What I learned through book blogging

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

When I started this blog I had this grandiose idea of being this really eloquent book critic who read non-stop and identified deeply with the "book nerd" persona. I've always felt a personal connection to literature. I grew up in my public library and had teachers who saw my hunger for stories and pushed me to read more. It made complete sense that I would get into book blogging. After 2 years of trying to maintain a book blog I've learned a lot about blogging and about myself.

1. No more reading goals: curse you Goodreads for being the place I keep track of what I read and the place that makes me feel shame when I don't reach my reading goal. Prior to the interwebz, the only reading goals I had were in school for those Scholastic days (!) and summer reading programs. Those were fun. Reading goals as an adult, not so much fun. Setting a goal on a social site then writing about it made reading feel like a job. The truth is, I don't read on a consistent schedule. I can go weeks reading book after book, then easily not read for months on end. Having a reading goal for the year was this silent pressure to be better at something I already loved, turning it into something I didn't want to do at all. That's why this year I decided no more reading goals. Hell, I don't even log into Goodreads until I finish a book and that's ONLY to log that I read it or else I'll forget later on.

2. Social media is not for everyone: I am just not into Instagram or Twitter for this blog. To grow a blog you need to be present on social media and I just don't have the time or patience for it. I scroll through Twitter to read news and get caught up on memes, but I'm not there for promoting myself. And that sucks. Like the reading goal, social media started to feel like a job and I just wasn't into it.

3. Books are cool, but there's so much more: Jess and I started this other blog called Books and Beauty Confidential. It's so much fun for me because I'm starting to get more into makeup and really like writing about it. When I first started TDR I think I was too narrowly focused. My goal is to expand what I write about on this blog throughout the year.

4. I like lists: I think in lists. When I chat with people at work over messenger I usually organize my thoughts as a numbered list. It works for me and I hope to incorporate that in my future pieces on this blog.

5. Meaning is in the eye of the beholder: I always go back and forth about the name "The Drowsy Reader." When I first chose this name it was an ode to my constant state of sleepiness. Now when I think of it, I think of it more along the lines of a publication like "Reader's Digest." This small change in mindset makes it easier for me to write about more than books.

After about 2 years running this blog and the 3 month break I took at the beginning of this year, I'm happy to say that I don't know what I'm going to do with this blog. It's a passion project and I'm going to treat it that way - write about what I want, when I want.

Thanks for sticking with me on this journey,

Saudia