Weekend Jumble of Thoughts is a new feature where I blab about various things, some bookish, some not. Part of me hopes these posts will help motivate me to hunker down and seriously work on the novel I’ve been writing for years, so expect some writing talk here and there, and part of me wants to drum up some discussion outside of my reviews. I’m sure I won’t post these every week, so they’ll probably be as random as the stuff contained within them. Here goes:
**I mentioned at the end of July that I was pulling back from 4-5 blog posts per week to 2-3 because my reading had slowed during the busiest part of summer. I was starting to feel overwhelmed even before summer because I wasn’t reading fast enough to post reviews.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve started posting only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and catching up on my blog reading in between…and I love the new schedule. I feel lighter, and I’m reading faster without the blog hanging like a cloud over my head. I think I’m going to stick with that schedule over the long-term, with the occasional weekend rambling post.
I’m so glad to have found a solution to my problem before I really started feeling burned out. I love blogging too much to give it up, and I don’t know what I’d do if one of my favorite creative outlets became a burden.
**The Girl started 7th grade earlier this week. Oh, how the time flies! She’s having a blast so far this year, and has already finished a book for her reading class, Judy Blume’s Just as Long as We’re Together, which she picked up at the library when I mentioned that it was one of my favorite books when I was her age. I don’t remember anything about it now, so I’m glad she’s agreed to write a review when she has time.
She’s glad that her teacher this year doesn’t focus on quantity over quality; I guess there were some kids last year who weren’t reading in class or at home, so the teacher started giving them page limits, saying they had to finish 20 pages in 30 minutes or something ridiculous like that. She was reading harder and longer books than some of the other kids because, as she says, “I want to challenge my mind.” (Oh, how I love her!) So when she got a C for the day’s reading because she finished 15 pages, not 20, she abandoned the book she was reading (The Chronicles of Narnia…so sad that the teacher turned her off from reading it) and started reading easier diary books for the remainder of the year. Since that teacher took over when the school year was nearly over, I wanted to take a wait-and-see approach, and thankfully that worked out for me.
Her teacher this year is encouraging the kids to read books with higher Lexile numbers than their reading level, so for her second book of the school year, she stole Code Name Verity off my shelf. I can’t wait to pick her brain when she finishes it!
**My book club met last weekend, and we chose our books for the next 8 months. This time, we each brought 2 or 3 titles to put up for a vote, and whatever book received the most votes from the rest of the members was the winner. Then we drew months out of a hat to set the order, and this is what we came up with:
October: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
November: King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz
December: Ripper by Stefan Petrucha
January: Eyes, Stones by Elana Bell
February: Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick (my husband’s book)
March: Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada (which is my book!)
April: Winter’s End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat (The Girl’s book)
May: The Last Van Gogh by Alyson Richman
Now you can see why we go by the name The Eclectic Bookworms! I hope these are all as good as they sound.
**I also hope all of my U.S. readers are enjoying the Labor Day weekend. This holiday weekend couldn’t come soon enough, as I’ve been running around like crazy, between book club and back-to-school preparations. I have no plans except to read, relax, and talk a walk if it doesn’t get too hot. What are you all doing?
**Of course, you’ve all read some good books lately. Are there any you think are must-reads? Please let me know in the comments!
© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I’m glad you found a solution for blogging so that you wouldn’t get burned out! I have stopped posting on Fridays, as I noticed my readership is way down that day. The only exception is for read-along posts, because I know people will come for those posts if they’re reading with me. I may need to cut back even more soon, as life gets crazy during the school year, but I’m okay with that.
That would have bugged me so much about the teacher expecting page numbers instead of challenging books! I’m glad her new teacher isn’t that way – and I hope she loves Code Name Verity as much as we did. 🙂
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Fridays are the slower days for me, too, but it really depends on the book I’m posting about. If it’s a well-known title, I’ll get more visitors that day.
If she ended up with the same teacher this year and the rules stayed the same, I would have said something. At least The Girl is off to a great start this year. 🙂
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So sad that it turned her away from Narnia
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She told me that she’ll revisit it at some point, so that’s good.
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Enjoy the long weekend
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Thanks, Mystica! I had a wonderfully lazy weekend and finished 2 books. 🙂
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A blogging schedule is a good idea. After three years I am also feeling a bit burned out. I love bloging and it helps, I hope, keep my mind in ok condition so I would hate to just quit.
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I have no problem setting aside time to write reviews, it’s just finishing the books in a timely manner so I have reviews to post that’s a problem for me. I’m glad I’ve found something that works. I hope you figure out a schedule, too, because I love your blog and wouldn’t want you to feel burned out.
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I tell you, some teachers can really take the joy out of learning. I’m glad this year’s teacher is taking a better approach. Your book club certainly does read quite a variety of books!
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Yes, we are very eclectic. I think we’re starting to get a feel for the books each of us likes, but I hope that doesn’t affect the nominations going forward. I like reading out of my comfort zone from time to time.
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I hope your daughter has a wonderful year in 7th grade. I haven’t read any of the books your group has scheduled so I’ll watch for your reviews. Recently I enjoyed The Chaperone, The Exceptions, Goodbye For Now just to name a few. I’ve found 3-4 posts/week is the perfect balance for me. My blog is 4.5 years old and I’d like to keep it going but my reading has slowed a bit so I pulled back a bit on the pressure. It works for now 🙂
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Glad you’ve found a posting schedule that works for you…and thanks for the book recommendations!
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I’m sure The Girl is going to love 7th grade! And I’m glad she doesn’t have the page count lady anymore!
No real winners this week in reading for me, but I really did like Across the Mekong River, though you’ve already read that. Kim Zimmer’s memoir is funny and interesting…I’ll be posting that next week.
Gee, now I wonder if I should write about how I’ve taken Fridays off from blogging in addition to Sunday! But nah! I needed a day off during the week too.
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I think we all need a day off here and there. And I just created these random weekend posts because sometimes I want to talk about random things and don’t want to include it with my book reviews. Honestly, I’m sure most people didn’t even know I’d reduced my posts, but it felt good and helped motivate me to put my blogging schedule down in stone. 😉
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At least it motivated you! I have no idea what the readers notice and don’t notice, and I wonder if readers prefer posts every day or not?!
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Some of the bloggers who commented on this post say they prefer only a few posts a week because they can’t keep up in reading all the reviews. Now I don’t feel so bad about pulling back a bit.
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Good to know. i don’t post on Sunday and Friday. But maybe the MWF schedule is best! Ah, I’ll see how this goes for now.
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Honestly, I’ve been reading a lot more since I slowed down the blogging. When I stopped thinking about whether or not I’d have content for the rest of the week, the pages just started turning. 🙂
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Hi Anna, so glad you’ve committed to a blogging schedule that works for you. During the school year when I am teaching I try to post every other day. I wish I could post everyday but it is just to time consuming and like you said, I don’t want to burn out. So much to do, so little time. My kids are going into 6th and 8th and they start Tuesday so I will be busy getting things done around the house and finishing school shopping for the kids. I am sad to let summer go.
I hope your daughter has a good school year.
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Thanks, Laura! Sounds like you have your hands full; I can barely handle the responsibilities of one jr. high student! Not having a post for every weekday used to make me feel like a bit of a failure (stupid, I know) but I feel so much better now that I’ve committed to a 3-day-per-week schedule. I’ve already stared reading more, and knowing that I have content for a week or two out is so refreshing. 🙂
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It’s good to re-evaluate one’s blogging because life changes over the span of several years. My kids are getting older and they need more personal attention so I need to slow down my blogging too. Two to three reviews a week is plenty for me.
So glad your daughter is enjoying her first year of high school. This back to school season was so busy. It’s Labor Day weekend in Canada too and we are restructuring my daughter and son’s room to include a study section with new desk, chair, lamp and accessories. They are so excited!
Enjoy your relaxed weekend!
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She has 2 years left before high school, and with all the work she has in junior high, I’m dreading those years! I hope you got everything you wanted to accomplish done on your long weekend. I had no idea it was Labor Day in Canada, too.
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It’s a great idea to change around your blogging and posting so it doesn’t become an overwhelming burden. Your plan sounds terrific. I think posting a different review everyday is a difficult schedule to keep up and it can be difficult for bloggers to read all the reviews, too. I’m trying to come up with a schedule that works for me, too, because things have been too haphazrd for me the last few months!
It’s wonderful The Girl is enjoying 7th grade. I loved school, overall, and find it sad when a child seriously dislikes school. Ithink it’s awful that the teacher she had the end of last year turned her off of Narnia becuse she instituted page limits. I do not like it when teachers fail to recognize their students who work hard and want to learn. To sacrifice their interest because of students who aren’t trying or are lazy is wrong and I think the entire scenario says more about the teacher’s abilities than anything else! What a relief for you and your daughter that she has a better, smarter teacher this year!
I want to read Code Name Verity, too! And I’m very interested in what The Girl thinks of it.
I like your Book Club list. I may try to read The Help when you do since I’ve yet to read it!
Enjoy your weekend, Anna! I hope you get some time to relax and read!
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Now that The Girl is back in school, I’m not sure she’ll be doing as many reviews. I’ll try to persuade her to share her thoughts, though!
You make a good point about the every day posting…you’re right that it does make it harder on readers, too. I know I have a hard time keeping up with everyone’s blog posts!
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That’s outrageous about the C for 15 instead of 20 pages! What about quality of experience over quantity, and comprehension over speed? Ugh!!!
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My thoughts exactly! The Girl’s godmother is an elementary school teacher, and she couldn’t come up with a valid reason for the quantity-based requirements. I’m glad that’s all behind us now!
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That’s a great idea to adjust your blogging schedule to avoid burnout. I know just what you mean, I don’t read fast enough to be able to post my reviews.
My youngest is going into 7th grade next week also, time flies! Thats nutty about the 20 pages in 30 minutes, that can really put kids off reading, too much pressure.
Enjoy the long weekend too, I’ve been busy with the back to school hustle and bustle myself.
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Yes, it does go by so fast. I can’t believe I have to start thinking about high school soon. Makes me feel old, LOL!
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A teacher that grades by number of pages? That’s crazy. I just had to add that to the chorus.
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You’ve made me feel better, Leslie! I was really upset last school year and I kept wondering whether I was the only one bothered by such rules.
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I found that a lighter posting schedule make a huge difference in my blogging enjoyment too. A few times a week is enough .. both for the writer and the reader I think. I have a hard time reading all the posts when someone posts every day so I’m happy for a lighter posting schedule as well.
Urgh about that teacher. That is really wrong — and I hate to think of kids being turned off from reading because of this.
That is an eclectic list of books — but I’m surprised most of you hadn’t read The Help. I thought that was read by everyone in the world already!! HAHA!
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I’ve had The Help on my shelf forever; don’t know why I never got around to reading it. At least book club gives me an excuse!
You are so right about how difficult it is to keep up with blog reading. Now I’ve got to make some scheduled time to do that, too. As you can tell, I feel a need to be organized about these things. 😉
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I think we sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves to post. I know I do. Sometimes it’s hard for me to finish a book a week and I always stress out about trying to get one finished. It’s silly and I don’t need the stress. I think 3 times a week is good, especially in the summer!
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Glad to know I’m not alone. Some bloggers read so fast, but that’s not me. I do finish a book or two a week, but only because I have a long work commute via public transit. I’d be posting fewer times per week if I didn’t have that scheduled reading time!
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