December 23, 2019

2019 Wrap-Up: In Which I Stumble, but Don't Fall (and Ultimately Conquer)

Hello my beauties!
Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2019 up. This was another year of scheduling, both my reads and my posts. I had set up a goal of one post a week, like last year (where I was ultimately able to hit 59), but my not-so-secret aspiration was to have a total of 60 posts - 5 per month. This didn't seem like much to achieve in fifty-two weeks - I know people who can drop the same amount of posts in TEN (hello Sam 😉). But for me, it was a huge goal. I decided not to overly stress about that number, but to do my best to reach it IF I could. On top of that, 2019 was the first year where I had to take a blog hiatus...well, two, if you count a couple of weeks in December (though I had both hiatuses covered with scheduled posts). And yet...I was able to go above and beyond! Read the whole story of how I stumbled, but didn't fall, and ultimately conquered my TBP (To Be Posted) list!

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 7 years and a couple of months 😃.

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...plus a brand new off-blog, real-life section!

a) Numbers


Lo and behold - this is my 64th post this year! *does a crazy dance* I was able to surpass my goal, if not by much - but as I said before, it's much for ME. Then again...

...only 16 of my 2019 posts were reviews 😳 (they were 23 last year)...though I also wrote 6 mini-review posts (that is, I posted 18 of my Goodreads pre-reviews on my blog, 3 at a time). I suffered from Curiosity Quills Press shutting up shop at the beginning of the year - no more digital ARCs for me, and I only had a limited supply of backlist books to review (and no urgency to do that, because frankly - what if I review, say, a 4-year-old book yet another year later?). This affected my reviewing performance hard. Then again, I joined NetGalley in August, and I put together my Beat the Halloween Backlist event in October, and they helped me increasing my numbers, if a little. Plus I wrote 4 Rehabilitating YA posts, which were composed by mini-reviews, so I guess those count, too. But more of that in the "Reviews" section below.

Actually, NetGalley was a surprise for me. At first I downloaded a Read Now book (People of the Lake by Nick Scorza), and another one a month or so later (Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse), then I tried and requested two more (The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus and Reverie by Ryan La Sala) from publishers with an intimidating list of approval requirements, almost none of which I was meeting (plus keep in mind my ratio was still a fat ZERO at the time), just because, why not? and astonishingly, I got APPROVED 😮 💃. I talked to a few friends after that, and no one has a clue how these things work, so I'll just thank my lucky stars and won't look into the horse's mouth! Also, after reviewing 4 books out of 4 (as I said, 2 Read Now and 2 for which I got approved), according to NG I had reviewed 4 books out of 3 (all of them granted by the publishers) and I had a 133% ratio 😮. Again - the horse's mouth...but this is INSANE haha.
On a side note - I requested a 5th book a few days ago, and I immediately got approved?!? on my very birthday, yay! It's an adult one - Planting Wolves by Neda Disney - which my friend Carrie's review got me interested in, but my own review will only be up in January! This put my ratio back at 80%, but at least I'm not falling behind...plus it's just one book - easy to catch up with.

b) Events and memes


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 short events and small memes. As I did last year, I've been participating in Tell Me Something Tuesday, a feature of Heidi's blog Rainy Day Ramblings. As its name suggests, TMST is a weekly meme covering a wide range of bookish related themes, but - unlike Top Ten Tuesday and the like - it isn't limited to lists. Also, without a Linky, it's a laid-back meme with zero pressure. I'm taking part in it only when the topic strikes my fancy and I do have time. It's helped me a lot with blogging content, and I'm having fun with it.

I also started my own monthly event (so to speak), Tooting Your Trumpet, where I spotlight posts or sites or bookish things I find interesting. As usual, my motto with this kind of stuff is "do things you can sustain" 😉.

Speaking of which, I haven't given up on my TV-related article series Screen Time yet. For now, though, it's on hold. It's too much work and too little payback. But I do plan on going back to it one day. And I'm definitely going to revamp my old A Reader's Quirks series...especially now that my friend Lissa designed the cutest logo for it!

c) Reviews


As I said, not many very few of those 😳. But at least I was able to snatch a few ARCs near the end of the year, mainly thanks to NetGalley...

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

Christopher Pike: Thirst No.3 (urban fantasy, horror) | Thirst No.4 (urban fantasy, horror) (plus there's another book by him, but I put it in the Adult section)
Supernatural: Reverie by Ryan La Sala (ARC review)
Contemporary: This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready --- Contemporary with a Twist: For What It's Worth by Janet Tashjian | I Crawl Through It by A.S. King | The In-Between by Barbara Stewart
Thriller: People of the Lake by Nick Scorza (ARC review) | The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
Sci-Fi: Fourth World by Lyssa Chiavari | When We Wake by Karen Healey | While We Run by Karen Healey | Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse (ARC review)
Unwalled: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Adult: The Blind Mirror by Christopher Pike (thriller/mystery, sci-fi, supernatural, horror) | I Didn't Break the Lamp - Historical Accounts of Imaginary Acquaintances by Dawn Vogel et al. (supernatural)

Also, I posted 6 Review Morsels installments: the first featuring Nova Ren Suma, Seanan McGuire and Parker Peevyhouse; the second featuring Lauren Karcz, Rin Chupeco and Amelinda Bérubé; the third featuring Seanan McGuire, Matthew Green and T.E. Carter; the fourth featuring Rin Chupeco, Charles Yu and 'Nathan Burgoine; the fifth featuring Seanan McGuire, Naomi Hughes and M.E. Kerr; and the sixth featuring Ryan La Sala, Parker Peevyhouse and Rob Rufus (please note: some authors recur, but of course, with different books reviewed).

And finally, I posted 4 Rehabilitating YA installments, which are, for all purposes, mini-reviews batches: the first (with Afterlife books) featuring Christopher Pike, B.C. Johnson, C.W. Snyder and Kali Wallace; the second (with Supernatural/Paranormal/Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi books) featuring Erin Callahan & Troy H. Gardner, Diana Wynne Jones, Seanan McGuire, Peter Dickinson and Alison Goodman; the third (with Multiverse, Thriller/Mystery and Contemporary books) featuring A.W. Hill & Nathanael Hill, Adrienne Maria Vrettos, Joshua Winning, Erin Callahan, Jeri Smith-Ready and Sara Zarr; and the fourth (with Unwalled books - that is, books you can't label that easily) featuring Edward Aubry, Ilsa J. Bick, B.C. Johnson, Nova Ren Suma and E.S. Wesley.

d) Author interactions

Erin Callahan, Troy H. Gardner, Joshua Winning

REVIEW-WISE

The authors I usually have the privilege to review ARCs from were in writing/subbing/pitching mode this year, so I only got one book for review from them...but The Infernal Machine by C.W. Snyder will only feature on the blog in January. That's all, but hey, I'll have more to read next year LOL (if they still think I'm a valid asset for their work, that is 😉).

BETA-READING

In March, Erin Callahan (author of The Art of Escaping and long-time friend of my blog) asked me to beta-read the first chapters of her third solo YA effort (mock title: Horror Thingy 😂- its current title is Black Dog, White Rabbit though). Since my friend Carrie from Bright, Beautiful Things had read and loved Erin's first book, plus she's sort of a horror expert (despite her blog's name 😂), I advised Erin to enlist her help as well (and me and Carrie got to fangirl about that excerpt lately). In August, both me and Carrie were asked to beta-read the whole thing, and now we're anxiously waiting for deal news anytime, because it sounds like "YA horror" and the slightly bizarre category "YA set in college" (since NA is apparently a disgraced tag) are the things publishers are looking for right now, and this book is both!

In April, Erin's writing partner Troy H. Gardner did a making-the-cover feature on my blog for the revised edition of Tunnelville, the second installment in their collaborative, ongoing series Mad World (you can read my original review here, and the story of how the series came to be in 2012, went on hiatus and was finally slated for republishing, here). Seriously, folks...give this series a chance. It's a high-quality self-published contemporary, with magic, friendship, conspiracies, a dose of running-and-hiding and a lot of heart.

And finally, this is kind of a spoiler, but in November Joshua Winning (author of the Sentinel series and Vicious Rumer) was participating in NaNoWriMo, and I asked him what his new project was about, and he tweeted me back "Superstition prevents me from talking about it 🤐 But you’ll be one of the first people I ask to beta 😂", to which I was like 😮 and then 💃 because I didn't expect it at all LOL.

e) Discussion posts


Last year, apart from the prompts the generous Heidi provided us with in her Tell Me Something Tuesday feature, I barely conjured 4 discussion posts. This year, I posted 4 think-pieces/personal posts which could double as discussion posts. Can you see a pattern here? I didn't put any effort into it (though I did contribute to a handful of TMST prompts). I love discussion posts. I love to read what my friends have to say. But I didn't have the peace of mind, or the patience, or whatever, to come up with discussion prompts myself. Next year, though, I plan on reviving my old A Reader's Quirks series (see above)...so we'll see what happens. Here are this year's posts, in case you missed them (and despite the assertive titles, they do pose questions and are all open to your contribution!):

January: Giving It Our (He)art and Soul: Why Each and Every Blogger Is an Artist in Their Own Way
March: It's a Tough Job: Tales about Your Dream Career and More
June: Welcome to the Madness: Memoirs of an Italian Poll Clerk Pt.1
July: More Madness: Memoirs of an Italian Poll Clerk Pt.2

f) Real life


First off - I'm in awe of those of you who do weekly wrap-ups with all those real-life updates. My life is just about as interesting as watching paint dry. But there's something I want to talk about this time, so yeah...big deal alert LOL.

Twenty-four years ago, when I started to work as a radio host (or basically, a radio all-rounder...the only thing I don't do is clean up the place 😒), my boss told me he couldn't pay all the hours I was working at that stage, but one day soon, yadda yadda. Back then, I thought it would only be a temporary job, and then it would go back to being a hobby (most of us did a couple or four hours a week's worth of programs like that), so I agreed (which was stupid anyway, but I was young, and being a radio personality was a dream come true).

Fast forward a quarter of century, and I was still paid for 15 hours a week instead of 20 - plus, my boss is an asshole in so many ways, I won't even begin to list them here. But since I hate confrontations, even when I have the right ground (or even more so, because when I feel wronged I tend to go mad, and that is used against me as the "you have a temper" card, and things get ugly), I was boiling inside and still doing nothing...until one Friday my boss wronged me one time too many. I decided to take the smart approach then - I didn't immediately react in my usual incensed way, but I went home and spent the whole weekend rehearsing a balanced, clever speech for when I would go back to work on Monday, with which I would let him know that, after 24 years, if he couldn't afford to pay for all my time, I would have to work the time he actually paid me for. That was the longest weekend of my life, I tell you - all the time I was panicking inside. Thank goodness, my speech went better than I expected, maybe ALSO because my boss KNEW he was in the wrong, and given my non-confrontational attitude, he couldn't very well throw a tantrum...which he did a couple of days after for another matter, but I suspect it was more because he had previously been forced to swallow the I'm-going-to-work-the-hours-you-pay-me-for thing. Oh, well. I'm with stupid (and I don't mean it in a jovial way...).

So, since Sep. 30th, I'm only working 3 hours a day, five days a week. I would very much rather work 4 (or even 5) hours a day and get paid more, but at least I finally found the courage to stand my ground and I freed myself. After 24 years...

In other news - on Dec. 5th, the friend I told you about a while ago lost his brief battle with brain cancer (only 6 months long). To be honest, it was never a battle to begin with. The darned thing had probably been at work for years, and when he suddenly collapsed, there wasn't anything the doctors could do (they did try one cycle of chemo, but just because it's the thing you do in these cases - then they gave up, because he was getting worse by the day). He was a nice guy who went out of this way to please people - a rare thing these days. That's how I'll remember him.

Also, 5 days before my birthday, this happened...😭 😡


Of course, I decided I would get the implant in 2020, because I couldn't be bothered with dental work this time of the year 😣.

(For the record: my one and only tooth decay experience, which brought to the aforementioned filling - already replaced thrice since then - was exactly around these days in 2010...I had my tooth cured two days before my birthday, and went back for the filling the day after. So yeah, yay for celebrations... 😒).

Plus, I'm closing 2019 with my yearly laryngitis (yep, I catch one each and every year...) 😡 😭. Midway through my week off work last Thursday, I started nursing a spectacular cold, that lately evolved into a nasty cough, that in turn brought me to this. (And here I'm taking immune system boosters). Yay for the holidays...

Pt. 2: Goals for 2019


Last year, I closed my wrap-up with this statement:
"So...in 2019, I'll still be here. I'll still be scheduling. I'll still be trying to do my best. I'll still be visiting your blogs and liking your reviews on GR and retweeting your tweets and encouraging those of you who are having it rough, blog-wise or (more importantly) life-wise. Those are the only promises I can make, because I know I can keep them. Whatever happens, I'll be grounded. And ready. And still playing this wonderful blogging game 💗."
Well...I kept my word. I even did more than I thought I would be able to. I kept to my schedule even when I was tired. I made new blogging friends and I commented more consistently. I participated in my peeps' adventure and misadventures on Twitter. It might not sound like much, but to me, in my particular situation, it was. In the new year, I just vouch to be here and to do my best and to talk to you all, again. I might need a little more "me" time, but I'm not going anywhere, and I'll try to be a better friend, and should I be short of a post, so be it. It's thanks to you, and authors, and books of course, that I have an outlet that makes me feel alive and connected in a life that too often gives me lemons. So...where would I go? 😊

Pt. 3: Holidays Hiatus


I'm looking forward to enjoying a bit of relax over the holidays (unless my seasonal illness takes a turn for the worse). Not that I have anything fancy planned, especially since the friend at whose house we used to spend the 31st is the one who died from brain cancer. We'll probably end up going to the place, since it's still his companion house, to cheer her up a little - along with another friend of hers. Anyway, in other news, I'll be back on January 1st with my usual birthday/Christmas book-haul post! As you might know by now, since my birthday and Christmas are close to each other, every year in December I 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 ordered!

In the end...

"Merry Christmas!"

And a Happy New Year of course 😃.
Or Happy Holidays if you prefer!
See you next year! Take care 😘.

26 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a very eventful year! I’m sorry to hear about your friend :( Also, I hope you get well soon! Getting sick during this time of year is never fun. Hope your 2020 is full of success!

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  2. I love that you were thinking of me. *smooch* I laughed quite a few time as I read this post, but I cried towards the end here. I am so sorry you lost your friend. I also hope that you are able to recuperate during your "pause". As for weekly wrap ups, you should notice that most of mine is the books I hauled and read. I mostly just go to work and read, but if I did a monthly wrap up, that would be an obnoxious number of books to feature. I thinks it's awesome that you served as a beta reader and also that you finally spoke up for yourself at work. It may have taken a while, but at least you have been heard.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Who else should I think of, when I need a paradigm for a blogging superhero? 😉

      Nooo, you already have so many books that make you cry...I didn't mean to add to it! But since you also laugh, maybe you can forgive me 😉.

      Thank you!

      Delete
  3. I must admit that I would be happy to have posted 59 posts in a year as I only sometimes only post like 4-5 posts in a month. But you are way better at keeping a schedule than I am. I admire your scheduling skills.

    I haven't a clue about netgallery so I have no idea what you meant by percentage ratio but it sounds like you're doing well.

    I don't like confrontations either. Even if I'm in the right, it's hard. But I'm glad you did it. I don't have as much guts, frankly.

    I have never beta read before but it sounds like something I would like. Although I think I would rather beta read/test book covers, like giving them my opinion about why this cover needs this or don't need that but I don't think there's such a thing, is there?

    Anyway, it sounds like you did a lot of things and read a lot of books. I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading and blogging and life in general.

    Happy belated birthday! Have a happy and great new year. I keep wanting to use 'happy' in every greeting, so forgive me if I sound like a parrot.

    Have a lovely holiday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "I admire your scheduling skills."
      Thank you! It's simply something that's ingrained in me, it seems...

      "I haven't a clue about netgallery so I have no idea what you meant by percentage ratio but it sounds like you're doing well."
      NetGalley (along with Edelweiss) is one of the places where you can apply to read and review advanced reader copies (ARCs) or new-ish books. The publishers put their books up there, and you can choose those you think you might like and request them. If they think you're a good fit (or maybe even not...sometimes you get books from publishers who sound intimidating, or you have a small blog like mine but they choose you nevertheless...), they give you access to a file of the book that will expire at some point (usually in 54 days, I seem to remember). Your only requirement is to review the book somewhere (better if you have a blog), and you can be honest about it of course. Some of the books are in the "Read Now" section, which means you are automatically approved for them and can download the file at once. The only thing you need to do before you start requesting is to register on the site and create a profile (it's free). When you have requested a number of books and reviewed some (or all) of them, you get a ratio...like, if you have requested 4 books and have reviewed 3 so far, your ratio should be 75% (I don't know why mine is so screwed up LOL). Your goal is to keep your ratio above 80%, which should increase your chance to get approved for further requests.

      "I don't like confrontations either. Even if I'm in the right, it's hard. But I'm glad you did it. I don't have as much guts, frankly."
      LOL, I don't think I had guts, since I let almost a quarter of century slide by before I took action...but thanks! I'm sure that, for every one of us, it comes a day when we can't bear something anymore, guts or not...

      "I think I would rather beta read/test book covers, like giving them my opinion about why this cover needs this or don't need that but I don't think there's such a thing, is there?"
      Frankly, I don't know! But I don't think so. While it's the very author who asks some trusted people to beta-read, the same author has usually no say in the cover...so I assume the publishers hire a professional and deal with that person themselves.

      "I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading and blogging and life in general."
      Thank you! You too! And thanks as always for your long comments - I love each comment, big or small, but I'm grateful that you always seem to find the time to talk to me so much 😘.

      Delete
    2. And I forgot! Happy Holidays!

      Delete
    3. Thank you for explaining about NetGalley though I doubt I would be using it. I doubt I can write reviews that easily even if I do like the book.

      Have a lovely new year!

      Delete
  4. These long posts are honestly my favourite ones. Sometimes I read them in stages, and other times I just plow right on through, but I love your writing voice so much.
    Congratulations on achieving your blogging goals - that's awesome! I just posted my 63rd for the year, so we're comparable! ;)
    I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties, and your friend, though. Grief is hard no matter what time of year, but I think it can really hit us especially hard around the holidays.
    I'm so glad you stood up for yourself at work!
    Heal up, enjoy your birthday and Christmas, and I hope 2020 brings you good health, happiness, and much blogging success!

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    1. "I love your writing voice so much".
      😊 😘

      Congratulations on your 63 posts! especially since it's hard to keep going when you're still rather new (yep, I know, you started in 2017, but I remember how it was for me during my first three or four years) and trying to find your audience. And after reading your latest posts, I have to double my congratulations, because you had such an eventful year...not always in the best way.

      "I hope 2020 brings you good health, happiness, and much blogging success!"
      Same! And thank you always for reading.

      Delete
  5. Yay! Congrats on topping your post numbers from last year! I'm so happy you had such a great experience with NetGalley. I never thought I would like it as much as I do either, but it really brings something special to blogging to be able to review ARCs.

    Thank you so much for the lovely mentions! The irony of my blog name and my horror addiction has definitely not been lost on me. 😂 I might do it differently if I started again, but it suited my intentions for the blog at the time--and as with all things, they shifted somewhat over time.

    More congrats for standing up to your boss! You go, girl! I'm so, so sorry to hear about your friend. 😔 It's been a hard year for deaths in the family for me too, and there is nothing that makes that easier.

    It's been another wonderful year of blogging friendship, and I look forward to many more. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 💛

    ReplyDelete
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    1. "it really brings something special to blogging to be able to review ARCs".
      As much as I love to give backlist books the spotlight they deserve (which was my aim since I started blogging), it does! I was especially glad to be part of the discourse about Reverie. I hope that book will get the attention it deserves.

      "It's been a hard year for deaths in the family for me too".
      Oh, I didn't know that (though you mentioned on GR that you were having a hard year). I'm really sorry!

      "It's been another wonderful year of blogging friendship, and I look forward to many more".
      Same here! It's been a privilege to get to know you and to talk to you on a regular basis, not to mention, to buddy-read with you. Have a wonderful Christmas and an awesome new year! 😘

      Delete
  6. So in addition to your annual cold you also have an annual dental emergency?

    And how dare you get 133% on Netgalley and make me look like a loser with 113%???!!! Netgalley is one of life's great mysteries lol

    This was such a weird year for me. I'm so out of sorts. Some things are great and some things are so dramatically opposite of my plans for the future that I'm having a hard time adjusting.

    You're doing great with the blogging though! The # of posts but also you seem happier about it. I'm glad because I wouldn't want to lose you here.

    Karen @ For What It's worth

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    1. "So in addition to your annual cold you also have an annual dental emergency?"
      LOL, not annual, but still - it likes this time of the year.

      I know it's been hard for you, but on the other hand, you got some nice surprises from the new place, and once you have overcome Fonzi's health emergency, things will start to look up in all departments, I'm sure!

      "You're doing great with the blogging though! The # of posts but also you seem happier about it. I'm glad because I wouldn't want to lose you here."
      Awww, you won't! I'm happy about it, and maybe happier this year, as you said - and it's all because of the new friends I'm making, the ones who stick with me, the authors who give me a chance, the ones who don't know me but write wonderful books for me to review. Blogging seems more meaningful each year, and I need something like that in my life.

      Delete
  7. Merry Christmas!
    I'm glad to hear you stood up for yourself at work and are only working the hours you are paid for. The fact you worked extra hours for so long with no additional compensation is outrageous!
    I'm sorry you have to start your new year with dental work though. That sucks.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. What can I say? My boss makes a living out of exploiting weaknesses in the system LOL. It was just my fault that I let him do the same to me for so long.

      Thank you, and Happy Holidays!

      Delete
  8. I have no idea how or why NetGalley works the way it does! I wish they told you WHY you were being declined, but it usually says to "check these things," which isn't very helpful. I'm sorry it took 24 years of you doing extra work, but I'm happy you were able to stand up for yourself! I shall toast to your bravery and honor! ;)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? ☃💬

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    1. "it usually says to "check these things," which isn't very helpful".
      Uh. Now I can't wait to be declined, so I'll be able to see what "these things" would be in my case haha.

      "I shall toast to your bravery and honor! ;)"
      LOL, thank you hon! That put a smile on my face 😄.

      Delete
  9. Congrats on 7 years plus! That's awesome. I didn't do a lot of reviews this year either, seems like. I haven't added them up to see for sure but it seems like I did a lot of other kinds of posts instead lol.

    I hope the beta reading goes well, I like the idea of more YA-set-in-college (it's a shame NA had to get so typecast or whatever) and even YA horror sounds kinda fun (even though I don't generally go for horror, I do like a good scare/ suspenseful read). :)

    I am so sorry to hear about your friend. And I hope you are feeling better soon!!

    I'm glad I made your acquaintance this year, and I hope you have a fabulous New Year!

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    1. Let's hope next year we'll both get the chance/feel like reviewing more, but regardless, we had no shortage of posts (you especially). So I guess we didn't do so bad after all! 😉

      Yeah, NA could have been so much more...

      Thank you! And the feeling is mutual! I hope you'll have an awesome 2020 😃.

      Delete
  10. Honestly, I think 16 reviews a year is a wonderful number, and I'm happy Netgalley has worked for you so well! I don't even want to go back to look at the number of books I reviewed. I all but stopped requesting books from netgalley and edelweiss, and haven't accepted any review requests we've gotten via email, so there was no need to review books. I did a couple of mini reviews and a few full reviews, but not much. I far better enjoyed doing recommendations, discussions, lists etc. - basically, anything but reviews, haha. I only reviewed what I felt like reviewing.

    "It might not sound like much" - Don't say that, it does sound like much to me! What I see is you setting goals for yourself and completing them basically every year, which is incredible. :)

    Even though the job situation could have turned out better, it's still good that you're now paid for the amount of hours you do, instead of working for free. That situation was infuriating. :| I hope you're feeling better and aren't ill anymore. :)

    Have a wonderful 2020!

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    Replies
    1. It's funny how we're all in it for the reviews, and at the end of the day...it's the thing we write less often 😂. Of course, they get less traction than the other posts, but it's also because they are HARD to write. Minis are a nice compromise though (of course, when I do a mini, it's only a temporary thing unless I get to the full review LOL. But there's nothing wrong in doing minis and stick to them when they're done well, which is your case 🙂).

      You sound like you have fun with your lists and recs, so why not? That's the recipe for interesting (and successful) posts!

      "What I see is you setting goals for yourself and completing them basically every year, which is incredible. :)"
      Thank you! I guess you're right! I needed the perspective 😘.

      Delete
  11. Congrats on hitting your blogging goals as well! And I'm glad you're enjoying netgalley :)
    I'm so sorry about your work situation- I know all about bad bosses (unfortunately) so I feel your pain. But that's amazing you found the courage to stand your ground!!! Good for you!!!
    So sorry about your friend <3
    Hope you had a lovely birthday and holiday! Happy New Year! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh. I'm sorry you know about bad bosses firsthand.

      Thank you, and I hope you're having an awesome new year as well!

      Delete

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