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2012 has been a strange year for me - full of ups and downs. Between working through some family issues
and a number of health issues, including a major breast cancer scare, having
time to devote to reading has been rather sporadic. Some months I read five books; others, I was
lucky to finish two. So I fell far short
of my goal of 50 books – only 36. One of
my other goals was to read more of the books I already own and not take on as
many new releases for review. I’m not
sure how well I really accomplished that except to say that it was evenly split. There are still a number of books I received during the year that need to be reviewed and
I expect to continue to be a little more selective about the ones I say “yes”
to.
After stubbornly refusing to buy an e-reader, in October I
finally caved, primarily for two reasons.
I really wanted to read Games of Thrones but since most of my reading is
done during my work commute or on an airplane, I didn’t want to lug a huge book
around with me. The other reason is the
switch to e-books from publishers for review copies. In some instances actual printed ARCs were
not available and so I was missing out on some that I really did want to read. I splurged a little and
got the Kindle Fire which I absolutely love – it goes with me everywhere! Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks??
Blogging has also been somewhat inconsistent throughout the
year especially on the review front the last several months. I am dreadfully behind and despite good
intentions to get caught up, it just hasn’t happened. I’m still trying though…
Getting new releases for review has allowed me to use my
book allowance for collecting out of print books and I’ve managed to acquire
quite a few gems this year, including some that are very hard to come by and
often exorbitantly expensive. But the
thrill of the hunt is part of the fun! I
only broke my “not more than a new hardback” rule once – for a pretty good copy
of Eleanor Fairburn’s Winter Rose. I
justified it to myself that it didn’t break my new secondary rule: “not more than two new hardbacks”!
Although these older books don’t always stand up well
compared to some of today’s better offerings, they are often fun to read and
let’s be honest - I buy a lot of them for the covers! But there are some really good ones as
well. So, what were my favorite books of
the year?
The Lion of Alnwick by Carol Wensby Scott. The
first in a trilogy about the Percy family, this was by far the best book I read
this year and one of those OOPs (it’s also in my review backlog pile).
Other favorites were Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan
Higginbotham, Voice of the Falconer by David Blixt, The Love Knot by Elizabeth
Chadwick, The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot, The Purple Shroud by Stella
Duffy and Harold of the English by Brenda Honeyman (another OOP also
languishing on the backlog pile).
For 2013, I’m going to stick with a goal of reading 50 books
and make a real effort for more than half of them to be books I already
own. The Kindle may make that a little
harder, so we’ll see how that goes.
As far as the blog goes in 2013, besides doing a better job of
posting my reviews in a timely fashion (really – cross my heart…), I plan to
get back to my Photo Friday feature and hope to do an overhaul of the blog’s
design at some point during the year.
The bookmark giveaways will continue and I plan to start giving away an
ARC a month (although sometimes they will be the actual finished book). I also plan to revive the (mostly) daily posting of covers of old, out of print books on my facebook page - please "like" us there if you're interested.
There is one thing I've been debating with myself about. The last few years when I’ve turned down a request to review
a historical fiction book, I’ve usual offered the author an opportunity to do a
guest post and/or giveaway as a way to help them get some exposure for their
book. I’m debating whether to continue
this practice or not. On one hand, it
does help me have some content to post, especially if I don’t have much to post
myself at that time. On the other hand
though, it is my blog and shouldn’t the
content reflect me and my interests? If
I’m not interested enough in the book to read it myself, should I really be
“advertising” it? Anyone have any
thoughts??
Well, I guess that’s another year done. I’ll be travelling quite a bit over the
coming holiday period (through the first of the year) so there won’t be
much going on for the next few weeks.
Although I may try to get some of those reviews done on the 10 hour (one way) car
trip …
Happy Holidays and may your lives be filled with love and peace.
Good luck next year!
December 21, 2012 at 1:26 PM
Daphne, your reviews on new, and old, books are very appreciated, and seeing what is in the pipe-line for publication has helped me keep a TBR list constantly by this computer.
This site is visited every day, and seeing that something new has been written always gives me a grin...except for author guest posts. I will enter a contest to win a book if the subject matter looks interesting. However, how the author found themselves at the last page, how they feel about their subject, and why they made their character do what they did does not interest me.
I would much rather get the feed-back from a person who has actually read the pages and has no 'hidden agenda' to get a particular book sold. Just my thoughts :)
Here's wishing you and yours a lovely holiday.
December 22, 2012 at 5:27 AM
Congrats on the ereader. I got one in 2010 and it has allowed me to be more versatile in my reading, especially with small publishers and indie authors. Good luck with next year.
December 22, 2012 at 8:55 AM
I read Lion of Alnwick this year and loved it too - I can't believe such a great book is out of print! I'm reading The Master of Verona by David Blixt at the moment and am looking forward to Voice of the Falconer.
Happy holidays!
December 22, 2012 at 1:05 PM
Happy holidays! Hope 2013 is a good year for you health- and reading-wise.
I've offered authors the opportunity to do a guest post if their novel appealed to me, and the only thing preventing me from accepting a review copy was lack of time. Susan Sherman's novel (on my site now) is a good example. I hope to read it eventually. If the book wasn't something I'd ordinarily read or want to promote, though, then no. I don't usually do giveaways if I haven't read a book, but guest posts allow me to vary the content on my site, and the authors usually have interesting things to say about their novel's background or historical fiction in general.
That's exciting that you found a copy of the Fairburn novel. It is very elusive!
December 22, 2012 at 2:06 PM
Thanks for the feedback everyone - especially on the guest posts. It's kind of a fine line for me and I've been trying to figure out exactly where to draw it!
December 28, 2012 at 7:47 AM
I always enjoy visiting your blog and reading your thoughts on historical fiction selections....I, too, collect old OOP paperbacks and read some gems this year. (Joan Wolf's Dark Britain series was wonderful.)
As far as allowing authors to spotlight their books, I feel as long as the book is a reflection of your reading tastes and might be something you would read in the future, I would let them guest post. Otherwise, no.
Hope you have a healthy, happy new year!
December 28, 2012 at 8:37 AM
Joanne - I've read two of Wolf's books in that series and agree with you - they are great books!! I like your thought on the guest posts - that might be one way to approach it.
December 29, 2012 at 1:56 PM