What’s a blogging slump?

A slump is a slowdown in an activity. I always imagined a blogging slump to be that cosy, lazy process when you simply don’t want to focus on your blog and choose to focus on something else. Turns out, it’s not always true. I simply had to do other things, but I was really missing my blog and the community. So hi guys, how are you?

The other end of the tunnel

Now when I’m back I thought I’d turn this experience into a positive one summing up those things I noticed while trying to return. I’ll also ask you some questions and if you want to reply to any of them, please, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. My hope is that both the post and the comments will be helpful to other people who are going through similar situations.

Here is how it was for me

I dreaded returning to a project that remained untouched for so long

I think it was one of the main obstacles that kept me away for longer. I felt as if I’d been neglecting a hungry monster and it could now eat me up when I’d finally turn up at the doors. Luckily, it was a mistake. No monsters behind the doors, just dear old blog and lots of familiar people in the comments and Twitter replies.

Replying to comments and messages

This has been my main priority because it’s the people I’m here for. They did help me get back on track.

Something super exciting happened while I was away

I’ve been featured in an article called The 19 Best Book Blogs to Read in 2019 by Scribendi!!!

Of course, I’m over the moon about it, and it also encouraged me to come back here sooner.

My genius plan on how to avoid such long breaks in the future

I’ll try to schedule several posts ahead so that if the trouble does happen again I will be able to still stay connected with everybody while not having to spend time on writing new posts.

Questions to you

• What’s your experience with blog slumps or any other long breaks in your projects?
• Do you dread returning to a project after you have stayed away for some time?
• What is the thing you try to address first once you do return?
• Has anything exciting ever happened to the project while you were away? Did it help you return?
• Do you think there’s a way to avoid slumps?

Hope to hear back from you! Wishing you inspiration and enough time to do what you love doing!

If you want to chat more, here’s my first post with blogsitential questions.

December was unusual. I dropped more books than I had ever dropped in one month. Probably, thanks to this attitude I ended up mostly liking all other books I read. Here they are. Click the links for more information about the books.

1. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

It’s a beautifully written family story and my most favourite book of 2018. It will be out in the summer 2019. I’ve also published my full review of the book and I also talked about this book in my other post.

2. No Motive by Daphne du Maurier

It’s a fast-paced and gripping short story. If you want to know why a perfectly happy woman just shot herself, read the story.

3. The Familiars by Stacey Halls

This is a historical novel about a woman who’s trying to save herself, her baby and her friend. The book will be out soon!

4. Patrick Melrose novels

There are five novels about Patrick Melrose. At least the first three focus on just a few short events that illustrate Patrick’s whole life.

Never Mind is about Patrick’s childhood.

Bad News is about Patrick in his 20s.

Some hope is about Patrick when he’s 30.

5. Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagán

I didn’t like the book, but I quite liked the protagonist, although Maggie was slightly too needy. People seemed to have enjoyed my review.

6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

A nice story about two teenage boys who are discovering love and life.

7. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

This is a story about a book store owner. It’s basically a library in a form of fiction.

The three books that I did not finish

Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb

I hoped it would be a gothic scary story but it turned out to be a not very well written chick lit.

The Dry by Jane Harper

I liked Force of Nature, another thriller by Jane Harper, but I couldn’t finish The Dry. There is lots of fuss but no meaningful action. I got bored by the middle of the book so I dropped it.

The Bette Davis Club by Jane Lotter

I got the book because of a heartwarming introduction. This novel was initially self-published. The author didn’t live to see the book picked up by the publisher. The description is also intriguing. It’s a story about an aunt whose niece ran away from her own wedding so the aunt and the groom set off on an adventure to find her. Unfortunately, the book lost its logic by the middle. It also started focusing too much on unnecessary details and the protagonist started behaving very implausibly. That’s when I quit to give time to other books.

That is it for December. My January already started with something I liked and something I didn’t. I will tell you more soon. Meanwhile, here are some other posts where I mention several books at once.

Books I read in September
Books I read in October
November was awesome!
If somebody asked me what to read

1. What We Buried by Kate A. Boorman

I won this book in a Giveaway organised by Lili @ Utopia State Of Mind. Thank you Lili! I had no idea I was in for such a treat! The book will be out in the end of February, so I will post my review later. I can say now that I’m starting to suspect I’m still a young adult, because it’s yet another young adult novel that I have liked really much. It’s surreal and absolutely gripping! It tells a story about very complicated family relationships. The book is not without its flaws but it’s very entertaining.

2. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Sarah Perry was my love at the first line. I am enjoying reading her stories even when nothing spectacular is happening for half a book. I am fine with the lack of action if the writing is that good. But I do know some bloggers (hello Wellreadtart ) who might strongly dislike the book for this very reason. I think The Essex Serpent is what they call a slow burn. It burns slowly, but oh so beautifully .

3. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I’m still reading this book, and I have to say I am treading the story very carefully because I have a lurking suspicion I might abandon it eventually. This book did absolutely nothing to deserve this, but it reminds me a chic lit genre which has repeatedly disappointed me recently. Meanwhile the story is quite charming. It’s a story about book sales rep and a book shop owner. It has so many different books mentioned that I keep taking notes not only about the book itself but about the books that are mentioned there.

4. Patrick Melrose novels #3 and #4

I grew very much attached to Patrick, a character with a very difficult childhood, a history of drug addiction, and with some hope for a better future. I’m less than two novels away from the end of his story, so no matter what happens in the books I am not going to quit. But, as you see, I still haven’t posted a review of Some Hope, Patrick Melrose novel #3. That’s because Edward St. Aubyn’s talent to write a whole novel based on just a few events reached unbearable levels in this third book. It’s a curious case of a book that you read for a long time, but afterwards can’t say much about. I’m reading the fourth novel now, called Mother’s Milk where Patrick is even older, and the author gives the book a new perspective that I’m not sure I’m happy about.

If you are curious, here are my reviews of the first two novels: Never Mind, Patrick Melrose novel #1 and Bad News, Patrick Melrose novel #2.

5. The Turning, short stories by Tim Winton

Can you tell me how it is possible that short stories are losing popularity? At least, that’s what I heard. I mean, people seem to prefer short Twitter messages over longer blog posts but they still don’t like it when a whole story is told very shortly and thus it is even more focused and intense?

Anyway, back to the topic. I’ve read a few short stories from The Turning and I loved them. They are very atmospheric and thought-provoking. My only little problem with them is the writing, which is very abrupt. It’s obviously just a style so I can’t hold it against the book.

That is it for these first five days of the fresh new year. I’m wishing you happy reading. Tell me what you are reading right now if you want to chat.

If you are interested in similar posts from previous months, here they are:

Reading books in December
Currently reading in November
Currently reading (a post from October)

I mentioned some of the awesome bloggers in my Notes Of A Newbie In The Blogosphere post, but there are, of course, many more amazing people out there. For example, there are authors who I know from Twitter. They are such great company! They are always there if you want to talk about books, or anything else. Here are their Twitter accounts so that you can meet them too: Carmel Hanes, Kevin Ansbro, Nikki Copleston, Julie U. Brown, Eugene Fournier, C.R. Dudley, Simon Farnell, Danielle Koste, Leta Patton, Johanna Saariluoma, C. M. Thompson, Chloé Douglas.

I’d like to thank all my subscribes and people who regularly visit my blog to read my posts. You are my daily inspiration! 

I used to dream about a book club nearby where I could discuss books with other people. It turns out, I don’t need such a club anymore because I have all of you here. The whole world became my book club. Thank you for your wonderful company!

I’m wishing all the best for you in the New Year! Let all our dreams come true in 2019!

1. Setting reading goals

Goodreads is the largest platform for all book loving people. There are book reviews, ratings, discussions. It’s like Facebook but with a higher purpose. You can also set your goals there, but they are only about the number of books you are hoping to read in a year. Thus, people try to reach goals of 60, 100, or even 300 books a year!

When people started sharing their end-of-the-year presentations made by Goodreads, it looked very appealing. There were stats, collages and some fun info about the books. I got really excited. I thought, that’s it! Next year, I’m definitely taking up the challenge! I was thinking of 120 books a year, maybe? But then I picked up The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry… A few days ago I said that reading ten pages of Perry’s novel takes the same time as reading a whole young adult novel. I wasn’t exaggerating. It takes time to unravel all the beauty of Perry’s novel. Hurrying through the lines is simply robbing yourself.

And what about Patrick Melrose, the character from the novels by Edward St Aubyn? I’m really interested in his life, I can’t let him go. I also can’t read these books fast. They are short but I have to take breaks, to recuperate from what I’ve just read. Will I have to give up on all this just because I want to read a certain amount of books? I don’t think so … It’s a nice feeling to have read many books, but if there are no Perry or Patrick among those books, I don’t want to be reading at all.

2. Book review posts

Obviously, I’m not going to give up on writing book review posts. I love writing them, people love reading them. Although, according to my statistics, people love reading some other posts even more. My Why I Love My Book Blog post and Notes Of a Newbie In The Blogosphere one are the most read ones, while my review of Melmoth didn’t receive that much attention.

So, is just a review alone enough, or should it be something more than that?

3. Praising a book

Of course, I will continue raving about the books I loved (as well as criticising those I didn’t). But tell me, how often did it happen to you that you picked up a largely praised book and were just as largely disappointed? How much of this disappointment came from anticipation and excitement?

I absolutely loved The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis. (There’s no review yet, but I wrote a bit about the book.) I can’t keep the excitement to myself, but I do wonder if I will be responsible for someone’s too high expectations.

Am I overthinking it all or you also have blogsistential questions once in a while?

I decided that I’ll just show you some of my favourite book pictures that I took for the blog. Looking at pictures is always easier than reading a text, especially on days when you just want to relax.

Here are the photos. If you click the titles you’ll get to my reviews of the books.

1. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

(There are more photos of Usyaka and the book.)

2. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

3. Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

4. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

There’s no review because I haven’t read the book yet. (And taking into account my unfortunate experiment with reading fantasy, I’m not sure how soon I will read this one). There’s still this nice wintery photo

5. The Birds and other stories by Daphne du Maurier

Here’s the review of The Birds.

And here are the reviews of the other stories.

6. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

7. Melmoth by Sarah Perry

8. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

9. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

10. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

This book will be one of my first reads in 2019, so come back soon to read the review!

1. Acronyms and jargon of the blogging world

Life is short and book bloggers know it. There are only that many books that one can read and that many posts that one can write, so it’s only logical to contract as many words as possible and to invent new terms for things.

Here’s the translation:

‘Sorry, I’ve been out of touch.’
‘Have you been finishing all the books you planned to read?’
‘I wish. I just bought tons of new books instead. You? Are you still stuck in this state when you don’t feel like reading anymore?’
‘Yeah, I dropped most of my advance reading copies of young adult and new adult genres’

Yes, it was definitely longer to type.

It takes time to learn all the terms and abbreviations. Once I got so desperate that I started googling for some list of all these terms. Turns out one blogger did compose a list of popular terms and acronyms!

(It actually means: “I’m writing a book of a young adult genre”)

2. To be or not to be a reviewer who posts negative reviews

Apparently, it’s a popular dilemma in the blogging world. This question reappears on Twitter several times a week and it always causes heated debates and attracts attention.

Just a few months ago I naively believed that a book reviewer is a person who reviews books. Apparently, it’s not that simple. Some book reviewers are actually book praisers. They openly state they will never give a book a negative review. They say they don’t want to hurt authors’ feelings.

I actually think they also don’t want to hurt the publishers’ feelings as well, because they are afraid to be cut off from the free supplies of reading copies. So much for “in exchange for my honest review”.

Meanwhile, there are several reasons why negative reviews are needed.

• A negative review still gives a book more exposure that no review at all.
• A negative review helps making future books better.

These are not my primary reasons for writing negative reviews, though. I am here to express any opinion: negative, positive or mixed. There’s nothing like putting your feelings into words. If I can’t get this satisfaction from my blog, I don’t see why bother having a blog at all. (So subscribe to my blog for obviously honest reviews )

3. Paper vs Digital vs Audio format

Another popular debate is on which books count as real books, or which books give a better feeling of books. In fact, whenever somebody brings this topic up, there will be some feedback. Long before anybody read my blog, I wrote my own opinion on paper vs digital copy too. I still like that post, so you can read it now, and tell me what you think.

Now, 4.5 months into my blogging life, I can summarise my updated opinion as: paper books are pretty, Kindle books are practical, audiobooks are a lifesaver if for some reason you can’t use the previous two.

4. Fantastic followers and where to find them

Of course I knew bloggers want to be read. Otherwise, why post anything online at all? But I hadn’t imagined the scale of this wish before I started blogging. For some, gaining followers becomes the most important thing. It’s almost like currency. People give it to each other, and some think others owe them “a follow” if they followed first. They can even withdraw their “follow” if they haven’t received the “follow-back” they expected! I wonder if dictionaries already added an extra meaning to the word “follow” because it’s definitely not just about reading something interesting anymore.

Meanwhile, another surprising thing is that more followers don’t automatically change anything for a blog. Google (and other search engines) are still the primary judges of how visible a blog should be. Followers are there to have fun conversations with. I love my conversations with: Sarah, Stephen, CJ, Herding Cats, Brittany, Melissa, Silver Screenings, CJStark, NS, Inge, Bella G. Bear, Norrie, Ova, Umut, Eva, Kelly, Evelina, Fay, Jee. I wrote them down from memory!

There are more things I noticed and found surprising as a newbie. I’ll write about them later, if anybody (including me) gets interested in the topic. Let’s keep in touch in the meantime. Subscribe to my blog, if you are not subscribed already, or just remember where to find me and come back soon!

The books I’ve finished

1. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

I enjoyed absolutely everything about the book: its story, characters, writing. The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt is a story about a family in a little town in the South of the US. The action takes place both in modern times and in the year 1929. The writing is amazing! I’ve collected several pages of quotes! The characters are very realistic, multilayered and alive. If you like literary and historical fiction, and family stories, you will definitely like this book.

The book will be published only in July 2019. I feel bad for making you excited about the book that you can’t get right now. I will, of course, remind you about the book closer to the publication date, when I post my full review of it. If you are not sure you’ll be reading blogs then, maybe it’s a good idea to pre-order the book now.

2. No Motive by Daphne du Maurier

No Motive is a short story from The Rendezvous and Other Stories collection. I picked it up when I was looking for something really good after a book that had disappointed me. I expected No Motive to be a decent well-written story, but du Maurier, again, did much better than that. I really don’t know how she managed to pick up a shocking idea, to knit it, thread by thread, into a perfect story, and to create not only a gripping plot but a logical and clear ending.

Here’s how the story begins:

Mary Farren went into the gun room one morning about half-past eleven, took her husband’s revolver and loaded it, then she shot herself.

Marry Farren was happy. She was expecting a baby, loved her husband, and no people who talked to her that day suspected that anything that horrible could happen. Why did it happen? Read the story to find out

3. The Familiars by Stacey Halls

I expected to be annoyed by the situations in the story, and indeed I was. That doesn’t mean, though, that the book is bad. On the contrary, it means, the book is very good.

It’s a story about Fleetwood, a 17-year-old wife of a noble person living in the year 1692. She’s going through her new pregnancy, she miscarried all the times before. Fleetwood has reasons to worry that either she or her baby, or both of them, won’t survive the childbirth. She’s desperate to give an heir to her husband. She meets Alice, a girl who knows a lot about herbs that can help, and so now there’s a hope that Fleetwood and her baby will live. Unfortunately, a friend of the family found a way to climb up a political ladder by inventing an enemy for the kingdom (as you can see these tactics are as old as the history itself). This time the enemies are witches, i.e. any clever, peculiar or just uncomfortable women. That’s when the story starts to unfold.

I found the story very gripping. I couldn’t put it down and hated when anything was distracting me from the book. If you are looking for an interesting, historical story about women doing their best to survive in a society that treats them like cattle (it’s my personal interpretation), you will like this book.

The Familiars will be published soon, there are only two months to go. You can pre-order the book now. I will remind you about the book when I post my full review of it (so subscribe to the blog, if you are not subscribed yet).

The books I’m currently reading

1. The first novel about Patrick Melrose, called Never Mind

When I first started reading the novel I was really impressed by its humour and writing. Soon I realised it wasn’t that funny at all. In a witty and cynical way the book describes the lives of several aristocratic and very dysfunctional couples, while Patrick Melrose is still a kid. There are all kinds of abuse and violence going on between family members and friends. It’s not there to merely attract attention to the book. The events that are described, are indispensable for the plot and the characters. Never Mind a very well-written book for those who can stand reading about violence for the sake of a story.

2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

I was attracted by the description of the book. It’s a story about a blue-skinned woman (and such people really existed!) who’s traveling to distant places with her library, trying to spread the power of books while facing and fighting prejudices. It’s still too early to say something certain about the book, but I’m starting to suspect that I will dislike some aspects of it. I will know for sure by the end of the month so I will tell you if my suspicions were correct.

This is also “a book from the future”. It will be released in May 2019 but you can pre-order it now. The full review will also be published in spring.

3. Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagán

Theoretically, this book isn’t my type. It’s a chick lit genre, a genre that focuses on a woman manoeuvring through everyday life situations that include troubles with men, children or girlfriends. Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is about Maggie, an average woman who’s facing quite usual struggles of a not so young anymore person. Her husband left her as a result of his own midlife crisis. Her children are grown-ups and have their own lives and interests. She’s fifty-three, but the last time she felt happy or noticed was when she was in her thirties.

I would have never picked this book up, had it been not for the style of writing. From the first pages I’ve been able to hear a true voice of a real person, and it’s interesting to simply listen to her. There’s a lot of self-irony, and even humour at times. Basically, I’m reading this book because I like Maggie’s personality. I’m not sure what I will eventually say about the book but so far it’s been a good companion.

The book I decided not to finish

It’s Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb. The book is shelved under mystery, gothic and thriller genres but these are not the book’s primary genres. In its core it’s chick lit and romance. There is a woman, betrayed by her husband, a tall handsome stranger with a deep voice, a newborn baby, and some love stories.

Was this book better written, I would have still carried on with it. Unfortunately, it’s not. For example, it has a bad case of “somehow” infestation. Here are a few examples:

…a voice she had never heard but somehow knew…

…she knew somehow that she would always be safe with it.

Somehow, he always knew.

…these small stones somehow carried the spirit of the lake…

… the harsh winter that surrounded the town but somehow didn’t penetrate it.

… her ghostly shape, somehow translucent and solid at the same time.

It feels dangerous, somehow.

It smelled of the past somehow.

I had both audio and digital version of the book. The audiobook is even worse than the actual book. The narrator smiles through the book, even when something boring or dreadful is happening.

Wendy Webb published many novels, which makes me think people need her books, so I’m just not the right reader for her stories.

That’s how my December is going. I’m off to compose a list of noteworthy books that I’ve read this year, so come back soon!

PS: Do you like the forest photo at the top? It’s mine . I took it years ago. The one at the top of the post about books I read in November is also mine.

1. Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

Bitter Orange is supposed to be really good. I heard only praise for it. Strangely enough, every time I try to read it I can’t follow the narration. I probably overdosed on sophisticated stories, and now I need to read something light first. In order not to spoil this book for myself I haven’t read any descriptions. I can only share its photos with you.

(An update: you can now read my review of Bitter Orange.)

2. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver is a big step for me. It’s meant to be my return to reading fantasy! The writing is so nice and intriguing, I’m finding it hard to stick to my original plan, which is to read this book somewhere where there’s snow and a fireplace.

The story is about a young woman who helps her family out of debt. That attracts the attention of various people and causes her some problems. I refrained from reading more of the blurb in order to escape spoilers. If you want to learn more, you’ll have to either google or wait till I read it.

3. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Bone Gap wasn’t in my original order of the books with beautiful covers. I was attracted to the cover first, obviously. When I saw “magical realism” in the description, I knew I had to get this book.

Here’s a summary of the description:

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. Finn knows Roza was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember.

Intrigued yet? I am!

(An update: I read the book. Here’s my review of Bone Gap.)

I’ll be telling you more about all these books soon. I first need to finish the awesome short stories by Daphne du Maurier.

Here’s a spoiler about my review – I will be raving about the book!

(An update: here are my reviews of The Birds, and the short stories.)

Subscribe to my blog, leave the links to your blogs, let’s keep in touch!

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov has not arrived yet

I’m crying for the lost Master just like Margarita on the cover. The Master and Margarita eloped, possibly to Moscow, to recreate havoc and disorder yet again in that place. Book Depository kindly promised to send me a replacement so I’m patiently waiting for that awesomeness to finally reach my place.

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

That’s the only book from the ordered ones that I’ve finished so far. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock turned out to be as gorgeous as its cover. Here’s my review and more photos of the book.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Of course, I’ve already peeked inside, and of course it is amazing. I’m starting to think that Sarah Perry will become my next favourite female author. (So far this title has been kept by Margaret Atwood only).

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

I really liked the sample of My Cousin Rachel. The writing is deep and beautiful. The book starts with boys observing a corpse of a hanged man swinging on the rope. What can be a better story for November? This book led me to discover more books by du Maurier, and as a result I learned some curious facts about her works. I’ll talk about them soon.

The Birds And Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

The Birds is a novelette by Daphne du Maurier. I loved it so much I was amazed! My first reaction was one of a surprise. Why didn’t I know more about du Maurier?! I felt like I found an author to fall head over heels in love with! I went to explore more about her and found a few unexpected interesting stories. I’m still in the middle of my research so I can’t tell you my final conclusion yet, but it looks like Daphne du Maurier was outstandingly good at retelling other authors’ stories. I’m currently reading a novel called The Birds, written by Frank Baker and published 16 years prior to The Birds by du Maurier. The ideas behind both books are identical. I’ll tell you more about it in future posts. (So don’t forget to subscribe if you are not subscribed yet. )

That will be it for now. I’ll post the photos of Bitter Orange and Spinning Silver later. I’m also expecting a few more books with beautiful covers, which I haven’t told you about yet, so stay tuned!