Blog Birthday: What I’ve learned in my first year of blogging

Welcome back!

What a year it has been. In some ways I can’t believe it has been a year, but in many ways it feels like longer. In the time I’ve been blogging, I’ve accumulated masses of books and read more than I ever have done in my life.

I’ve learned so many lessons but I’ve also met so many wonderful people, some of whom I now consider friends.

Before I get into anything else, I thought I’d share some stats with you.

---

---

Lessons learned

The last couple of months, I have taken a step back from my blog and fallen way behind with my reading. Why? Blogger burnout. There are loads of great posts out there about blogger burnout, so I won’t bore you with it here, but my experience of it was (and still is) that I just lost interest. I stopped enjoying what I was reading and felt so ‘meh’ about it all.

I decided to go on semi-hiatus and take some time to read for pleasure and post if and when I wanted to. I am slowly rebuilding my relationship with blogging but it’s been tough. It has crossed my mind to stop blogging.

If I could give any advice to new bloggers, or even myself a year ago, I’d say: pace yourself. Don’t let FOMO get to you and request too many ARCs. You will fall behind and you will get stressed. You will also totally ignore this advice – that’s just part of being a book blogger!

---

The best bits and highlights

As much as it has been challenging, it has also been an amazing, fulfilling, and squee-inducing experience.

My absolute proudest moment in the last year is being asked if a quote from my a review could be put on the final version of a book cover. I’m so proud to be featured on Catherine Fisher’s A Clockwork Crow.

Of course, receiving lots of books (some unsolicited which is very exciting) has been amazing but sometimes overwhelming. I still haven’t found a good system to organise my books and keep track of what I should be reading when.

But the best thing about being a book blogger is the people. I have met so many people (in person and online) who are lovely and just as passionate about reading as I am (or more so). It’s an amazing community and I’ve been lucky not to have any negative experiences.

---

What’s next for Roachie’s Reviews?

I do want to keep blogging. For now, I am focusing on reading what I want to read and waiting for that ‘Hurrah!’ moment to come. And I’m OK with that.

---

Thank you

I wanted to give say thank you to the people who have been fantastic and supportive of me and my blog.

Thank you to my partner for always being there and being so supportive of everything I do, ever. ❤

Thank you Joely Dean for creating my amazing banner and illustrations. I’m so excited to keep working with you.

Thank you Fictionophile for being the first person to follow my blog.

Thank you to the most lovely people I’ve come to know and for always keeping me entertained: Online Blanket Fort, Lizbie’s Nerdy World, Hannah’s Bookshelf, Emma R., An Average Life, The Paperback Adventures, Emma’s Book Blog, Hiding Behind Books Blog, The Roaring Bookworm, and Natalie Helena Blogs.

Thank you to The Write Reads for featuring my blog not once but twice. I love those days.

And thank you to everyone who follows my blog, reads my posts, comments, likes, tweets etc. I’m grateful for your support.

Let’s see what the second year brings.