Chrissi Chat- Where I’m at!

I haven’t been posting daily for the last week or so. I’m in a bit of a funk with blogging at the moment. I still absolutely adore it, but after 6 years of posting daily (I’ve only ever missed a few days in those 6 years) I’m getting a bit… not fed up, but uninspired. I’ve made the decision to blog when I want to blog. I’ve finished a book recently and not reviewed it and usually that would bug me, but why should it? Why can’t I just blog when I want to blog? The answer is… I can! It’s up to me when I blog. If my views go down… does it really affect my life? No. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point, but I’m pleased I’m there. It takes the pressure off reading. That review will still be coming out but when I’m in the mood to write it.

The fact is, balancing full time teaching and full time blogging is HARD. I don’t know how I’ve managed it. I’ve had a really stressful year with work and worrying about my blog didn’t really help my mental health. I’ve been honest about my struggles with anxiety and something has to give until I’m in a happier place mentally. Work is massively affecting my mental health and I don’t need blog stress to add to it.

I will still be visiting your blogs, but it might be during a binge reading session. I can’t come online daily and be on WordPress and not blog (I feel guilty!) so I’ll probably read your posts when I’m online. I still support and love my blogging friends.

This isn’t a post saying I’m giving up blogging. I’m not. I’ll just blog when I want to and read when I want to. My blog, my rules!

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Chrissi Chat- Consistency

I usually post daily, but last week combined with illness and being incredibly busy with work I missed two days on my blog!

I love being consistent and always having posts available, but I don’t have that right now. I’m trying to not let it bother me. I know that when I have six week off school soon I can catch up with some reading and get some blogging sorted. I noticed that when I had those days off from my blog, my blog views did suffer. Once upon a time I may have been bothered by that, but I wasn’t. I think I’ve come to the point now where I’m not consistently thinking about my stats. What matters is that I enjoy blogging and I still do. That’s what is important to me!

I was supposed to have a review out today, but with some rubbish going on in my life, I just couldn’t get motivated. *sigh*

How about you? How often do you post? Do you think bloggers should be consistent? Let me know. I love a good discussion!

Chrissi Chat: Let’s talk content…

Yes, it’s time for another chatty, non-book related post. I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog content recently. I love taking part in the Top Ten memes and love the collaborations I’m doing. But I wonder if it’s all getting a bit stale? I mean, I still enjoy blogging, but I’m wondering if my blog is still interesting to read.

I’ve never really been one for cover reveals, nothing against them (of course), but for me they’re not what I love to put out. I think the most important thing about blogging is being really interested in the content you produce. I personally really enjoy posts which you can tell a lot of thought has gone into.

During my teacher training year I really enjoyed putting out a diary entry every Sunday, it was also well received with some people still reading those posts now. I’m considering going back to a diary/teacher life post, but then I’m worried that the identity of my blog will change and I may lose people who only want to read about books. Now I’m not saying that I want a complete revamp. My blog will always be a book blog. I’m just considering the options I have…

What do you think? Should blogs stick to one subject so it’s obvious what it’s about? Should we change up our blogs to keep it fresh? Let me know!

My first DNF with my class!

As you may have seen before on my blog, I have converted my class to bookworms! Yes!! One of my favourite achievements of this academic year so far! 😉 We have been burning through books. They especially love Roald Dahl and Jeremy Strong.

Recently, they decided that they wanted to read The Queen’s Nose by Dick King Smith. We got about 30-40 pages into it and I could just tell they weren’t engaged or interested. I had a bit of a dilemma then. I didn’t know whether to keep going and teach that it was good to give a book a try so you can have a full opinion or teach that it was okay to stop reading something that you weren’t enjoying!

In the end I decided to give the children the choice. I explained that we could decide together whether we continued or try something else. The vast majority of the class voted for giving up (that didn’t surprise me!) We’re now back to reading a book with lots of funny moments in and I have my bookworms back again once more.

I hope I did the right thing but it certainly felt like I had lost their attention with The Queen’s Nose and I want to captivate the children in my class… not bore them. Perhaps that book was just not right for them.

Chrissi Chat: Is it the teacher in me?

This discussion post was inspired by Chiara from Books From A Delicate Eternity’s post about prioritising reading. It really struck a chord with me and made me think about how I’ve changed my attitude towards reading.

Like many a bookworm, I have so many books waiting to be read. I don’t want to begin to add up both e-books and ‘real’ books because the numbers would SCARE me. No one wants that!

I’ve always had a bit of a struggle with deciding what to read. I have books that I pre-ordered because I was excited to read them…still sitting unread on my bookshelves. Eek. I also fell into that trap of wanting to request so many books on NetGalley and the like. I’ve got much better at that now-thankfully. I only request books I KNOW I’m going to be interested in. I feel I’m in a better place with my reading now. I make time for books I’ve bought and manage to fit in the ARCs too-albeit the balance is much better now I only request books I’m really looking forward to.

The way that I’ve done this is through prioritising and organising. I think it could be the teacher in me. I organise my ARCs much better. I try to read them in the last week of the month before they’re released. I then write my review and schedule it in for either release day or close to release day. This really works for me because as soon as I’ve went through the ARCs, I know the other 3 weeks of the month can be dedicated to books I want to read…which fits into my new found mood reader phase. It also means that I’m knocking books off my TBR list. I’m all about featuring a range of books on my blog- from new releases to kid-lit to older releases. Hopefully then, there’s something for everyone!

I also try to dedicate some reading time to working on reading series, so I try to have a focus on series every other month. I’ve got much better at this over the last year or so. It’s so rewarding to complete a series or find new ones to delve into. It also mixes up the reading/reviews so again, it’s a win-win situation for me.

So, how do you organise your reading time? Do you prioritise? Do you read what you want and not worry about a schedule? Let me know!

Chrissi Chat: Turning into a mood reader!

Recently, I’ve come to realise that I’m turning into a mood reader. Usually, it wouldn’t bother me which book I picked up next. I could adapt to any kind of book. I’m finding now I have less time to read that I’m beginning to want to read certain books and have trouble committing to a book if I’m not in the mood.

What this means for me is that I’m having trouble getting through my old ‘schedule’ for my reading. I’m trying to be good and read my ARCs but sometimes I’m just not in the mood for them. I have had books I’ve wanted to read for ages, just waiting to be read, but again… not in the mood for them.

I end up forcing myself to pick up what I should be and I find I’m not engaged in the story. Is this because I don’t want to read it and there’s nothing wrong with the book itself? Should I put it down and try again later? Urgh, the struggles of a mood reader.

Can you identify with this? Being a mood reader is hard! I’m trying to be spontaneous and not so rigid in my reading choices. I’m trying to remember that when I give up on a book, it’s probably my fault and not the right time and place for that book at that moment.

What kind of reader are you? Do any mood readers out there have any tips? Let me know!

Chrissi Chat-The trouble with book-movie adaptations

I have a problem.

I really struggle to watch movies that have been adapted from books!. I’ve had so many that have ruined the book but at the same time I know that there are some great ones out there. So do I try to attempt to watch more? I’m not sure.

Regular readers to my blog will know that I absolutely ADORE Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. It’s being adapted this year and I’m terrified. Do I watch it and potentially have my favourite book ruined?

Another favourite book of mine is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I recently watching the film with my sister and we absolutely adored how faithful the book is. The Harry Potter adaptations are good too…not as good as the books in my opinion, but good enough to watch!

I prefer to read the book first anyway. I often find the book stretches my imagination more and allows me to create my own picture of the character.

Do you watch or avoid adaptations? Do you try to read the book first? Which adaptations do you really love? Let me know!