Book Blogger Confessions #1 (1.3.12)

I’m a little late with this post, but I am really excited to participate in this new meme and I would love to hear your thoughts on your book blogging journey – either leave a comment or if you participated in the meme, leave a link to your post.

Welcome to the very first Book Blogger Confessions, a meme co-hosted with Tiger from All-Consuming Books  and Karen at For What It’s Worth Reviews. The meme will run on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month  to discuss some of the frustrations that are unique to book bloggers.

You can read the introductory post here.

If you want to participate just one of the buttons and include it in your post with a link to either All Consuming Books or For What It’s Worth. They will be providing a linky at the end of their posts so people can “hop” to see all the participants answers.

Q: How has the “job” of book blogging changed your reading habits? Both pro and con. 

THE GOOD: 

For me, book blogging has been a great journey. I have always been an avid reader and love finding new authors and then sharing that with others. Since I started book blogging, I have come across so many new books and authors that I might not have picked up. I believe this is in large part to the book blogging community – we all share the same passion for books and love sharing our thoughts on what we read. I feel that I have connected to these other book bloggers and really look to them for their thoughts on books.

Because I have my book blog,  I actually feel productive if I spend a whole day reading or working on my blog. Especially when I have lots of review tours scheduled, I am ecstatic if I can devote a whole day to reading. But even if I can’t devote the whole day, I do try to fit in at least an hour a day (not counting the time I spend reading before bed) to read. To me, this is an ideal job, and I would love nothing more than to spend all my time reading/blogging.

Another part of book blogging that I have come to enjoy is all the challenges out there. I love participating in these – they are fun and have helped me to read off that never-ending TBR pile that always seems to grow and never shrink. This year in particular I picked challenges that will help me with some personal reading goals I have – start some series I’ve been wanting to, catch up on other series that I’ve started but fallen behind on, use my Nook more, etc. I am amazed at just how many challenges are out there. I don’t think I would have thought of some of these challenges and kept track of them on my own if it were not for my blog. 

THE BAD: 

At times, though, I do feel as if blogging is almost like a full-time job. Not that anyone is watching over my every step, but I always feel bad if I don’t post something every single day. Of course, there are many times when I don’t post everyday, but I really just need to be OK with that. I love participating in some of the weekly memes and I love reading what everyone else does for the memes. It’s the reviews that sometimes become the chore. I think I need to rethink my reviewing format to make it easier for me.

Before book blogging, I would choose my next book to read by whatever I felt interested in at that time, or I would go through all my library books so that I could return them on time. Now, when I am ready to select my next book to read, I have to think about what books I have scheduled for reviews. Sometimes this makes selecting the next book easy, but at times it has been challenging because I might not be in the mood for a particular book, but if I don’t start it at that moment, I might not finish it before I need to post the review.

What about you? How have your reading habits been changed during your time as a book blogger?