Blogger’s Block
17 April 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Backlist books, Future Books, Return to blogging
Is blogger’s block a thing? I don’t know, I just made it up. I’ve been thinking about this for a little while, primarily because my blogging and reading for the past few months has been very quiet. I’ve had a very stressful few months to be honest and sometimes life just happens all around you whether you want it to or not. What I do know about these sort of periods is that you have to follow your own gut instinct and at that point mine was to retreat a little, not to mention I simply didn’t have the concentration levels I would have liked. So, that’s the reason I’ve not been terribly visible of late. I have kept up with my SPFBO judging commitments and continued to post a weekly review, along with my lovely partners the Critiquing Chemist, but I’ve fallen way behind both with other reading and reviewing (although I have fit in a few good books). I certainly owe an apology to all the publishers who have granted me review copies for books that I was so excited to read and haven’t yet reviewed and also to all my lovely blogging buddies who I’ve fallen behind in visiting.
So, the one thing I know for sure is that I’m not yet ready to give up my book blog. I feel that life is maybe back on a normal(ish) keel for now and so I’m keen to dive back in. Let’s see how it goes.
Where to begin then. Well, firstly, I’m hoping to pull together quite a number of outstanding reviews:
- The Vanishing of Margaret Small by Neil Alexander
- Love Will Tear Us Apart by CK McDonnell
- A Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis
- The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan
- The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
- A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher
Plus my two final finalist reviews for SPFBO. So, lots of posts incoming. In order to not go on a total mission I’m not going to post any memes for now although I’d like to get back to my Sunday catch up post.
I have got behind with a number of review books and so I’ve decided that my best course is to read the books that are due to be reviewed for the rest of this month and then try and slot in one or two of the backlist books that I wanted to read during February and March but fell behind with. Hopefully this is something that I can get along with okay.
So, books that I’m hoping to read going forward:
- The Cleaving by Juliet E McKenna
- Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
- The Other Lives of Miss Emily White by A J Elwood
- Games for Dead Girls by Jen Williams
- The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
These are my remaining April books. I’m not sure I’ll fit them all in but I’ll give it a good try. Have you read any of these?
I’ve got some fantastic books to look forward to in May that I’m really excited to share but will leave that for a future post.
In terms of blog hopping. I’m going to start catching up with everyone soon. I’ve made the decision that I probably won’t try and read every post that I’ve missed between January til now (although obviously I’m scared of missing anything good!) because if I try to read everything I’ve missed I think I’ll just sink. So, I’m going to try and draw a line under everything and start afresh. I’ll probably still flip through a lot of the reviews but maybe not leave a comment at this point.
Anyway, that’s the plan. Of course we all know the saying about the best laid plans…
Wish me luck.
Books and travelling with Lynn 
It’s totally normal to have periods like this. Mine lasted for a good year, lol. I’m just getting back on track after taking things easy for a while and I’m still trying to check myself not to overload stuff. Take as much time off as you need. And try not to stress yourself out even more. We all need breaks and no one will fault you for that. Just take care of yourself! And do only as much as you feel is enough. I learned the hard way… I hope you are okay, though!
I am okay, I’ve had a stressful few months but at the moment I feel like things are resolving in a good way. There was a while where I couldn’t get my head around my usual pastimes not to mention I just didn’t have the time. Hopefully things will be okay going forward. Thanks 😀
We all go through “rough times” now and again and there is no need to feel guilty or to stress about a scarcity of posts or lack of replies. This is – should be – a fun space where we share our love of books and reading and it’s only when we feel like treating it as *work* that the fun goes away. So take your time and enjoy your books – the rest will come along at its own pace… 🙂
Yep, if it’s not fun it’s time to stop. I still love the reading and blogging though, it’s a great way to vent and I love the community – it’s my best source for ‘what to read next’.
Lynn 😀
Yep, blogging block is totally a thing and is quite normal. It happens, esp when you’re dealing with stressful things otherwise in your life. I went through a blogging and reading block at the same time last year because my life was so busy at the time. Don’t sweat it, though. Just take it easy and don’t place any blogging pressure on yourself. For me, it helped to just focus on easy posts for a while, like book tags and Top Ten Tuesday posts, until the blog passed.
Yep, I think it was the busyness more than anything, I was stressed and didn’t have the energy. Thankfully I still managed to read a little and keep up with SPFBO. I’ll be glad to get back to some sort of normality with my pastimes. I’ve missed it.
Lynn 😀
Nice to see you back Lynn, I’ve missed reading your reviews. Hope all is well, and that you find a blogging/reading pace that works for you.
Thanks. I’ve missed this community of readers very much. It’s great to have so many blogs to visit and discuss thoughts and reactions with. I’m happy to be getting back on board.
Lynn 😀
I will admit I miss your posts and interacting with you, but that’s just me being selfish. I totally understand the feeling of not wanting to blog. I think that’s one reason I push myself even when I’m not feeling it. I always wonder if I take a break, will I ever come back, and that makes me so sad. I know, I’m weird🤣 You should do what feels right to you.
I must admit that when you do take a break it’s easy to fall out of the habit of blogging. Strictly speaking I just didn’t have the time and felt to tired with everything else going on. I’m so happy to be getting back on board though. I’ve really missed this community and being able to talk to like minded people about books.
Lynn 😀
So glad to see you back! I don’t know if you got my DM but I reached out on Twitter to see how you were doing. I was getting a little worried when I didn’t hear anything back so I’m also relieved to see this post to hear everything is okay, though sorry to hear about the stress. Totally understand that sometimes life just gets in the way and you feel blah about blogging!
Oh No, I completely missed that – just went to have a look. My phone is very flaky and doesn’t give me the same notifications it used to – thank you so much for thinking of me. I’m glad to be back though. I hope things can go smoothly for a little while (pretty please to the powers that be). It is good to check in with everyone again and I’m trying to push out a bunch of reviews for the books I did read (not many tbh) so that I can get back to my normal blogging.
Lynn 😀