Birthdays And Blogiversarys

Today is my 32nd Birthday and 2 years since I officially relaunched An Average Life!

Since life has gotten so busy I’ve taken to mostly posting book reviews in 2020, although I do have a LOT of half written discussion posts saved in various places calling out to be scheduled. One day my pretties. One day.

Right now I should be in Minehead visiting family and checking out the EAT! Food & Drink festival.
I’m willing to bet it’s raining since in my 32 years of August birthdays I have had FIVE sunny ones. FIVE. The rest were either torrential rain and/or thunderstorms.

I am cursed.

I’ve accepted it. If you could do a little sun dance for me today though I would so appreciate it.

So to mark the 32/2 occasion here is a freestyle post I whipped up just for me!

On the subject of BIRTHDAYS; Top 10 novels on my Wishlist

Every birthday I receive book vouchers without fail and I am certainly not complaining. I’ll be agonising later over which to choose from my horrendously long Wishlist including..

Afterland – Lauren Beukes

The Hollow Ones – GDT & Chuck Hogan

Into The Drowning Deep – Mira Grant

Winterwood – Shea Ernshaw

Malorie – Josh Malerman

The Tenth Girl- Sara Faring

Brother- Ania Ahlborn

Piercing- Ryu Murakami

Neverwhere- Neil Gaiman

Dream Fall – Amy Plum

I’m also hoping JB has remembered I desperately wanted one of those wooden trays that sit over the bath so I can finally be trusted to read in there without dropping my tablet! I am THE clumsiest.

———-
On the subject of BLOGIVERSARYS; 10 things I’ve learned about book blogging so far.

–Limit your time spent on Netgalley and always check the publication date.
Lord knows you don’t really need more books on an already tight review schedule.

–Don’t be afraid to reach out to publishers.
What’s the worst that could happen? Keep trying.

–Drama drama drama. Ignore it. Block it. Mute it.
Whatever you need to do to get back to the topic on hand, BOOKS.

–Pick a theme and format your review posts in batches before you read the books.
All you have to do is add the review text when ready, I do that in batches too. I schedule several book reviews at a time to keep my engagement steady if I get too busy to post.

–Write the review before you start your next read.
It needs to be fresh. Especially if like me you forget every character name the very next day!

–Stick your nose in.
Are people tweeting about a book you’re interested in? Jump on into that thread. They can’t see you, they can’t hear you, sure they might ignore you a few times but you won’t know if you never speak up.

–Read for yourself and only yourself.
You know what you like, don’t feel pressured to buy the latest releases or read them before anyone else. You’ll only waste your own time and money.

–Interact with the newbies.
We’ve all been there, feeling like an outsider, wishing someone would converse with us, busting your ass for minimal views. Lend a helping hand, these are the people who will become loyal followers and bonus- they aren’t yet tainted by the dramarama.

–Massive discord/ DM groups are a time suck and a battery drain.

–Find your tribe or make your own.
Everyone belongs, you just need to discover where.

Well I hope that was interesting if not entirely useful to you! Thankyou all for reading my rambles. Here’s to the next year of living and blogging.

It’s gotta get better than 2020 right?