Friday 11 January 2019

It's Time for some Changes


For the past few years I’ve been trying to cut down the number of novels I review so that I have more time for other things. But reading is easy - if time consuming - and so in the quest for endless content I’ve tended to read more and my other hobbies and interests have suffered.

I no longer have time to read a book (or more) a week if I want to accomplish the other things I keep pushing off. So I’ve decided that I will no longer be blogging 4 times a week. I want to get back into medieval studies research. I want more time for craft projects. 

Instead of my rather rigid structure of the past few years, this year I want to try a more fluid posting schedule. I’ll post once to three times a week. It may be a novel review, it may be a movie review, it may be something cool I’ve come across on youtube. I don’t want blogging to feel like an obligation or a job. I want to feel more excited about the content I post while reclaiming more of my time for things other than reading (or other than reading SF/F). I want to be able to read more short story collections (because I do individual story reviews these take me forever to do and I have a backlog of kickstarter collections I’d really like to read). I want to read more history and art books. I still want to read SF/F, but I don’t want them to be the priority such that I don’t feel like I can read a non genre fiction book (I haven’t read a Regency or Victorian book since I started blogging). I’d like to be able to reread the occasional book without fear that I’m losing out on content by reading a book I’ve already reviewed. And then there’s the piles and piles of unread books on my shelves (and floor) I’ve been very slowly chipping away at. Sometimes I start several books before finding one I want to finish. And I desperately need to free up some shelf space.

I will no longer be accepting any review requests, nor will I be replying to requests I'm sent. As part of this effort, I also plan on requesting fewer books from Netgalley, etc.

I’d still like to do a shout-out post once a week, so there’s at least one scheduled item (and there are so many amazing books coming out this year!). Aside from that, I’m currently researching medieval Spain and later this year I’ll be delving more into the history of Ethiopia. So you can expect history and art book reviews that reflect those interests. 

This is a science fiction and fantasy blog, so there will still be sff content. It’s just going to be more varied and interspersed with more non-fiction.

I’ll probably leave Tuesdays (publication day) for reviews and maybe Thursdays for shout-out posts. If I do an extra post it’ll be on Wednesday or Friday. But we’ll see. For now, I want to have space to experiment.

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