2016 Wrap-Up: I Did Little with My Blog, Except I Didn't

Hello my beauties!

Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2016 up (though it would be better to pretend it never happened to begin with LOL). I failed at a lot of things this year, but a selected few did manage to put a smile on my face notwithstanding...

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 4 years and a couple of months. With various grades of success LOL.

This is what happened on Offbeat YA during the year, broken down by number of posts, events I took part in, books I reviewed, authors I interacted with and discussion posts I wrote...

a) Numbers

This is my 36th post this year *hangs head in shame*. I managed to produce an average of 3 articles per month, while my goal was to post at least once a week - the same goal I had last year, only I got stuck at 41 posts, which is better than 36 anyway...(...where's a roll-eyes emoji when you need one? well, at least we finally HAVE emojis on Blogger...).
Only 17 of my 2016 posts were reviews (which is still better than the 16 of 2014 and the 9 - I said NINE - of 2015). A handful of them were ARCs or barely-out-of-print books (of the digital variety). Why, with the year I've had (especially the second half), I'm quite proud of having managed to write 17 reviews. Especially since 9 of those books were in PDF form, and I struggle with reading on my PC (of course it's not portable, and the very act of reading on a screen makes me restless).
Oh, about numbers...I managed to win my second and third giveaway this year! The first (in July) offered an ecopy of Fourth World by Lyssa Chiavari (aaand I still have to review it, I feel so bad about that!). The second was hosted by The Regal Critiques book blog, and I got to choose a PHYSICAL copy of a horror-and-the-likes book for their Spooky October (I also guest-posted for it!). I chose The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman. Thank you Veronika and Ruzaika!

b) Events and memes

Yes, I'm very aware the video is reversed. Not my fault 😉.

I miserably failed at them 😭. The thing is, I'm not very much inclined to take part in memes and such when they require my weekly attention or are particularly time-consuming, but I do like small/short events/memes. This year, I didn't manage to attend a single one. NO. FRIGGIN'. TIME. As for my own would-be article series, Screen Time, I only managed to produce ONE post: Dear Screenwriters, You Have No Right - about those TV series that get ruined by too many years of running time AND the weird screenwriters' ideas for them...

c) Reviews

These are the books I reviewed this year, broken down by genres/Reading Rooms:

Christopher Pike: Black Knight | Strange Girl.
Afterlife: Deadgirl: Ghostlight by B.C. Johnson (ARC review).

Supernatural: Beyond by Graham McNamee | The Mark of Noba by GL Tomas | Nine Candles of Deepest Black by Matthew S. Cox (ARC review).

Sci-fi: The Mariner King by Robert Schell (new book) | Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman.

Contemporary: This Above All by Lindsey Roth Culli (ARC review) | Contemporary with a Twist: Naming the Stars by Susan Koefod (new book).
Unwalled: Dark Passages by Ilsa J. Bick (series review) | The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma | Prelude to Mayhem by Edward Aubry (new book).
Adult: Unhappenings by Edward Aubry | Windows into Hell by James Wymore et al. (short story anthology - new book).
Also, I posted a couple of Review Morsels installments: the first featuring Nova Ren Suma, Dawn Kurtagich and Ilsa J. Bick, the second featuring Matthew S. Cox, Alison Goodman and Jeri Smith-Ready.

d) Author interactions

Edward Aubry, GL Tomas, Troy H. Gardner

In March, the author of Just a Few Inches, Tara St. Pierre, guest-posted of my blog about her book, plus she treated my readers to an excerpt and a generous giveaway!

In July I interviewed Edward Aubry, author of Unhappenings and Prelude to Mayhem (see Reviews section above). I hold a high opinion of him, because - unlike some writers - he doesn't take criticism personally, and understands the value of honest reviews. Also, he had a few nice things to say about me - which didn't turn me into a biased reviewer, I swear 😉.
In September, my friend Guinevere Tomas (from the GL Tomas writing duo) guest-posted on my blog about intersectionality in books. Whatever you choose to read from my 2016 recap, you'd better not skip her post if you haven't read it already!
Off-blog: in October, I beta-read a YA solo project by Troy H. Gardner, co-author of the Mad World series (in progress). It's a mix of contemporary and supernatural with quirky characters and funny dialogue, and I hope it finds its way to publication - and from there, to stardom - soon! In the meantime, you can read an entertaining YA novel of Troy's on Wattpad!
Again, off-blog: in December, I volunteered to beta-read a TV pilot for a 13-episode series by Allison Rose (author of Tick). Do you know this woman almost sold a Charmed script when she was 19 years old? Good luck to grown-up her with Wilde Girl - I hope the series will make it to our screens soon!

e) Discussion posts

January: Bloggers to Authors: Where Do You Cross the Line?
February: The Age Gap in YA: When Is Young Too Young?
July: Why I Don't Suffer from ARC Envy (I Swear I Don't) (which doesn't sound like a discussion from the title I gave it, but indeed it was meant to be...).

September: Why Ratings Give Me A Headache (Sometimes) (see above...).
All of the above are still open to comments and contributions!
Also, not a discussion post, but if you want to know me better...August: ...In Which I Spill My Secrets.
I meant to write a discussion post about the rise of bookstagrammers/booktubers and the apparent loss of appeal of written reviews (inspired by a couple of comments made by Anila and Tessa on Twitter), but Brin beat me to it. Yay, less work! 😂 Seriously, you should pay her a visit and comment!

Pt. 2: Goals for 2016

Like in my 2015 recap, I would like to say I'll stick with a schedule of a post per week (WHAT is a post per week, really?), but I've already failed this year and the year before, so I know it's not feasible. Unless my life unburdens itself from a number of things...which realistically, I can't see happening. But I'm sticking with this blog because...well, it's my one and only outlet, plus my one and only connection with the rest of the world. Some of you already know I don't have a social life, for...well, let's say, REASONS, and let's leave it at that. My job as a radio host used to bring me joy and to make me feel like I could express myself, until it became a chore (again, REASONS...). Also, I genuinely like to talk about books and recommend good ones and interact with authors who may be less known, but by no means are less worthy. It's the reason why I started blogging (minus the authors part, because never ever would I have dreamt of that), and one of the reasons I'm doing it now (along with the outlet and socialisation part).

Pt. 3: Holidays Hiatus

Well, really, more like my usual couple of weeks off LOL. While I'm waiting for my books (the ones I always order this time of the year) to arrive! What with my birthday and Christmas being close to each other, I always treat myself with a bunch of physical books from this Italian webseller that also sports a rather wide selection of books in English. I'll let you know what I got!

In the end...

I found a Black Santa! Nothing better to make a statement this year...

See you next year! Take care :).