Sunday, December 4, 2011

Feeling stupid and understanding the need to improve

Boy am I feeling like the fool at the moment.  I made a mountain out of a mole hill out what really I realized was a very small issue and should really be a small issue.  Part of the reason is that I feel very insecure with my book blogging abilities and the ability to convey how I truly feel about a book and to take passages out of a book to make a point or to show why I like the book.  I am used to giving my opinion without much backup and not really caring as to whether somebody likes the post or not.  THIS is a different kettle of fish.  I guess I just assumed that people would be attracted to the blog because it deals with books and that people would comment just because.  I am not trying to make people comment; I should know because I am very bad at commenting on other people's blogs and I try to, but when you have over 400 posts in your Google reader to go through because you have been neglecting it for periods of time, its kinda hard to comment on every single post that comes through (there are some that I should just eliminate because no matter what I am just going to read straight through them most times).  But I suppose a lot of what happened was due to the fact that I am very insecure about myself at times and when I do feel insecure, I tend to go off my rocker at times.

Anyways,  I am going to try and make sure that this is a place where people can talk about books and talk about what they have read or maybe make suggestions as to what sorts of books that I might be interested in based on what I have been reading.

That being said, I do have to let you know that its been a rather tough go with my dad not around as often.  He's my rock in my life and up until this past summer he's been around to make sure that everything is okay with me and that things are even-keeled as much as possible, not that it should excuse my behaviour of the past few days.

I hope that I can put this behind me and move on and make this blog better in the coming years and somewhere where people can come and discuss books and book related topics.  If you have any suggestions as to how I can improve this blog, I am open to suggestions and any sage advice you may want to impart on me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aww, hugs to you! I understand how you feel ... I've had my book blog for 2 years now and have just really started focusing on it. Probably for the last 7 weeks now I've been posting book reviews and participating in memes and it's funny how there are reviews I would think people would comment on that don't receive any comments, and then other reviews that I feel kind of 'meh' about that receive plenty.

I really enjoy participating in some of the daily memes: it gets me out looking at other peoples' blogs and commenting where I can. I started up my blog, initially, so that I could remember what I read--I have the worst memory and would find myself at a loss when someone asked me what a book was about, or how much I enjoyed or didn't enjoy it. But now I do it because I like it. I like that I'm constantly honing my skills as a reviewer.

I also enjoy going through my Google Reader when I can (don't you just love it?) and commenting where appropriate. I can't comment on every single post ... for reviews, I tend to post on reviews where I've either read the book, or on a book that I've been wanting to read. If I know nothing of the author or the book, then I tend to skip it. If I cross a meme post that I also participate in, I'll comment. But it is hard, I agree. Sometimes I'll go days (at Christmas I'll be going 14 days!) without being able to look at it. Then I just skim through and try to pick out a few to comment on.

I guess all I can say is it has to be reciprocal: if I want comments on my blog, I have to actively participate on others. Not all the time, but as much as I can. We all have lives though! :)

Keep your chin up and keep going! Ultimately, I'm sure you do the blog for yourself, as I do, so don't let it bring you down. *hugs*

Melissa Wiebe said...

@readinginwinter Thank you. I do do the blog primarily for myself and for some reason it was that kind of day. For some reason it hasn't been a good weekend for me. And I suppose I just wanted the reaffirmation. I am going to try and make sure that I comment more on people's blogs, especially ones that interest me.

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