*blows off dust*
Oh HELLO, remember me? I *think* I might be ready to return to book blogging, but maybe not in the same way and not without a lot of anxiety…
Let’s talk about anxiety for a minute. A little known fact about me is that I get anxiety about projects that I’ve put off for any extended amount of time. Procrastination slowly turns even simple tasks into insurmountable projects. This affects ALL aspects of my life.
What anxieties do I have about coming back to blogging? What if I can’t keep up again? I’ve missed out on so many releases, how can I stay current? Will I be able to connect again with people I haven’t spoken to in almost a year? How do I make sure this doesn’t take out of the little time I get with my husband? What if it isn’t fun anymore?
And how am I facing these anxieties?
- I’m planning ahead. My general plan is to post one review, one tattoo post, and one discussion post a week. I want to have a least two weeks built up as a buffer before posting. Estimated start date is Feb 15th.
- No one has read every book ever released. Catching up and rediscovering “old” series will be more common than being the first to read a not-yet-released book. And that’s Ok… I hope.
- I’ve cleaned up my GoogleReader and Twitter accounts to better connect with a smaller group of people. I’ve kept in at least slight contact with my closest blogging friends (who are very much real friends to me).
- I plan on adjusting my workout schedule and using work lunch breaks for reading and blogging. Shane and I only get two days a week together (if we’re lucky) and while I’ll still read some on the weekends, I most likely will not blog.
- And the big one… What if it isn’t fun anymore?! Well then I guess book blogging isn’t for me and I’ll retire 25 Hour Books and just do guest stents when the urge to review resurfaces from time to time.
And most importantly, I want to thank Amanda @ On a Book Bender. Letting me write a guest review for her blog reminded me how much I love book blogging. She has been VERY supportive of my break. She’s great for motivation *cough*nagging*cough* and inspiration. Not to mention that she’s a great friend.
Wish me luck! Hope to be talking to you more soon!!
If it helps, starting next month most of my reads will be old ones
I am hitting my shelves!
I am just thrilled that you are back! WOOT!
(also my guess on Sookie has nothing to do with what is going on in the series LOL I made that guess after book 3 and I am notoriously wrong when more than one guy is involved)
That does help! (I may also steal/borrow your idea Old Posts Need Love Too)
Thanks!!
I always pick the “wrong” guy too. I just don’t see her ended up Happily Ever After with my VILF :/
Steal Away! It is a plugin called Tweet Old Posts and you can totally pick the categories you want included (and age of the post). It can make it look like you are way more active than you are LOL (that is what I love)
You know, I’ve always read (and reviewed) whatever the hell I want. Sometimes it’s a new book, and sometimes it’s not. Personally, I like reviewing “older” books because it’s likely that more people have already read them and want to talk about them than newer books. And that’s where the fun is.
You will always have a home at On a Book Bender should you need it.
That’s really the attitude I need to have. And I love the outlook that people are more inclined to talk about older books. You’re so smart!
Regardless of how this works out, I’m sure I’ll pop over there from time to time
It is very nice to see you back in action! It is quite ok to feel all of the above, and normal, in my opinion. You do what you can, when you can. Your fans will be here.
I agree with Amanda. I read whatever I want and rarely have a new release up. I’m forever behind on books and honestly, I could care less. There are just tons and tons of old books that need love too.
You were in the Spam folder for some reason (didn’t even give my the option to approve)… Hopefully, it’s fixed now!!
Thanks!! I’ve noticed more conversations about old books, and really that’s what book blogging is about for me
I’m so excited your back, and I really like that you’re going to review older stuff too. I say review anything you want, this is a place for you to do whatever you want.
That is exactly the mindset I need to have if I’m going to have fun with this again
Thanks Stacey!
So glad to see that you will be coming back! It sounds like you have a great plan. Like Amanda mentioned readers are more likely to interact when they’ve read the book. Older books may give more of an opportunity.
I hope it all works out for you!
Thanks!! I think you guys are right. I’m much more likely to say something more than “oooh I want to read this” if it’s a book I’ve read
I didn’t really catch your blog before so looking forward to seeing what you come out with! Any friend of Amanda’s has to be loveably mental, after all.
As for keeping “current”? Pfft! Read what you enjoy, and take that as advice from somebody with experience. Oo Reviews come easier as well as much less reading burnout. Enjoy yourself! 
Thanks!!
It was a hard lesson learned and I’m hoping that it will be easy(er) once I get in the groove of reviewing again
Oh, goodness, the whole planning ahead thing is the hardest part of blogging. Sometimes, though, I think about taking a break from blogging in order to plan ahead.
And I completely understand blogging anxiety. How to take off the pressure? I have no idea, except that I have to work to remind myself that things should be fun.
The planning ahead didn’t seem so bad before I got a full-time job. Now that I spend all day staring at a computer screen, I find that the last thing I want to do when I get home is get on the computer…. So I’m trying to use my lunch breaks to do the blogging side and the nights to do the reading. I’m hoping that makes the biggest difference
I came here through Amanda’s blog,
I get what you mean by worrying if you’re caught up or not. I’m probably not even half as busy as you are, I’m not even in high school yet, but I still feel the pressure sometimes. Just don’t worry about it, post when you can, and whatever you want. It’s nice that you have a schedule though, so that you have a certain goal/task set out. Good luck with everything! 
You’re just a different kind of busy! No way I could have managed a blog at your age (heck I can barely do it now lol).
Thanks!!
Tara!!!! I’m so excited to see you back. I could squish you with a super crazy tackle hug! **Ahem** But I won’t, because that might scare you off, and we wouldn’t want that, would we? Lol. Anyways, I totally know what you mean about blogging getting to the point where it’s not fun anymore. I’ve had to seriously cut back over the last six months or so because with teaching and school, I don’t always have the time. I pretty much blog whenever I have time (or feel like it), and focus a lot of my posts over breaks when I have more of a chance to destress. The last thing blogging should be is a chore, so if it’s starts to feel that way to you again, I would totally understand quitting. It’s supposed to be fun, and none of us need to add anymore stressful responsibilties if we don’t need them, right? Still, I’m glad to see you back for now!
Thanks Natalie!!
I can’t even IMAGINE how busy you are! Kudos to finding/making time for reading and blogging!