It's my party..

Happy blogiversary to me!!

Or is that blogging anniversary....or blogging birthday.

Whatever it is, I started blogging one year ago today.

I had been reading a few blogs for a little while before I started blogging, but wasn't going to start because I didn't really think that anyone would want to read what I have to say. When I talk to non blogging friends they say stuff like "I don't have a life so I have nothing to talk about" and that was exactly the kind of thing that I was saying to myself. So twelve months on, I still have no life...and that's okay. I have a few regular people who stop by and read my sometimes nonsensical ramblings! Of course I think my blogging has improved since that very lame "this is my first post" post that would not have set the world on fire in any way, shape or form!

To be honest, this blog has become so much a part of my reading experience that I don't feel like I have finished a book anymore unless I have taken the time to record my thoughts about it here. There are a few other things that I have to do as well after I finish a book - cross it off my TBR list, add it to the read list, rate it on Amazon and AmazonUK so that I can see how it affects my recommendation lists and then post here and add it to the Index of Reads. All sounds a bit anal really, which is okay. The strange thing is that I am not anal about anything else in my life...weeds in the garden, that's fine, dirty dishes, clothes to be folded up...all fine! Strange huh?

The other thing that blogging has done is brought me into contact with heaps of people that I will probably never met but who I get to interact with on a semi regular basis. People who stop by here and leave comments, and I read their blogs and leave comments for them as well!!

Over the last twelve months both the way that I write my reviews has changed (and there is more than a tip of the hat to Rosario because I did pretty much emulate her format with just a few tweaks here and there!), I have posted just under 300 times I think, I have read and shared some great books, changed the blog template and switched to Beta (without buggering it up!), written a few joint reviews and just generally enjoyed many hours both here and at other places out there in blogland. According to Site Meter I get around 300-350 visitors a week (although quite a few of those visitors are most likely me! LOL!!) and a total of 11000 hits.

The other thing that I have noticed is that both my buying habits and my reading habits have changed a lot over the last year. I kid myself into thinking I have stopped buying books (but we all know that that is not really true!) but I have definitely reduced the amount of books I buy, and increased exponentially the number of books that I borrow from the library, as evidenced by my completely out of control library list! As to reading patterns, I hadn't read a paranormal before June this year, now I am part way through several series! There are other examples of how my reading has changed, but that is probably the biggest change.

There are only a handful of books that I have rated as 5/5 since I started reading, but there are plenty that were close to that mark as well. The 5/5 books are:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Poison Study by Maria V Snyder
Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop


So, what about the future? As I said this has become part of my book reading experience, so I don't see it changing anytime soon! I do want to change my template again, but I think I want to get a bit more experience with html so that I can make it more personal. I have started thinking about what my reading goals are going to be for next year, and I am definitely planning to at least finish a couple of those series that I am half way through at the moment! And I am thinking about getting an ebook reader......I have to think about it some more, but I think it will probably happen some time next year! Maybe I will work on using less exclamation marks per post as well......maybe!!

So my blogging buddies join me in a toast (with your coffee cup, your orange juice or your glass of wine or whatever it is that you are drinking).....


To blogging!