Well, I feel like writing one of your first posts in almost 2 years is always going to be a little awkward and difficult. Firstly, hello! I hope you all have been well! It’s been QUITE a long time, I know … before the two recent book reviews post I just released, I haven’t posted anything since June of 2021, which is way longer than I originally thought.

So I decided I might as well try a little introduction, see how everyone is doing, and let you know that I have missed you all over the past almost 2 years!

Part One. Where have I been? What’s new?

*sigh* okay, I don’t want this to be a giant essay of my life because no one has time for that. But 2020 and 2021 were ROUGH; between surgeries needed during the pandemic to a massive mental health decline, I just had little to no motivation to blog or … get ready for it … READ! That’s right! I think I’ve read 10 books (maybe less) over the past 2 years.

So blogging about books when you aren’t wanting to read is kind of a challenge. I pretty much played Animal Crossing: New Horizons and The Sims 4 non-stop … which I’m not going to totally complain about as I also love video games. Once I also got multiple vaccinations and felt safer, I started to work out more in outside gyms as well. And theeeeeeen, my partner and I adopted two beautiful kittens, Willow and Kiki! So we’ve been pretty busy.

But over the past couple of months, I’ve been really eager to read. A friend that goes to the same HITT/CrossFit gym as me also loves to read, so we started doing coffee and reading dates after fitness. Slowly getting back into reading without the pressures of blogging and taking bookstagram photos really brought my love back for simply sitting down with a good book. However, I’m feeling a BIT more ready to blog again. It won’t be as frequent, but I’m really excited to get back into the swing of things.

And that’s pretty much it on that front! Here’s to the blogging and reading goals for 2023!

Part Two. Blogging & Reading goals for 2023

Less Pressure on Posting

One of the main reasons I tend to drift away is this CONSTANT pressure to be active every single day. But NOT THIS YEAR! The intention of this blog was to connect with other readers and share my thoughts on literature. I don’t know why I put this unnecessary pressure to post constantly and consistently, but it’s something I’m working on for my own mental health and enjoyment. Sometimes I may post many times in a week, whereas other times I may only post once a month. And that’s okay.

Read Blogs by Other Booklovers

Something that really made it hard to leave WordPress was the community. I truly missed seeing everyone’s fun posts, joining book discussions, and just seeing how everyone is doing. There are people here who I consider lifelong friends. Again, my problem is I feel like a bad friend and follower if I don’t comment and like every single one of their posts. So that’s stopping this year. I will try to read posts when I can, but I’m also stepping back and making realistic goals of how much time I can spend reading through the numerous WordPress blogs I follow (because there are A LOT).

Read 12 Books (at least) in 2023

I’m trying to make REALISTIC and SIMPLE reading goals this year. Rather than compare myself to others and try for 50+ books, I’m settling for 12 books … approximately 1 book a month. If I read more, great! If I only make it to 6, that’s also great! Just trying to find the time to make reading a more essential part of my day is enough and something I’m very much looking forward to.

Post Reviews on Instagram, Goodreads, & StoryGraph

Guess who caught up on ALL THE BOOK REVIEWS THEY FORGOT TO POST ON GOODREADS?! That’s right! This gal! I still have Instagram and StoryGraph but again … working on not pressuring myself. I miss writing reviews, especially now that I’ve made them much shorter and more focused on the key points I want to get across. Hopefully, this will be a lot easier to manage this year.

Finish Books I Already Own

Yup … the same goal I have from my 2021 post on a similar topic. I have gotten better, but there are still so many books I own that I haven’t read yet. So I’m making this a priority this year, both for my precious books and for my bank account.

Discussion time!

And that’s a wrap, folks. I’ve truly missed you all and I cannot wait to see what you all have been up to. I wish you all a late Happy New Year and hope to hear from you all! Sending lots of love!

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