Things That Book Bloggers Shouldn’t Feel Bad For (aka why I’m a bookish hypocrite)

I’ve always had so many thoughts on how the book community is an always-growing community, and how that stresses me out… a lot.

There are always new posts every day, and then I always need to be writing new posts all day, and I need to be reading and writing reviews for all the books I need to read, but I also have to stay on top of my schoolwork and just doing things that I want to spend time doing?

But, the thing is, I’m always a preacher of “don’t worry about posting!!! ❤ <3” and “if you’re too anxious to reply to comments, don’t!” but then I beat myself up for not doing those exact same things. So… this is a post summarizing all the things that I always scold myself for doing, even though it should be completely fine.

(In other words, if you do these things, seriously do not worry omg.)

Also: Um, wow, I’ve not posted for a while and I am so sorry you guys! I’ve just been really tired recently from the lacrosse season but I’m adjusting to writing more posts and hopefully I’ll be back for good.

not reading that many books

If you’ve read my 2018 recap posts you know this, but I was really mad at myself because I only read 37 books in 2018.

(This as compared to reading over 100 books in 2016 & 2017.)

And, honestly? Yeah, I read around 70% less than my “normal” amount of reading books, but also: 37 books is a perfectly good and reasonable number.

I think a large factor of my disappointment in myself is that I hate my own lack of time to just read nowadays, because I need to concentrate on studies and spend more time being productive.

To conclude: you are completely valid whether you read two books in a year or you read 300, and I need to start being okay with myself for not reading as much as I wish I could.

not reading the most recently released (and hyped) books

I said this before and I’ll say it again: the book community is always moving. There’s new books almost every week coming out, and it can be so hard to keep up with all of the releases that you’re interested in!! I’m already stressed with review copies and then reading backlist books and then there are always MORE BOOKS COMING OUT? Wild?? I am not okay??

Anyways, I feel like inexplicable pressure to read all of the new releases that are being hyped up because wow!! yes this is new! Clearly I need to read it!! But there’s never enough time to read both all of the frontlist books + the backlist books I want to read.

Also, there’s always the hyped books where everyone (myself included) says “OMG YOU HAVE TO READ THIS” or “HOW HAVE YOU NOT READ THIS” and then it’s hard to figure out actually obtaining a copy of the book and actually being in the mood to read it and then also reviewing it?

I, personally, am really privileged to have a local library that stocks up on some recently released YA novels (like whaaat?) because some people just don’t have access or the means to access recently released young adult novels!!

not posting as often

I mean, this shouldn’t even need to be said, but bloggers often don’t have enough time to blog and it can be really hard to post two or three times a week! For three posts per week, that’s over an hour or two per post (or even more depending on the blogger) which is like three to six hours per week.

While that doesn’t seem like a lot of time per week, thinking of blog posts can also take up a lot of time, especially if you’re trying to write discussion/more creative blog posts?? Like, y’all, this post was really hard to write (maybe it’s because I was watching a k-drama while writing the first section) but I felt like I had nothing to type up even though I earlier had SO MUCH inspiration to write this.

But yes, I had so many struggles with posting often/on time (for example, in the introduction I was literally apologizing for not posting in ten days). But life was kind of hard and stressful and I was (and still am) dealing with… a lot?

I just felt/feel really guilty for posting those blog tours in such close proximity and like the actual content of those posts wasn’t… good… enough?? Although I did try really hard to make them more creative/original.

Anyways, I need to stop being so hard on myself for not posting up to my “standards,” but seeing the decline in my own stats makes me feel like I’m not… enough?

(I feel so rambly and messed up in this section, I’m so sorry.)

not reviewing every single book

Aaaah I know a lot of people make it a policy to review every single book they read, but… sometimes this is really hard for me?? Sometimes I just can’t express my feelings about the book articulately no matter how hard I try, and it sucks.

(Seriously, how are certain people so amazing at writing reviews for every single book they read? How are they so lyrical and eloquent?? Yes, I’m subtweeting a bunch of my friends.)

I do try to review most of the books that I read, but sometimes they just end up being a “review to come” and I’ll never touch them again. (I have like three books on my “review-to-come” shelf that I read in 2018!!! Do I remember the plots of those books? No.)

not always blog hopping or responding to comments

I decided to combine both “not replying to comments” & “not always blog hopping” because they’re both kind of similar in that they’re both based off of blog interaction.

Anyways, I’ve definitely neglected both responding to comments & blog hopping and it sucks!! But also, I’ve just been really busy and these two things can be really hard, especially if you follow a lot of blogs?

But y’all!! If you don’t respond to comments on time, it’s completely okay! Responding to comments can take a lot of time and energy especially if you want to make genuine responses to everyone!! (Like, I marvel at the people who get 50+ comments and are able to respond to them all.)

Anyways, these are just some of the “duties” that a book blogger often has, but it’s completely okay to neglect some of these because in the end… book blogging is a hobby (for me, at least) and it’s perfectly okay if you’re too tired or need to rest.

Also, I feel like this post was really rambly and not as clear as I wish it was!! (I feel like I’ve just been in a small post-writing funk recently aaaah.)

Is it ever hard for you to do any of these things? Do you ever feel bad/embarrassed for not doing some of these things? Do you review every single book you read?