Is It Just Me?

Here’s the thing.

I’ve been blogging about books since 2017 and have loved every single minute.

Honestly? For the last few years, I have felt that I am shouting into the void, along with eleventy billion other bloggers too. You know when you read a book that’s just so brilliant you want everyone to know about it – there’s only so ways you can say “Trust me, you will love this book, please read it!” How do you not lose heart or lose faith in your judgement when it feels like no one is listening?

I love reading, and I love talking to people about books, but thanks to the constant changes in the algorithm on Twitter and Instagram, I am starting to wonder why, and doubting myself as a reader and blogger.

Recently, I have found it sometimes difficult to be enthusiastic about books, and have been feeling overwhelmed by my reading pile – I can’t get through them fast enough to talk about them, and the reading slumps have been coming more and more frequently. At one point, I started to wonder what was the point of reading and posting about books for publication day, when it feels for me that the views and likes and retweets are less and less with every week.

People will tell you that it shouldn’t matter, that you do it because you love it, and that you are creating an online document of the books you have read and loved. I do love what I do, but I still want to feel that my words are reaching people. Having worked with quite a few authors now, I know how important it is to them that we talk about their books – especially when you find that special one that you want everyone to read.

Then you start to think it must be you – that you have done or said something to offend people, and that in a world of screens and scrolling your posts are whizzed past or ignored.

After some personal decisions were made this week, I realised I could sit around and feel sad – or I could do something about Years Of Reading and take the chance to shake things up and move in a direction that I want to go in.

So here we are.

The funny thing is, that once I had a chance to process everything, I realised that if I was brave enough, that this could actually be the chance for change, for me to sit back and think about what I love doing and what I don’t, and that now my bookish future is up to me.

Reader, I started to think of what I want Years Of Reading to be and have already done a few bookish things way out of my comfort zone – will they come off? I don’t know. The thing is I tried, and at least it’s made me realise that you don’t know unless you ask. For the first time in a while, I feel enthusiastic and inspired about Years Of Reading – because I know that it’s up to me what happens next – and do you know what?

That’s the most exciting thing of all.

25 thoughts on “Is It Just Me?”

  1. DistractedFlick says:
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    DistractedFlick's avatar

    Always appreciate your honestly Clare, it sounds like it’s been really tough, but I’m really pleased you’ve been able to turn this into a positive and I’m excited to see the evolution of your blog – as I always say, change doesn’t have to be a bad thing xxx

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  4. Bookbint says:
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    The reason you have a blog is for you. It’s yours to do with what you will & everyone can join you on your Bookish adventures of they want, it’s like going on a cruise by yourself, you can go see the sights, socialism if you like but if you want to head off, drink some tea, eat a magnum or two & read that’s what your holiday is for. The lucky thing about a blog is it’s yours to dip into anytime & those of us who follow you are welcome to visit at their leisure. Love you Claire x

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    • yearsofreadingselfishly says:
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      yearsofreadingselfishly's avatar

      Thank you so much, love you too. You are right, and I wish I could accept it, but I think I just find it frustrating that I spend time reading and talking about books, and then wonder why I bother when there is no interaction! I need to be more patient! Xx

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  6. David Harris says:
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    I will be excited to see how your new plans work out, but please know that your words are reaching people. And it’s not just about persuading people to read things – I like to know what’s out there, what people think and how books resonate with everyone’s very different life experiences and views. It’s as much the person behind the review that matters as the book itself. (I think this is why I’m quite lukewarm about doing cover reveals, Q&A and so on). Even things like, why did she choose to look at this book? Why now? (I recently saw a piece about how AI tools are going to be available for blogging and I thought, what a way to miss the point of blogging).

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    • yearsofreadingselfishly says:
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      yearsofreadingselfishly's avatar

      Thank you David for your kind words. I don’t know if you feel it too, but it just feels that I am talking about books but am not getting any kind of interaction on social media? I like your approach, and I think I need to take your advice on board too! That’s scary about the AI influence too…

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    • yearsofreadingselfishly says:
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      That’s a good question. At the moment, I would have to say that I perhaps need to follow my own path a bit more, and maybe pick books to talk about that aren’t all over social media. As you say, I do visit and comment on blogs, I think its more that on Twitter and Instagram, it increasingly feels you are shouting about books into the void…! Thank you, I wish you well too.

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  10. Simon T says:
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    Simon T's avatar

    Glad you’re feeling excited about the future! I’ve definitely seen number of readers and commenters go down over the years as instagram reels and tiktok videos become the new exciting thing, but there are still enough people who value the blogging community to make it worthwhile.

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    • yearsofreadingselfishly says:
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      I think it’s a case of realising you do what you love and what you want, and it’s undoubtedly hard, but I really believe nowadays you just have to do what you feel works for you, and just be proud of the fact that you are still blogging!

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  12. My Mashed Up Life says:
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    matthewenglishfe's avatar

    Hi Clare. I’m a blogger too (often about books, but not exclusively) and I only write posts when I want to; I’ve stopped thinking about stats or views or likes, and just do it for my own pleasure. If people read it, that’s great, but I don’t feel any pressure to keep doing it. Lately I’ve noticed that I often get way more engagement with articles that I’ve published on LinkedIn (obviously more closely related to my work) than new posts on my blog, even if sometimes the topic (or even the post itself) is an identical copy. Keep doing what you’re doing for as long as you’re enjoying it.

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    • yearsofreadingselfishly says:
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      yearsofreadingselfishly's avatar

      Thank you so much for this lovely comment – and I think you are absolutely right too. I have found recently that personal issues have meant I can’t devote as much time as I would like to blogging, and that breathing space has actually helped me get some perspective! I think you are spot on – once it’s no longer enjoyable, it will be time to stop

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