2023 Wrap-Up: In Which I Bend but Don't Break

Hello my beauties!

Welcome to my last post of the year, where I will wrap my 2023 up. Seriously...I'm copying the following part of this intro from last year's post, because...same? down to the number of Review Morsels installments I posted...

"This was a DISASTROUS year, on all counts. Life was a mess; blogging was (consequently) slow and highly irregular. I had to sit it out for a while, and I ended up writing only a VERY small number of full reviews (though I did post ten Review Morsels installments)."

(Please note: I only wrote my first full review of 2023 in May...).

I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise, since my problems are ongoing and nothing really changed since last year, but...it's disheartening. Anyhow, I'm still here, which should probably be regarded as a success, all things considered (but since I would literally have NOTHING GOOD in my life if I didn't blog, probably not...I mean, of course I'll never leave this gig) - hence this post's title. And without further ado, here goes my 2023 recap...

Pt. 1: This Year in Blogging

As of today, I've been blogging for 11 (!!!!!) 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 an off-blog, real-life section!

Offbeat Offline: November 2023 (Plus Announcing a Short Hiatus)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? A major health setback and the worst hair incident ever (now resolved though), plus I did nothing productive...nor did I read. I was constantly angry or tired or both, and I don't know where the time went...I felt like I was always busy without getting anything done, or too sapped (and, did I mention angry?) to accomplish anything even after doing the bare minimum (and to be honest, I ended up embracing the couldn't-care-less attitude as a defense mechanism, and spent most of my time vegetating in front of my computer...). Even blogging and blog-hopping were a strain, which is why I'm planning a short hiatus (I HATE the idea of going on a hiatus in December, so I'll grit my teeth and produce my usual end-of-the-year recap at the end of the month...). So...November sucked. BUT! at least I saw my man David Tennant in the first Doctor Who special for the show's 60th birthday (!!!!!), and that brought me SO MUCH JOY. Bless you David, I love you too much for words 😭🧡.

(On a side note, I got my flu and Covid vaccines. How come the flu one is always painless while the Covid one always makes my arm hurt? Not terribly, but still. Is it the same with you?).