in, but I hate this weird sort of culture that bookworms have perpetuated where we jokingly say that people who dog-ear pages or mark up their books are “monsters.” Because, in the end, though we love books, it IS just a book, and we shouldn’t treat people who don’t keep their books in top condition as weird just because they don’t or demonize people who dog-ear pages.

Really, the only thing that truly matters is that we’re all reading, no matter what we do to our books or what we read!

And those are all my weird observations!

Hopefully, the take-away from people reading this isn’t that I think people are terrible for doing any of these things, because nobody is – bookworms can do whatever they want with their time and money if they want to – but I did want to take a critical look at us because it’s always an interesting angle to look at things!

Do you think bookworms are becoming more materialistic? What are your opinions on any of these topics? Tell me all your thoughts!

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[LET’S CHAT] Who Are Reviews Really For?

As book bloggers, we’re usually expected to write reviews.

I’ve talked a lot about reviews in the past few months – whether they should be subjective or objective or if we should even be writing them – and I feel like there’s always been a constant chat in the book blogosphere about how unpopular book reviews are and how some of us just really don’t like writing  them. Which begs the question, “Who are we writing reviews for if we feel like no one’s reading them?”

Of course, we’re the ones who write reviews, so they can be for…

Obviously, since we’re the ones who write reviews, sometimes, we might just be writing them for us for a multitude of reasons. I know I personally have the worst book memory in the world, so it’s nice to have my thoughts on a book recorded somewhere so I can always go back to it if I need some reminding. We, as bookworms, also really enjoy tracking what we read, whether it’s because we have certain yearly goals we want to meet or reading challenges we’re doing or you just want to know how much you’re reading per year. Reviews can definitely help us keep track of what we’ve read for the year. We can also see how our tastes have changed over the years, especially if you blog for a long period of time and see that as the years go by, you’re diving into different genres or not into the same genres as you were before.

Of course, whether you post your reviews on your blog or on Goodreads or on Amazon or any other reviewing type site, you will quickly realize that other people will read them, which means that reviews could be for…

When you post your reviews for the world to see, it means that, eventually, someone will stumble upon it somehow. There are some bookworms who want to get several other people’s opinions on a book before they decide to check it out at the library or buy it, so reading reviews is helpful for them. It can also give a sense of community with other book nerds. Whether you like or dislike the book, I’m sure you can find a kindred spirit who will feel the same way, and want to rant and rave about the book to you, and that’s what’s so much fun about being a book lover. And I know there are some people who appreciate being warned about things that can trigger them in books, so having a community behind that and reviewers who do those things is always nice for those who need them.

But, of course, regular old fangirls and fanboys aren’t the only ones who are bookworms! Reviews can also be for…

I’ve talked about this a little bit in a post last month where I talked about authors. Some people say that it’s okay for authors to see the reviews we write, but some say that our reviews aren’t for authors at all. There’s also been warnings against tagging authors in negative reviews of books, which is basic common courtesy. Personally, I’ve never had problems with posting negative or positive reviews, but I’m sure we’ve all heard of some sort of drama where an author reacts badly to a negative review and it causes lots of backlash against them, which might make some bloggers or reviewers feel uncomfortable. I’ve also wondered if authors have ever read my reviews, and I don’t mean when I tag them on Twitter, but if they ever just stumble upon my blog. If they do, EXCUSE ME WHILE I BRIEFLY PANIC.

Not to mention our reviews might get people to actually buy an author’s books or check them out at the library, and promoting an author’s books if they’re not very popular is always a good thing! We obviously love to promote the books and authors that we don’t think are getting enough attention or love.

But, of course, authors wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for a certain something. So, maybe our reviews are truly going towards…

Of course, with this whole business of receiving ARCs, our reviews definitely, in someway, go towards publishers and publicists alike. Most of the time, when a publicist decides to accept your request on Netgalley or Edelweiss or they send you a package of ARCs in the mail, they expect you to give them some sort of publicity for it – whether it’s just telling people you have it on Twitter or taking pretty pictures of it for Instagram or reviewing the book on your blog and cross-posting the review on Goodreads and Amazon. As anyone will tell you, it can definitely cause pressure, especially when you end up requesting a lot of books that you get approved for, and realize that it seems like all of them are being published at the same time and you’re not in the mood for any of them (YES, I still regret requesting all those damn summer Netgalley books. WHY DID I DO THAT?). But, in a way, our reviews are a type of payment for them for giving us a book for publicity!

Obviously, we as book bloggers write reviews for various reasons.

I think we all have different expectations for our own reviews and who we write our reviews for, so I definitely want to hear who you guys write your reviews for.

(Also, completely unrelated, but I’m getting braces today, AND I AM NOT EXCITED. Hopefully, it goes well.)

Who do you think reviews are really for? Who do you write reviews for?

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Bite-Sized Reviews | The “Oops, I DNF-ed ARCs Again!” Edition

Whoops, I DNF-ed some ARCs!

Last week, I praised some of the Bookcon ARCs I had read, but with the good always comes some bad. I ended up DNF-ing two ARCs I got at Bookcon, and I thought it’d be nice to talk about them, since both of them ended up failing my expectations, and my job as a bookworm is to save people from bookish disappointment, obviously!

(Also, just in case you were wondering, this wasn’t posted yesterday because I had no wi-fi over the weekend – from Saturday afternoon to Monday afternoon – and I hadn’t written any review, so I had to skip yesterday and post today instead!)

Genre: Dystopian, Sci-fi

Series: Words #1

Rating: NONE

Release Date: August 29, 2017

Synopsis:

In a world where every word and gesture is copyrighted, patented or trademarked, one girl elects to remain silent rather than pay to speak, and her defiant and unexpected silence threatens to unravel the very fabric of society.

Speth Jime is anxious to deliver her Last Day speech and celebrate her transition into adulthood. The moment she turns fifteen, Speth must pay for every word she speaks (“Sorry” is a flat ten dollars and a legal admission of guilt), for every nod ($0.99/sec), for every scream ($0.99/sec) and even every gesture of affection. She’s been raised to know the consequences of falling into debt, and can’t begin to imagine the pain of having her eyes shocked for speaking words that she’s unable to afford.

But when Speth’s friend Beecher commits suicide rather than work off his family’s crippling debt, she can’t express her shock and dismay without breaking her Last Day contract and sending her family into Collection. Backed into a corner, Speth finds a loophole: rather than read her speechrather than say anything at allshe closes her mouth and vows never to speak again. Speth’s unexpected defiance of tradition sparks a media frenzy, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps, and threatens to destroy her, her family and the entire city around them.

Originally, I was super excited for this book! The cover was nice to look at, the concept sounded amazing and different from most dystopian novels, and I saw zero mention of any romance, so I was really happy when I managed to get a copy of it at Bookcon. I was quickly disappointed. From the beginning, something just felt…off. It was interesting, but I still felt a little bit bored about what was going on. I was still sticking with it since I was so excited for this book and didn’t want to give up on yet…until Speth is saved from sexual assault by a rebellious group of people who are against the strict government, and – you guessed it! – one of the members is an attractive boy her age with an air of sarcasm about him. I knew from that moment on that it was just becoming yet another YA dystopian novel that I’ve already read and has been done better, so I quit. I’m so disappointed in this one since it had such a good concept, but it didn’t work out! I seem to be in the minority, so maybe others might enjoy it!

In Summary:

Genre: Contemporary, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Series: NONE

Rating: NONE

Release Date: September 19, 2017

Synopsis:

Jane has lived an ordinary life, raised by her aunt Magnolia—an adjunct professor and deep sea photographer. Jane counted on Magnolia to make the world feel expansive and to turn life into an adventure. But Aunt Magnolia was lost a few months ago in Antarctica on one of her expeditions.

Now, with no direction, a year out of high school, and obsessed with making umbrellas that look like her own dreams (but mostly just mourning her aunt), she is easily swept away by Kiran Thrash—a glamorous, capricious acquaintance who shows up and asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at her family’s island mansion called Tu Reviens.

Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites to you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.” With nothing but a trunkful of umbrella parts to her name, Jane ventures out to the Thrash estate. Then her story takes a turn, or rather, five turns. What Jane doesn’t know is that Tu Reviens will offer her choices that can ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But at Tu Reviens, every choice comes with a reward, or a price.

I honestly wasn’t too intrigued with this one since I read the synopsis multiple times, and each time I was like, “Wait…what?” But, since this was one of the Penguin Teen Game-Changers in the box I won at Bookcon, I decided to cave and try it out since after having the concept explained via Booktube, I got super excited. A mind-bending book where there are five different stories to tell, all in different genres? I was sold! Unfortunately, this book was just weird – even too weird for me. I didn’t care about any of the characters, the writing was way too stiff, I was getting bored just reading the 100 pages I did, and when I finally got to the part where we’re supposed to break into different paths, I was really disappointed where instead of being a story where the main character is faced with five doors that define her future, and she only has one choice, it ended up being about the main character having to choose between five different characters to go with, and going on a different journey depending on who you choose. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, but it’ll probably be the perfect fit for someone else!

In Summary:

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[LET’S CHAT] Do You Measure a Blog Post’s Success?

Welcome to probably the weirdest Let’s Chat on my blog!

Today, I’m going to be talking about measuring a blog post’s success. I feel like I’ve seen several discussions that talk about measuring how successful your blog is, but not really any that talk mainly just about a blog post’s success, so I thought I’d tackle the unknown! Mainly because I do this often, and I want to know I’m not alone.

(Hopefully.)

 I obsess over the title. Like, a lot. I’m pretty sure no other blogger feels this way, but I always think that if I don’t have a good enough title, no one will read my blog post. Which I’m pretty sure is ridiculous, but, who knows, maybe I’m on the right track. So, I’ll try as hard as I can to make the blog post as intriguing as possible, usually by having a question somewhere in there for my Let’s Chat or Discussion posts. For lists, I’ve realized that having the number in the title really draws people in (more people would click “16 Bookish Pet Peeves That Make Me Rage Inside” over “Some of My Bookish Pet Peeves,” which was my original title). And I’ve also tried making review titles as interesting as possible, but it seems like nothing really works no matter what I do.

I also usually go through a stage of predicting whether a post will be popular or not. I usually base it off the title and what the post is about – for instance, my first ever Let’s Chat was about DNF-ing books, and I knew it’d be popular because most discussion posts about them are. Sometimes, I can be off, but we’ll talk about that later.

I also try to make my blog graphics as attractive as possible. I started using emojis that sum up what the post is about, which I think look cute, but I don’t know if they help? I honestly don’t know if people even pay attention to my blog graphics or if those actually make you click a post, but I won’t stop doing it.

Usually, I post in the morning, and then I don’t check how my post does until around eight at night. I usually do this so all the notifications can come in and I can answer most of your comments all at once. When I check my stats, I just can’t help but garner whether a post was popular based off of my first impressions of it.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, I think we all have a certain number of likes and comments on a post where we consider it successful. I know I certainly do, and those numbers have obviously grown in my head as my blog has grown. I think the longer I’ve been blogging, I care less about those types of stats. Which doesn’t mean I DON’T care about them – because I totally do – it just means that if a post doesn’t do as well as I thought it would, I shrug and move on. I guess it’s mainly because I’m so blessed with what I’ve achieved in such a short amount of time that a “dud” post – which is more a dud to my standards then a bigger or smaller blog – that it doesn’t really matter, in the long run. And because everyone has “dud” posts.

I also factor in pageviews as well, though you could think of them as less concrete because someone could just click on a link and then leave five seconds later, but I’m not going to pretend that it isn’t nice getting a 100+ views per day. I remember one of my posts that was a sort of “dud” on the blog was a hit on Books Amino and pulled a lot of pageviews in, so there’s that! I don’t really favor any sort of stat above the other, to be honest!

I mentioned earlier that I go through a stage of predicting what post will be popular or not, and I do it all the time. Maybe to the point that it’s unhealthy? Who knows?

I’ve noticed that sometimes I’m right on the nose, and sometimes I’m not close at all. There have been a couple of discussion posts that I thought would do really well, but were sort of “duds,” and I also have some posts that do absurdly well, and I’m shocked that it even happened. It just goes to show that once your post is out in the world, you can’t really control how well it does or what happens with it (which is a terrifying thought, now that I think about it???).

Obviously, I guess that discussions will be popular, but there are definitely discussion posts that are more popular than others, for some strange reason. Lists are also pretty popular, and I guess that’s because there are a lot of memes that are lists, so it’s a sort of trend? Recommendations and tags seem to be “meh” areas for me – it really depends on what the topic is. And, obviously, reviews are usually the least popular in terms of everything (though I have had some pretty popular reviews, which I don’t even know how or why). I’m sure we all know what might work or not work, and as long as you’re happy with what you’re posting, I don’t think it matters if you only post what you might think is popular, what you think won’t be popular, or whatever you want. It’s all up to you!

And those are all my thoughts on measuring a blog post’s success!

Hopefully, I’m not too alone in my obsessive routine for this, and there will be other bloggers out there that relate with me!

(Please do.)

Do you measure a blog post’s success? Do you ever predict a blog post’s success? What do you consider a successful blog post? 

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[LET’S CHAT] Goodreads And Why I Don’t Use It

Lots of people use Goodreads, but I don’t.

Which is funny, because I used to use Goodreads. Like, a lot. It was basically my life for a long while way before I even started blogging, and it was the first place I even entertained the idea of starting a book blog. But, sometime during October of last year, I realized that I really wasn’t enjoying myself, so I quit, promising that I’d come back in the form of a book blog, and lo and behold, I have, and it’s been a much better experience for me.

So, I thought it’d be interesting to make a post about why I don’t use Goodreads because maybe you guys are curious (probably not, but that hasn’t stopped me before).

The more I was on Goodreads, the more I realized that I hated looking at my newsfeed. I’d constantly mute my friends on my feed, I’d ignore it for hours on end, and I’d wish there was some sort of way to just turn it off. Nothing drives me up a wall then being bombarded with 208402 different opinions on a just recently released book that all manage to contradict each other. Sometimes, I just want to read a damn book without being influenced by anyone’s decisions, and cutting Goodreads out of my life definitely changed me for the better. I can finally go into a book blind and without influence so my opinions are my own and I can spend my time reading books that I want to.

I know there are books I gave second chances to – such as The Winner’s Curse – that I just should have left alone because Goodreads loved them SO MUCH, that I was obviously missing something. Soon, after reading the two books again and hating them ten times more than I had the first time I read them, I realized that sometimes the Goodreads community and I just don’t gel. There are only so many times I can see people trashing the books I love while reading the books Goodreads obsesses over and being disappointed before I was just done with it.

And let’s not mention people who bump their reviews 24080284 times a day just so they can get more likes. Excuse me while I try to refrain from throwing my phone against the wall as I see one of my friend’s reviews of a book I don’t care about for the tenth time that day. I WILL NOT LIKE IT, DAMN IT.

I will say, this both helps and hurts me. I actually did pretty damn well on the reading challenges the past couple of years, and ended up always exceeding my goal pretty quickly. But, the pressure can definitely drive me crazy. I loved the feeling of finishing a book and being able to add it to my “Read” shelf, but all the pressure of it was definitely way too much for me. And I know I could just ignore the reading challenge or put down one book as my goal so I can finish it off within a few days of the new year and just focus on reading, but I’d just rather not even bother with it all.

(Not to mention that if you don’t enter a number, Goodreads will badger you throughout the entire year to join in anyway. I DON’T WANT TO, GOODREADS.)

Also, this year has been terrible for me in terms of reading, so I think it’s on point that I’ve just stopped even knowing how many books I’ve read this year. IT’S FINE, I’M FINE.

Though Goodreads was a huge part of my life that I used to enjoy, the main reason I quit in October was because it was just too much work to keep up with. The first few months of school last year were super stressful and I was reading pretty fast, so it was hard for me to keep up with all the reviews I had to write and publish, especially as someone who doesn’t like reviewing that much. So, in the end, I quit because I was too busy with school and it was making reading a chore, not to mention that my sort of “popularity” was waning and spending time writing reviews only to get about three likes on them was pretty annoying and not worth it.

I tried again to get back on Goodreads because so many other bloggers talk about how cross-posting is a good way for publishers to pay attention to you to get ARCs, but after a week or so on being back on it, it stressed me out once again. Having to immediately log on to Goodreads and post my review and then take an extra few minutes linking back to my blog only to get little to no hits from it was a huge waste of time. And I wasn’t even going to bother trying to gain a following again on Goodreads because it was too much work. So, I quit – for the second time because of the same reason. And I still get ARCs, so I guess it doesn’t really matter, in the end!

Since I honestly don’t care too much about the whole process enough to put work into it, I realized, “Why waste so much time?”

And, hopefully, that gave you more insight into why I don’t use Goodreads!

It’s definitely fine that there are people out there who LOVE Goodreads – I feel like I’m in the minority – but it just doesn’t work for me, and I hope this might help some other bloggers out there who are trying to figure out if Goodreads is for them or not!

Do you use Goodreads? Why or why don’t you use it? What are your feelings about Goodreads?

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