Confession time: On days when I get discouraged, sometimes I feel like blogging occupies time that I could have spent reading. Have you ever felt like this? If so, how did you get your blogging groove back?
I think my discouragement stems from how few books I read in June (20 ... when I'd read 28-41 the other months this year). I know to a lot of people, 20 books is amazing, but for me, it indicates that I was struggling. The Gardella Vampire Chronicles books slowed me down somewhat, since it took me so long to get into the series (it took until book four). What really killed me was the Felix Castor series. I really didn't enjoy those books much ... if I hadn't agreed to review the third book in the series, I'm not sure I would have even finished the first book. It really wasn't my cup of tea, so to speak. It took me 10 days to read the 3 books, and while the last book was moderately better than the first two, I still regret that so much time was spent on those books. That was time I could have used for other books, ones that I'd enjoy and not find myself looking for other things to do so I could avoid them. I still haven't gotten my reading mojo back.
I am part was through five different books right now: p.5 in Heart of the Sea (Irish Trilogy #3) by Nora Roberts; p.76 in Clive Barker's Books of Blood vol.4-6; p.105 in American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; p.199 in Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach; and p.p.131 in Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak. No one book is holding my attention right now, and I hate that I feel this way right now. If the Felix Castor series has taught me anything, it would be to only agree to review standalone books of books that are first in a series.
I just realized how extraordinarily negative I am coming across today, and that's not my intention at all. I guess I figured that I'd be honest about what I'm feeling, and maybe if someone else has felt this way, they'd know that they weren't alone in it and they might be able to offer me some advice in how to get past this. Thanks for putting up with my doom and gloom today.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
There's no easy way to say this...
Posted by Mo from Unmainstream Mom Reads at 11:54 AM
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Unless stated otherwise, book synopses come from the book's jacket, cover, or inside pages & book cover photographs come from a Google Image search.
All book reviews on this site are simply my opinion, and I am not a professional or paid reviewer by any means. I run this site for fun, to share opinions of what I read, meet new people, and keep track of which books & authors I enjoy.
All book reviews on this site are simply my opinion, and I am not a professional or paid reviewer by any means. I run this site for fun, to share opinions of what I read, meet new people, and keep track of which books & authors I enjoy.
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11 comments:
I think what you are sharing is realistic. It makes sense. And setting a personal standard for what you will take on and create an obligation for is good. Remember that reading is for enjoyment!
I think you're just being honest in how you are feeling right at this moment and there are those of us that have felt that way too. I don't do a lot of review books nor do I request a ton of ARC's and the reason is that I enjoy having the freedom of reading what I want to read when I want to read it. My two cents: I would put down every single book that you're reading right now and pick one that YOU really want to read and enjoy it!! No pressure, no review, no nothing...just read it for yourself. Remember to be good to you :)
This is the reason I am taking the month of July and giving myself permission to read whatever I want to read - totally guilt-free!!
I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy visiting your blog. It's easy to pile on the internal pressure, but don't be hard on yourself.
Been there, felt that. You said it so well. Like Angela said, reading is for enjoyment. As much as I enjoy reviewing, sometimes I resent the pressure to have certain books read by a certain date. Especially if they turn out to be books that don't appeal to me.
I do know what you mean. Like tonight I have almost 300 posts in my Google Reader to go through and I'm trying to write and schedule some future posts for my blog so I doubt I will get any reading done tonight. It sucks but I feel like since I've been blogging I get such great feed back about the books I've read and suggestions on new books to read so it's worth the time.
Ahhhh... I think we've all been there, though I don't think anyone reads as much as you do. Take a breather (do what Staci says), and recharge. I envy Lenore her July, but I've already committed for this month.
Reading is fun. Sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be. ((hugs))
It's okay to give it your best shot, and what results from that is what was meant to be.
What everyone else is saying to you here I concur with..
Just wanted to say I understand your pain!
I second Staci's suggestion!!
Sometimes I decide blogging has taken over my reading, so I just step back from the computer for awhile. Eventually, I miss blogging, and then I'm back to a happy balance.
ditto, ditto, and more ditto...and besides blogging, life interferes with our reading as well....I agree with all and like Drey said, I am committed heavy thro July and tapering off in August so that by Sept. I can be a real person who loves to read AND have the time to do it FOR MYSELF....don't be so hard on yourself!
I am actually just starting to get my s@$t together with blogging. I have felt the same way for quite some time plus, as they say, real life happened and I am still dealing with consequences, so yeah, I completely understand that sometimes we just don't have it in us but it'll come back.
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