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Things I've Stopped Doing

purple book placed down on bed beside purple blanket with white nightstand beside the bed holding a vase of lavender flowers, a framed picture, and stacked books on top of a white lace tablecloth

I was thinking about my journey back into blogging and realized I've gone through a lot of changes in my life in everything from family to employment to church during this time. Thus, in a strange way, blogging and being on Instagram have been some of the few constants this past year alone. Through all the ups and downs, it's been a fun journey and also an educational one.

I thought I'd share a few of the things that have changed for me in case anyone else who enjoys reading and reviewing books may be interested, especially if capacity becomes an increasing factor.

I've joined one official launch team, but think it'll be the only one I join.

Honestly, launch teams or hype teams are both new to me. Being in Canada has limited me from joining these in the past, and now that I've had a glimpse, I think I'm fine with just requesting ARCs in the future. As exciting as being part of a team can be, I'm realizing that I have a hard enough time keeping up with my own content, much less content that I need to stay on top of in order to successfully fulfill my obligations as a team member. I hate the feeling of letting others down, so it's probably for the best if I refrain from such teams unless I already know the author. Speaking of that.…

I much prefer being a beta reader over an ARC reader if I have a relationship with the author. (This is really more of something I'm starting, but it does mean that I am reading fewer ARCs as a result.)

This stems from some frustration in reading ARC books and not being able to readily provide feedback to the author. As a beta reader, there's room to expand on things or ask questions, which is truly my favourite part of reading. I've had the pleasure of beta reading for several authors and books now, and it's probably one of the things that will keep me going as a reader and reviewer. Knowing that I get to point out things or learn more about where an author is coming from is a huge gift, and I'm tremendously honoured to work with the authors I've connected with over time.

I am more strategically selective about which ARC titles I request so that my review scores don't falter.

If it's a book that I know I will most certainly read, this makes it much easier to request ARCs. For instance, I will keep requesting any titles available for Gabrielle Meyer's Timeless series as it's at the top of my list and I don't mind if my review score drops a little as I know I'll make time to read her books to bring it back up. Otherwise, I've ended up skipping a lot of new authors because I don't want to feel obligated. It's definitely a lot more of a statistical approach, but it's also helped me from feeling as overwhelmed.

If it's a new-to-me author and their title is available on Kindle Unlimited, I am leaning toward getting their book on KU so that I am not constrained to any timelines.

It's no secret that I'll always have more books than I will have time. Since I've started up my blog, I've gone from being in school to working two jobs. As much as I love getting to read widely, it's not easy to squeeze a lot of time in, so I'm needing to be better about what I take on. I still fail and fall behind, but I don't want this to impact any commitments I may be making to authors.

I seldom review audiobooks now, which has slowed down my reviews.

I'm coming to the realization that as much as I enjoy audiobooks when I'm working, doing chores, travelling, etc., I tend to miss details as I'm not an audio learner. This makes reviews much more challenging for me, even if I end up reading a lot of books this way. However, I don't think I'm doing a book justice in reviewing it unless I also have a print copy that I can refer back to in order to verify my thoughts. I'll keep listening to audiobooks, but I much prefer reading something through before offering my perspective on it.

I'm sure there are other things that have changed over time; however, these were the ones that came to mind first. I like that I have the option to stop some things, and I appreciate the creative control I can have on here. This season in my life is much heavier than usual, so I've had to shift a few things, but I'm still here in the background, reading away 😊

Bonus: I don't review every book I read.

I just can't. I do try to rate most of them, so if you're ever interested, I share them on my Goodreads. I'm pretty candid there, and also offer negative reviews only on my blog because I had a bad experience on Goodreads and don't wish to get involved in the drama there 😄

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