Personal Post

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Bookish Resolutions And Goals For 2018

Published January 8, 2018 by bibliobeth

Image from: http://msbookish.com/2015-goals-bookish-goals-for-the-new-year/

Hello everyone and welcome to a post that I don’t normally do but for some reason, I thought it might be nice to do for 2018. I don’t normally like to make too many rules and regulations for my blog but due to the sheer volume of the books that I own, the back-list of reviews I still have to write etc. I thought it might be time to set some things down, just to give me some sort of direction for the year ahead. I’ve written down TEN major resolutions and then I’ve slotted in another FIVE general ones (just because once I started I found it quite difficult to stop…oops!) So, here we go!

1.)  Put less pressure on myself to blog every day.

I came a little way to doing this last year when I was ill. I did get to the stage where I just thought: “Oh *%$* it!” but there was still that residual guilt when I didn’t get a post done every day. 😦

2.) Gradually reduce review back-list by continuing to do mini-pin it reviews.

I came a long way doing this last year – to date I’ve done 16 mini-pin it reviews which means sixty-four books that were originally on my review back-list are GONE! Definitely will continue this.

3.) Use notebook to make notes on titles “currently reading” so when I come to review them, things are fresher in my memory.

I recently bought a lovely notebook from Faye at Daydreaming Designs and used it to compile this list and a few other things already this year in the attempt to make me a little more organised!

4.) Be honest with myself if I’m unable to take on a review title especially those requested by authors directly that are not really my cup of tea.

When I first started blogging, I used to love that authors requested me to read their books and used to accept EVERYTHING. Then I realised how stupid this was and that I couldn’t possibly do this and read the things I WANTED to read as well. I have got better at refusing review requests but need to stop feeling bad about it too.

5.) Be better about commenting on other bloggers reviews.

Again something I have got a little better with last year but I still perhaps don’t comment as much as I should. Sometimes I think I’ve got nothing else to say except “Great review!” but even if I just say that it’s letting the blogger know I enjoyed their post.

6.) Attend more bookish events/author talks.

I love doing this and unfortunately chronic illness slows me down in this A LOT. I work in London and there is the potential to attend events after work however if I do that and get home late I’m likely to knacker myself for work the next morning. However, once in a while wouldn’t hurt!

7.) Continue with “Shelfie by Shelfie” meme and hopefully encourage others to participate.

I’ve really enjoyed developing my little meme last year, something I thought I could never do. I have a lot of shelves so there are many, many more shelfies to come and hopefully I can inspire someone else to join in too.

8.) Experiment with making reviews a little “fresher” i.e. use of images relevant to post.

I love bloggers that use images/GIF’s which highlight their content and break up the text a little bit. I’ve been thinking of doing something like this myself but we’ll see how it goes…

9.) Read some of those books I’ve been meaning to get to for years.

For example, A Song Of Fire And Ice by George R.R. Martin, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty and Tipping The Velvet by Sarah Waters. Some of these books have been on my shelves/Kindle for FAR too long!

10.) Start doing some buddy reads/join an online bookclub.

I’ve never done a buddy read before and it looks like such fun! I already have tentative plans with the lovely Janel from Keeper Of Pages to read The Fireman by Joe Hill this year so I’m really hoping that takes off. Just saying it right here, right now, if I mention a book and you’re open to a buddy read with me – let’s do it!

OTHER CHALLENGES:

  • Increase NetGalley ratio to a more acceptable level. – you don’t want to know my ratio…it’s shameful.
  • Participate in Mount TBR challenge. – I saw this on Jo’s Book Blog and it looks like a lot of fun!
  • Continue to enjoy Banned Books and Kid-Lit with Chrissi. – this should be easy, I’ve done this every year since I started blogging.
  • Read and review Richard And Judy book club picks. – also something I’ve done every year since I started blogging.
  • Read and review Daunt Books from annual subscription each month. – my wonderful boyfriend got me a Daunt Books Annual Subscription for Christmas so I get one new paperback each month. I’m determined to read and review them each month they come in. Let’s see how I do.

So everyone….

Image from: https://www.appbrain.com/app/wish-me-luck/com.Starlab.WML

 

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Bibliobeth On A Break.

Published October 23, 2017 by bibliobeth

Image from https://www.writeraccess.com/blog/writers-need-a-break-too/

Hi everyone, hope you’re all well. I announced on Twitter a couple of weeks ago that I’d be taking a bit of a break from blogging and I just wanted to follow it up with this little post. I’m sure other bloggers would agree that blogging is sometimes like a second job – all the effort it takes to read books that are sent to you, write reviews, participate in blog tours, come up with fresh new ideas for posts etc etc and sometimes we all need to take a break.

Unfortunately, the reasons I have chosen to take a little breather are mainly personal and for health reasons. I haven’t had the best year health-wise with a number of different events happening coupled with my chronic illness, fibromyalgia which has been itself exacerbated by recent events which are completely unconnected! Phew! If you’re interested in reading more about that, I did a post on it fairly recently HERE. I’ve had a particularly traumatic time in the past five months in particular, which has led to a number of hospital procedures and stress for myself and my partner. Today I’m going in for an operation and some investigations so I will probably be on hiatus for at least the next week or so while I’m recovering from that.

I have been missing blogging so much and have already got itchy fingers to write another review (I’ve actually been composing one in my head!) but I need to wait till I’m one hundred percent ready and make sure I can come back and post on a regular basis. I’ve still been really enjoying all the posts from my fellow bloggers and will continue to read them, support them and re-tweet them whenever I can. I’ll still be somewhat active on bookstagram and Twitter so if you want to catch up with me there, you’re more than welcome to come and have a chat.

I miss blogging so much and will definitely be back as soon as I am able, I just wanted to write this little post to explain a little bit about what’s going on with me. Look forward to seeing you all soon round the blogosphere and take care everyone. xxxxx

 

Personal Post – Blogging with Fibromyalgia

Published January 29, 2017 by bibliobeth

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Image from http://www.washingtonarthritisrheumors.com/medications-in-fibromyalgia/

Hi everyone, hope you’re having a lovely day! I’ve been meaning to write a post like this for a while but I’ve only just worked up the courage to do it. If you’re not into personal posts and are only here for the books, you can skip this I honestly won’t be offended. But if you’re interested…. if you’re a regular visitor to my blog you might wonder why I post so erratically – sometimes I can manage every day for a week, other times you may not hear from me for ten days? Well, unfortunately, just over six years ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and hypermobility and it has changed my life completely.

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Image from https://www.mesupport.co.uk/index.php?page=fibromyalgia

How can I describe fibromyalgia? Well, there’s a few choice words I’d LIKE to use, but I’ll keep it clean. Fibro is like a beast inside your body, constantly gnawing away at you, giving you no rest or comfort day or night. But less dramatically… fibro is a chronic illness with an unknown cause (as yet, although there are a few theories). It causes pain in many different regions of the body and comes with a host of different symptoms, not all of them I have but I’m unlucky to have a good chunk of them.

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Image from https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/569142471631041189/

Some people say there’s over sixty symptoms, some over one hundred. Basically, every thing that goes wrong with my body is explained by my doctor as “my fibro,” which can be kind of frustrating. How has it changed my life? I’m not the same person I used to be. I used to be really active, energetic, going to spin classes at the gym and loved socialising with my friends pre-fibro. Now, the only kind of exercise I can cope with is walking (20 mins tops), I can’t stand for long periods of time, I’m constantly beyond the usual level of tired and I’m in pain every. single. day. And social life – are you kidding me? I’m currently managing to work full-time as a biomedical scientist and I’m finding it really really tough. Many people with fibro either can’t work at all or can only work part-time. God knows how I’m doing it!

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Image from https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/477522366716874975/

One of the hardest things about fibro is when it affects my reading/blogging. I’ve got a humungous back log of reviews from literally over a year ago and when I’m feeling particularly bad, there’s no way I can sit down with my laptop and do a post. My brain and body just won’t let me. I am trying to make positive steps though – like my mini reviews, to catch up on that backlog which is working really well so far!

I’ve always been introverted, that’s for sure but I was just gaining a bit of confidence in myself before fibro hit which is a shame. Now I question everything – my work, friends, blog posts etc. Fibro really affects the way I speak and sometimes I really struggle for words or get them in the wrong order which makes me a bit scared and then I panic when I talk to people and feel the old “fibro fog,” descending which of course makes it worse!

I really am trying to stay positive about the whole thing and when it’s been six years… you kind of get used to it believe it or not! I just wanted to explain to any readers, publishers, authors others who are curious why I might be a bit slow at getting your reviews up or your books read. I am truly sorry and am trying my best, I absolutely love what I do and if I’ve agreed to read your book, trust me I WILL read it. (Failing that, if it’s been a year, maybe you should give me a little poke and remind me as my memory nowadays kind of sucks!) 😛

If you’ve read this far, thank you so much for reading/listening to my bunch of nonsense, it feels better just to get it out there. Thank you once again to everyone who comes to visit and reads my reviews, I honestly appreciate each and every one of you and long may it continue!! If you have any questions (or are a fellow sufferer yourself) I am happy to answer them, available in the usual places – here in the comments section, on Twitter @bibliobeth1, on Instagram and on Facebook. Take care everyone!

Beth xxxx

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Image from https://nl.pinterest.com/explore/depression-tattoo/