Saturday, October 19, 2013

Reading and Blogging Blues

Contrary to what Melissa said in her post the other day, I wouldn't exactly label this a rant. I may end up complaining at length about my total lack of time in the past few weeks for reading/blogging, but it's more sadness than anything. While I'm extremely happy with, and grateful for, the path my life has taken recently (job = guilt-free book buying), I can't help but miss devoting so much time as I did before to books and the blog. I feel like I'm hardly around here anymore, and that just saddens me. Not visiting blogs also makes me sad; it's as though I've become a turtle and withdrawn into my shell. At the moment I feel so out of touch with what's going on around the book blogosphere, and being out of the loop is driving me a bit crazy because in general, I hate being the last person to find out about anything.

I haven't finished reading a single book yet this month; I don't remember when that last happened. It's not because I don't want to read, either. My favorite way to unwind at the end of the day is to curl up with a book in front of the TV, preferably with an unhealthy snack by my side, too. I've barely had a moment to spare for reading for almost a month now, and no reading = depressed/slightly unhinged Lee. And I've got some very, very highly anticipated books waiting for me to read them, like Sarah Rees Brennan's Untold and Karina Halle's Bold Tricks. It pains me to look at them all neglected on my shelf/Kindle.

Hmm . . . . I think I may have gotten a tad rant-y there. I do admit to being more than a little frustrated with still struggling to find a balance between work/life outside of work. This month also happens to be an incredibly busy one. Today Melissa and I are going to see Ally and their brother, Denis, perform in a competition with the rest of their high school's marching band. We've got about a two hour drive each way, and we don't expect to return until the wee hours of tomorrow morning. So what I'm trying to say is, this week's White Queen recap is going to be late, possible even pushed back to the end of the week. Yeah, I know it's the series finale tonight, but I don't quite picture myself having time to watch the episode and write about it tomorrow.

I'm also super pressed for time this weekend because in a few days, Melissa and I are headed to NY! We are both beyond excited, especially about visiting our old neighborhoods. The blog is most likely going to be extra quiet for a few days next week. I plan to write a post about our adventures, and I'm also hoping to finally get some reading done during the flights.

I'm really trying to get back on track with reading and blogging. Writing about something that's been weighing rather heavily on my mind has been quite therapeutic—now I see why Melissa enjoys ranting so much. And if you've managed to make it to the end of this post, I thank you for reading it and allowing me to vent.

8 comments:

  1. Ah, Lee, how I feel for you. You've managed to express more eloquently what I feel about the change my life's taken too.On the one hand I'm grateful to have my new job, and on the other hand I miss the spare time I had. Spare time I used to keep up with the blogosphere and reading. I miss reading everyone's posts and the new books... I feel as though I am missing out. Yet, at the same time I know I am grateful for the guilt-free book buying I can do now. Wishing you all the best.

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    1. I was thinking of the update post you wrote on your blog when I wrote mine, and it's funny how quite a few of us are all in the same boat at the moment- too busy with work to read and blog. I miss everything about book blogging, especially the interaction. I wish you all the best, too, Katja, and I hope that we're back on track soon!

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  2. Don't worry about it, just ride it out. I've had those moments too and I do get the anxiety of "not blogging". Don't pressure yourself because that will take the fun out of this hobby. You can always talk about other stuff anyway like what you're doing now. Sometimes I skip the blog and just visit others or vise versa.

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    1. I've been thinking about doing a regular post about life in general so I don't feel so bad about falling behind on reading and reviews until I can get caught back up again. I really do miss the routine I had, but right now, there's not much I can do about that because I just don't have the spare time that I used to.

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  3. I know what you mean!!! I battled a reading slump the whole entire summer and now that I actually want to read again, crave it, even, I started Uni and don't seem to have time for anything. There are so many books I want to read and stories to explore and I know I can't help but put them off, because there is no time for them. Dilemma, right? But then again, what I realized was that it's not so hard to get back into it when you have the time again. Sometimes we have to cut back on the reading time and enter the outside world - but I think that makes it even more exciting to curl up with a good book again when there finally is time again! Just remember it's not going to be like this forever :)

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    1. I keep telling myself that sooner or later, things have to calm down and I'll be able to squeeze in time for reading again, lol. And that is a really good point about appreciating something, in this case reading, even more when you've had to spend time away from it.

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  4. Wow, it's crazy how you and I are living similar situations with our real lives vs blogging/reading! I can definitely relate Lee, I miss my routine of having lots of reading time, being able to chat with other bloggers and discover new books together :( I'm working like 6 days a week so a lot of the time that one day off simply isn't enough to catch up on everything + real life stuff like cleaning, cooking & spending time with loved ones! I appreciate you sharing your frustrations with us though! Hopefully I can find the time to whip up one of my own posts like this soon and explain why the blog has been so slow.

    I hope we both find more balance soon and are able to get back to reading and blogging :) I am excited for you guys, I wish I was going to New York again right now...I can't imagine how much you miss it having lived there for so long! I hope you ladies have a blast and don't worry - we'll all still be here when you get back ♥

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    1. Oh, wow- working 6 days a week is intense! I feel like I have zero time for anything but laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, and other "fun" tasks with 2 days off, so I can't imagine how tough it is to have to do all of that in only 1 day! I hope things settle down for you, too, and that you get some good stretches of reading time in!

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