Tag Archives: discussion

The Guilt of Not Reading

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Today I wanted to talk about something that’s been on my mind and heart lately, and that is the guilt I feel when I don’t read.

If you haven’t noticed I’ve been on kind of a hiatus for the last two months. I’ve done blog posts here and there, participated in events and all of that, but I’ve barely read anything and I’ve barely blogged outside of those events and such. I needed time away from the reading and blogging worlds for a while and that’s really because the book community has become kind of a scary place as of late. I mean, that’s a whole other topic in and of itself, but it needs to be said. I’m glad people are speaking their minds and everything, it’s just very tense in many places right now and I have enough of that in my personal life right now that I don’t want it to be in something that I’m so passionate about.

I’ve noticed other readers and bloggers have said the same thing when they take breaks: that they feel guilty – or would feel guilty – when/if they take a break from the reading/blogging world. As readers we’re reading almost everyday, trying to get in as many pages, books, genres, etc. as we can. We want to explore what the world has to offer and we want to explore the different kinds of books that are out in the world. We love reading and being able to share that love and those experiences with others.

So when we’re not reading, that guilt starts to set in.

For some people they don’t feel guilty and they can just go about their lives doing whatever they want, but for a few of us we feel like we have almost an obligation not only to our audience, but to ourselves to read all the time. I know I’ve been feeling this way, personally, and I’ve talked with a couple other people the last few weeks that said they’d probably feel the same, too.

Why is it that not reading makes us feel guilty? What about not blogging makes us feel like we’ve given up an obligation?

So let me tackle the two questions I presented above.

1. Why is it that not reading makes us feel guilty?

The obvious answer is that we’re readers! We read because we love it and it’s very hard for some of us to just stop and take breaks once in a while. There are some people who read over 100 books in a year, so reaching those goals means they’re reading constantly, while other people may only read a handful in a year, and for them that takes time that they might have to squeeze in somewhere in their schedule.

I think for me I’ve been comparing my life to what it was a year ago, when I had a lot more free time to myself and I was able to read to my heart’s content. A few months ago my husband and I moved back in with my parents for personal reasons and it’s been much harder for me to find that free time again. Emotional distress aside, I have a much longer drive home than I used to from work (I used to live only 10 minutes away, and now I’m 50 minutes away from work), so I’m usually exhausted at the end of the day because of that, and I have other obligations where it’s been leeching me of any motivation to read.

But since I’ve barely been reading (and I miss reading, trust me), I’ve been feeling the guilt set in, which leads me to the second question:

2. What about not blogging makes us feel like we’ve given up an obligation?

I personally feel like blogging is a second full time job for me. I’ve been faithfully blogging since the summer of 2014, and I’m just really happy doing it. I sincerely love it and it makes me so happy to have an audience who’s interested in my words and thoughts and opinions. So not really putting in much effort to blog these last few months has really been putting a strain on me, I think. I miss you all because I love you all and you rock. Feeling guilty for not reading leads to feeling guilty for not blogging for me because I’ve been doing this for so long and it’s such a fun job for me to do.

Of course it’s not a “job” and I’m not really “obligated” at all to be doing this. I could just up and quit one day and no one would probably notice. And that’s fine, but because I love doing this so much I don’t want to stop putting in the effort to blog or to read. It’s part of my life – a huge part of my life – and I don’t want to give it up anytime soon.

I do want to say, though, that so, so many of you are so supportive of me taking a break because, let’s be real, we all get burnt out from time to time and need that time to sit back, reflect, relax, and enjoy ourselves outside of something for a while. But I want to come back to this and I want to make an honest effort to do what I can each month.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

Have you ever stopped reading/blogging for an extended period of time? How have you felt as a result? Did you find it easy to get back into it or was it harder than when you first started? Tell me all of your thoughts!

February 2017 Wrap Up

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Merp.

Hi guys! I’m really sorry I’ve barely been posting this year. I’ve just kind of been in a huge blogging and reading slump, but I feel guilty for not posting or reading, but at the same time I’m really glad I’ve been taking the break. I feel like it’s really been needed but I really miss you all and books and everything so I think I’m ready to get back into it. I hope. Please be patient with me during this time!

Books I’ve Read

Click on the cover to be taken to its respective review!

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  • A Silent Voice Manga Series – What a great series that includes a deaf girl, a boy who was a bully who became bullied, friendship, acceptance, forgiveness, and love. 4.5/5 stars for the series.

Books I’ve Gotten

Click on the cover to be taken to each respective Goodreads page!

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Other Blog Posts

I participated in Love-a-thon this month and it was a really fun event again!

Writing Related

  • Nada.

Fun Things

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Again, the 2017 Flights of Fantasy reading challenge didn’t really exist for me this month. 0/30 fantasy books read so far

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Beat the Backlist, if you don’t already know, if a challenge that I’m participating in this year to read books that have been published prior to 2017. So far, I’ve been in the process of reading a couple, and I know I’m going to have a lot on this list, but for now, I have 8 completed.

Instagram

I didn’t do much on Instagram again this month, but I did so a few that I’m really happy with!

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Around the Internet

This is a feature I’ve seen in several other blogger’s wrap ups and I think it’s a fun way to show what else I’ve been reading/seeing around the internets!

Life Updates

  • It’s been a pretty uneventful month, BUT lots of planning has been happening! My husband and I are going with one of his friends to Anime Boston at the end of March/beginning of April, we’re going to a Miyavi concert, we might go to a Kari Jobe concert, and there’s just a lot going on! I’m kind of pumped about it all.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

Did you spend Valentine’s Day with a loved one? What did you read this month that was your favorite?

Taking Breaks in Reading

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Oh hi guys! How’s it going? I haven’t been around the last two weeks, did you notice? I usually try to post once or twice a week, but I just haven’t been in the mood to read or do anything bookish lately.

Scandalous, I know.

But these past two weeks have been relaxing in a way that I didn’t know I thought I’d experience, but it’s also been weird not reading anything or not keeping up with anything book related. I’m so used to going on Twitter and talking with a bunch of people about books, or going on Instagram and posting a crap ton of bookish photos, or just plain reading. I don’t read daily much anymore because I have a long drive to a from work five days a week, and I’m usually tired by the time I get home, but when I do read I try to read for long spans of time.

But let me tell you: taking this mini-hiatus was definitely needed.

There’s been a lot of discussion going on in the book community surrounding diversity – which is great! – I’ve just been feeling very overwhelmed being around it and unsure of what to say, if I should say anything, and all of that. Which leads me to wondering what books I should read next and if I’m reading them because I want to, or if it’s because everyone will approve of it. And honestly, no one should have to worry about that sort of thing.

So I took a break from reading for two weeks. Of course it was during a readathon (and I was enjoying the book I first started reading for it, too), but I think that I just needed to take that step back from social media and books and just do other things that I enjoy: painting, drawing, playing video games, watching movies, planning a Disney vacation, stuff like that. Of course I still feel a little guilt inside for not reading or being around, but honestly? It’s fine.

I think that taking that step back when you’re feeling overwhelmed is healthy. Why surround yourself in so much negativity and anger that you feel drowned? Even if you’re a reader, a blogger, booktuber, whatever, take the step back that you need to take and just do other things. Your blog will be fine, that book you were reading will still be there, and those people that you enjoy chatting with will be there to chat again soon.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

Do you sometimes take impromptu little hiatuses from reading or blogging sometimes? Do you sometimes feel guilty when you do so? Tell me all of your thoughts!

 

Why I Set My Goodreads Challenge to One Book

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Hey peeps! It’s that time of year (the very beginning) where everyone (or a lot of people) are wondering what to set their Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to for 2017. A lot of people want to exceed last year’s goal by X amount of books, and some just want to read the same amount they did – or even less. I was thinking about my own challenge and I was going to set it to 30 books again this year, but as I thought more and more about it I realized how much I crave a stress free year.

So I set my goal to one book. And I’ve already accomplished it.

I want to do more than just be a book blogger this year, so I want to do a lot more of my other passions this year than just reading. That’s one of the major reasons why I set my goal to one book. I have more passions than just reading and they’ve been thrown to the wayside these past couple of years.

The other major reason is that by setting it to one book, no matter how many books I’ve read, that feeling of accomplishment will still be there. I don’t feel that pressure that everyone feels when they set that goal. It always seem like we have to reach it, like we have no choice in that matter. But we do.

I don’t think reading, or any passion/hobby/activity should be stressful. We’re doing this for fun, right? We’re doing this for ourselves, to have a voice in the reading world, to share our love of books. So why stress about how many we read?

If you want to set your goal to 100 books, go for it! If you want to set it to 10, go for it! Do whatever you think will make you happy and just set out to achieve that goal! I hope you all have a stressless reading year and that you read the books you want.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

What did you set your challenge to, if you did set it? Do you think it’s a good idea to just have one book as your goal, or do you think having a larger number to reach for is better? Tell me your thoughts!

Reading & Blog Goals for 2017

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Happy New Year everyone! Aren’t you glad 2016 is over? I’m excited for the new year because it means new beginnings, and I’ve never felt more genuinely excited for new beginnings since this year. I don’t know what it is, but I’m just anticipating what this year could potentially bring. I’ve already talked about my writing goals for this year, so now let me talk about my reading and blog goals for 2017:

Reading Goals

  • Read at least 30 books.
  • Finish several books on the Beat the Backlist Challenge. I think this is a great challenge to really cross off those books that have been on my shelves 5ever.
  • Read more diverse books.
  • Finish the Harry Potter series, dammit.
  • Read more adult books (not there’s anything wrong with YA, I just want to read more adult things).

Blog Goals

  • Comment on more blogs! I know I said this last year, but I want to keep it up because I have commented more this past year, but not as much as I’d hoped.
  • Maybe change the way I review. My review style has been transforming slowly the longer I do reviews, so it’s a natural progression kind of thing. I like my review style, though, so this one’s just kind of an optional one.
  • Have fun with what I’m doing.

I honestly don’t have that many goals that I want to achieve this year in reading or blogging because I just want to enjoy my time doing both, which I think is the most important thing of all. As long as I’m doing that, then everything else can fall into place afterward.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

What do you hope to accomplish reading wise? What about you blog? Are there some things you definitely want to tackle this year?