Talking About…(4)

Posted February 4, 2016 by Andi in Talking About / 12 Comments

Let’s talk about what we are supposed to do as bloggers…Read and Review.  We all have the same struggles and I thought I would give you a look at my reading and review process from last year:

Things would be good…

reviews5

I would finish the book…

reviews6

I’d let it sit with me and then pick up another book and then another…

reviews7

I would then sit down to write the review for the books I read 3 books ago…

reviews2

Frustrated from not remembering everything I loved in said book…

reviews1

Then I would read another book and stress about having to review that one…

reviews4

Add another book to the list of books I need to review…

reviews3

That about sums it up.

Seriously, last year I completely sucked when it came to reviewing books.I got myself in a cycle that I never wanted to be in. I had 10-20 books on my “need to review” list at some points which completely overwhelmed me. I would look at the list and panic and then pick up another book and read it instead of reviewing one of many. It was bad and it put me in a bad blogging place.

I read some really fantastic books last year that I never reviewed and I feel terrible about that and now have put myself in the predicament of rereading or skimming to give them the love they deserve. I’m not joking when I say that I still have 4/5 books on my Wunderlist list that I want to review that I read last year. The struggle is real and it is constant.

This year I have made a change and so far so good. Out of the review books I have read in 2016 I have zero books on my list for reviews I need to write. I have picked up an old [practice of mine, back from the days I was blogging at Galleysmith with Michelle. I no longer wait to review a book. If I finish you, I write the review. Simple as that.

So since we are talking tell me…how do you keep up with reading and reviewing? How do you remember what happened in a book if you don’t review it right away?

Tags: ,

Divider

12 responses to “Talking About…(4)

  1. I can totally relate! I have a long list of books I’ve read that I want to review but I’ve ended up adding some to a new list of re-read and review books. I only have one book I read in January that I want to review that I haven’t gotten to yet so I hope I can keep going at this pace throughout all of 2016!

  2. I’m terrible… I almost always have 15 books on my need to review list. I try not to let it stress me out though, mostly because I don’t always have the words in me to write a review. I tend to go in bursts where I’ll read a whole bunch and then I’ll sit down and write 5 reviews. It’s not ideal, but it just works for me. My only stress comes when I am on a tour and have to write something but I’m just not feeling it.

    Happy Thursday!!
    jaime

    jaime recently posted: 14 Days of Swoon Blog Hop!
  3. That’s exactly what I do! I first take notes while reading, finish the book, give myself half hour to an hour to reflect (where I usually shower, as all my best ideas come when I have no way to immediately write down the ideas.) then I write the review. I’ll later come back and format the post and schedule it.

    My problem right now is I have many ALAMW ARCs to read and review. On the blog schedule, I only have so many review days left to post those reviews before the book release date, meaning I have to read them now. I’m not feeling in the mood for some of them, the drawbacks of being a mood reader. It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so I constantly feel the pull to drop my current ARC read and just pick up Anna, Lola, or Isla. It’s a struggle to keep reading when my heart wants another.

    Great post! Thanks for sharing, Andi!

  4. I try to use Goodreads status updates to help me remember about the books I read. Usually they will jog my memory. Sometimes my to review list gets long, but I try not to let it. I mean, it happens, but I do the best I can.

    I have definitely been in this situation, though, and it’s never fun.

  5. I’ve mentioned this somewhere online before, but I actually let my list of books I’d like to review pile up to at least 5 before I start working on reviews. I’ve always preferred writing them in bulk (which is odd, I know), and it’s a process that hasn’t changed since the very early years of my book blogging life. When it comes to remembering details, I’m generally pretty good at remembering the big things I want to praise or critique about the stories I read (especially since I tend to get pretty specific without going into details in my “first thoughts” on Goodreads). So, that’s basically a process that works for me!

    Of course, there’s also the fact that I’m LOVING mini-reviews these days. I think it’s nice to have the option of just writing a short paragraph (or two) about a book, and letting that stand as your thoughts on it 🙂

  6. NicoleLynn

    I can relate to this so much! Last year was such a horrible review year for me. This year I’m only one book behind in reviewing. I’ve just started keeping a book journal to write my thoughts down right after I finish (or during reading) a book. Then when I go back to review I have my notes to job my memories. Sometimes I even right down a favorite quote. Hopefully this year I’ll stay on track! Also your gifs for this post are so on point! ?

  7. Actualllllllly. My memory is super scary and I can remember MOST books that I read., I think I get overwhelmed with when to post and scheduling vs reviewing. I am not always super detailed in my reviews anyway, so… lol

    I use to write my reviews RIGHT after finishing, but now with my job/kids/life/you crazy people I talk to every day, aint no one got time for that. I write all my reviews on Sunday

  8. I typically review the book I just finished within the next 48 hours. My biggest problem is rating them immediately after I finish (which leads to a lot of 4-5*s because I’m still running on an emotional high and not thinking critically about what I read and enjoyed). I’m learning to wait another day before I give out my official rating of the book. So what I’ve been doing the last few months is writing down three big things I want to remember to mention in my review, along with character names and main plot concept. Once the book is done, I write those things, and I can get to my review in the next 48 hours/2 weeks max. So far so good!

    Laura @ Scribbles & Wanderlust recently posted: Book Review: “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys (ARC)
  9. I basically finish the book and write the review ASAP! It’s the only way I could keep everything straight. I have a terrrrrible bookish memory in general, so writing it before I get too far into another book is key.

  10. I used to be militant about reviewing a book immediately after finishing. These days…not so much. Especially if they’re library/my own books, books I don’t feel quite as obligated to critique. I do rate them immediately after on GodReads and it’s there I’ll typically post a little blurb about my initial thoughts, but sometimes I’ll put off writing a review until I a) feel like it or b) let my thoughts settle.

    I currently have four books I need to review – a lot for me! Sometimes if I’m feeling especially lazy, I’ll compile them into an ‘unreviewed roundup’ at the end of the month and do little mini reviews instead.

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.