In which Annabeth muses on blogging

First up, I’m over at Marie Sexton’s and Heidi Cullinan’s blog Coffee & Porn in the Mornings. I’m talking about the allure of sexy swimmers in speedos and sharing some totally-safe-for-work hot men. And doing my first giveaway for Going for Gold! Stop by!

Second, I’ve been thinking more about how I blog now that I’ve got actual real, live books coming out. I’ve been doing book reviews now since 2008 over at GoodReads and I’d amassed almost 600 reviews in that time. What changes should I make as I transition to being published?

As an author, I decided to start fresh with a new Goodreads account. But, being a reader is still such a huge part of who I am. I’m still planning to share and review books I love. You’ll notice that most of my new author account books are four and five star books. This reflects the changing way I read and keep books. I’ve gotten rid of boxes and boxes of books this summer. And for me, the deciding question is “would I read this again?”

And where the answer is yes, that’s a keeper shelf book for me. Where the answer is “I’m glad I spent the time with the book,” that’s still a great book and a four star read for me. I don’t keep anything less than a four star book in the house, and if I’m not enjoying a book I don’t finish it. My reading time is too valuable to waste time on books I’m not loving.

So I want to keep sharing those keeper and made-me-happy books, which I’ll continue to do from my AnnabethAlbert goodreads account and here on the blog as occasional reviews. Gushing, I’m sure (queue the review police :)). When I love something, I really love it. And when I don’t, I don’t want to spend any additional energy on it.

But what’s nice about starting fresh with this blog is I don’t have to be limited to a book blog. I can talk about writing and movies and knitting and balancing work/family/writing. And books. Always lots and lots of books. And the occasional guest.

I hope you enjoy the new format and new content, and I hope you join me at my new Goodreads account.

4 thoughts on “In which Annabeth muses on blogging”

  1. I think everyone will find their own comfort zone on reviews as an author, but it’s tough! On the one hand, how incredibly awkward to give a 1-2 star review to an author who you then see and befriend at a writer’s conference. On the other hand, giving only positive reviews has never sat well with me either, like if I’m going to rate books, then I’m going to rate books! What I do know for sure is that I only read books I genuinely believe I will like (no snarking just for the fun of it) and if I DNF something early enough I don’t put a star rating.

    1. I think that’s the crux of it for me–I simply don’t finish it if I’m not loving it. And now that I buy based on samples, I rarely have a “miss” book. I know from the 20 pages or so I sample whether or not a book will work for me. (And I LOVE your reviews!)

  2. I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again – I seriously love your site. 🙂 It’s so pretty.

    I’m in the same boat, Annabeth, and totally feel you on the review thing. On GR, I mainly stay active with my original account. Good, bad, glowing – I review everything there. I’ve turned to my author account, though, to add a sampling of some of my m/m reads and to interact with my new World of Writing buddies (like you *waves*). It’s a moving target for me still on how and where to draw that line.

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