August 2019 reveries: Wow, I’m not crazy, the blog is 5!

 

Two wrap up posts in a row! I’m doing better! Except, there hasn’t been much else on the blog this month. Yikes.

I create content for a living for others so in the middle of all that, I kept putting off writing articles for my own blog. I wouldn’t call it a slump, because there hasn’t been a lack of motivation. It’s just I’ve been really busy. There are truly not enough hours in the day to do it all.

But the blog is 5 years old and I’m excited for yet another year of blogging, because I enjoy having this space too much! (More on this in a minute!)

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Life: I’m in a good place contributing to my community

I’d been having a not so nice time before, but there’s plenty of stuff to keep me busy and I’m so excited about a lot of things that are happening soon! For example, my city’s annual book fair is in September and along with a group of other readers and some booktubers, we made a proposal to include more events for teens.

The goal is to -subtly?- open a dialogue in our community about the importance of YA literature, and the validation of teen readers, and their tastes in literature. Again, all are valid.

 

Books: Do I really intend to read the whole Throne of Glass series?

Oh man, I’m so second-guessing my decision now. I wrote a review for Queen of Shadows, the link which I’m leaving below, but I don’t know… I seem to have run out of energy for this story. I started Empire of Storms but I paused there to read other things.

• Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas ★★★★

Books read, not reviewed

 

The Hating Game | : I absolutely love enemies-to-lovers stories. It never gets old for me. And I had so much fun with this one! I admit that going over it now some parts are a bit weird, but I have to give it to this book, SO MUCH FUN.

Kulti | : I’d gone into this book expecting to be blown away, but it was just… boring. And bizarre. I kept waiting for the magical connection between the characters. (I waited a lot because she’s made slow burn her brand), but when it was there, it was more like a sputtering flame than fireworks.

Act Like It | : Act Like It was this feel-good book that I enjoyed, but wasn’t that memorable, you know. So, three, because it was good, but not great.

Lies | : Doesn’t he look like John Wick?! I know, right? I had to read it. But I have to agree with other reviews I read, it’s not… great. It was entertaining, but it has some glaring flaws, and some things that left me wondering about how believable this was.

The Best Thing | : Opposed to the other Mariana Zapata book I read this month, The Best Thing was quite good. It kept things interesting, even though it took a while to really get going too. But once it did? There were plenty of hilarious and sweet moments!

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Blogging: Omg, this thing is 5 years old

It’s a staggering realization to suddenly see 5 years have gone by, and you’re still torn between wanting throw a mega party, but also want to huddle quietly in a corner because you feel you could’ve done better. Impostor syndrome is no joke. In fact I wanted to write something longer on that and I’m hoping to publish it soon. Meanwhile, I just wanted to acknowledge it, because I’m pretty sure it’s not just me.

It’s been a rewarding experience

Even though blogging takes its toll emotionally, it also has allowed me to grow. As much as it’s given me envy and insecurity, it’s also given me the confidence and strength to fight that. And it has bled onto my personal life as well. I wear the blogger badge with pride, and communicate better now thanks to it.

It has allowed me to fall in love with a career path, and have a true passion for my job, which is something I value a lot. I’ve had the opportunity to meet amazing people, both online and off.

Wow, I’m not crazy

I thought the song was super fitting, all things considered (I’m leaving it at the end of the post!). I remember when people began commenting on my blog posts, and first felt like I belonged to something. Like I was forming bonds and friendships. Each new person I’m able to interact with on a regular basis is so treasured. I may not always realize this, because I’m so busy all the time. But when I stop to really think about it, about people coming back to my blog, when before there was no one? It’s so wonderful. It makes me so happy.

The blog in numbers

I debated for a while whether to share some of my stats. I thought about when sometimes I’d see others stats when they shared it. I’d get happy for them, but also feel like I wasn’t doing enough with my own blogging efforts. I don’t know where you’re at in your journey, and wherever that is, you’re doing an awesome job. If you’ve got people reading your words, you can build from there. I’m doing this thing when I’m no longer ashamed of my stats, and I’m positive about those pesky numbers.

In a previous blogoversary post I shared my stats. It was 2016 I think. I did it, I shared them because I wanted to prove to myself it was alright. They were just numbers. And now I share them for the same reason.

Yes, it’s wild.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve got some posts written in spanish on my blog. They’re all related to writing, and they exploded. That’s where most of the traffic is coming from. These lovely people are not bloggers, so they don’t really leave comments, but they’re happy to subscribe to my email list so I can continue to send them writing tips and more awesome content.

So, I tell you all this because I grew my blog, but maybe not in the way I expected? I totally didn’t expect this. This is the reason why my blog is kinda bilingual. I like posting reviews and book discussions for my english-speaking friends, but I also have a lot to say in spanish about writing, and people who I’m so happy to help. Sometimes they overlap, because some people who come here for a writing post end up reading more, and stumbling upon the reviews, which is awesome. And I also tend to rile up my spanish-speaking friends about new books so they can get excited for when they’re translated!

I still wonder if it’s the right thing to keep both in one, but yeah.

Blogging took a turn for me that I’d have never seen coming, so I’m sharing this: One, because I’m proud of it, and two, because I also feel like I’m not doing enough. It used to be even worse. So I want you to know it’ll be fine. You’ll find your own success, and when you do, you’ll find yourself another goal. It’ll never be enough, and you’ll be stressed out. But it’ll keep you busy and always working to be a better version of yourself.

Other numbers:

• Total number of posts: 383
• Total number of comments: 1452 ♥

Most popular posts in spanish this year:

• ¿Cómo Empiezo mi Novela? – El Momento Característico
• 3 Errores Que Estás Cometiendo Con Tus Personajes
• Desarrolla a tus personajes con estos elementos principales

Most popular posts in english this year:

• Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian – Badass Heroine, High Stakes
• Has blogging always been this hard? I’m struggling way more now
• How I started reading in english -and why I continue doing it

 

The blog in people

Top commenters:

• Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books 
• Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction 
• Laura @ Boats Against the Current
• Tasya @ The Literary Huntress

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate it so much, and you’re all incredible people I enjoy interacting with. Your blogs are amazing as well, And I’m so glad we’ve met each other!

Thank you to anyone who’s reading this. And to everyone who has ever even read one post of my blog. Sometimes there’s just no time for commenting, which is totally ok. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but for now, I’m still here, and I hope we can continue to connect and interact!

 

August sounded like:

 

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What makes you the proudest about your blog?

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