Here we are again, though I am not sure how a year has passed. I managed to erase the whole into paragraph from last year and am clearly rewriting it, though I am keeping the Blake Sibling GIF at the bottom, because I still miss them.

Let’s talk about 9 More Random Things I learned from Book Blogging*:

*Because I could not possibly be arsed to come up with anything new, come on now. I did add some GIFs from The 100, because of course I did.

  1. I have become one of those people who uses books as decoration. I mean, not on purpose, mind you! But I buy books (far fewer than I used to, but still, more than I read), then I pretty much exclusively read review books, leaving about 95% of all purchased books to linger on my bookshelves for literal decades. It’s fine. (Narrator: her bank account disagreed.)
  2. You become entry-level techy.  Like, super entry level, but you will never be Linda From Your Office™ who can’t figure out how to send an email without “reply-all”ing.
  3. Publishing is messy and slow and often unfair. Look, most bookish folks pay at least some attention to the ins and outs of publishing. Many of us know some bloggers who have actually achieved the dream and become published authors. So we all know that the time it takes a book to go from concept to publication is… well, it’s a lot. You can birth several human babies in the time it takes one lucky book baby to be born. And that would all be fine, but then you see some crappy white guy getting seven figures for some racist old white guy book, or some TikTok “star” gets to publish pure nonsense, while your underrated fave is hoping beyond hope for the sequel they poured their soul into to get picked up. /EndRant.
  4. After nearly a decade, I have gone from bananas invested to running out of fucks to give. Marie posted this awesome post about blogging engagement, and it got me thinking about my own evolution. When I started, I was too scared to like, try. (Also, I had a whole human child the literal day after I started this blog, so that is kind of a pass, right?) Eventually, I started to kind of get into the community, yay! But… then I became too invested. And I lived and breathed stats and comments and and and. Then life imploded and got so busy and I was kind of forced to calm down. So I did. And now I am like… look, I care about my fellow bloggers, and the relationships I have built. I care when I request a book so I review it. Other than that… seriously guys the fucks ran out so long ago for worrying about stats and such.
  5. Time flies when you’re getting nothing done. This probably applies to more than just blogging, but damn, I think I have so much time when say, the Discussion Challenge starts. I start the year full of hopes and dreams and goals and then I blink and BAM it’s October and I’ve not written a single discussion. Or you look longingly at that review book for next July and then holy crap the review is due next week. It’s terrifying, frankly.
  6. I don’t know what to type here. Or anywhere. You ever just feel like you have said… well, everything? Like how many the heck ways can I describe a book at this point, yeah? How many random/weird/new “facts” can I come up with? Guess we’ll find out.
  7. Newer books always seem shinier. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. If you told me that some book I don’t even know that is coming out in 2025 is available for me to read right now, or that book I bought a special edition of and have been dying to read last year… I won’t lie, I’mma grab the book from the future, every time. Idk why, just is.
  8. People now know me as “that person” who knows about all the books. And The 100, because obviously, but still. I love being a person others turn to for a book rec. Kind of makes my day.
  9. I kind of don’t trust anyone who doesn’t read? Maybe that is snobby of me. But I don’t care if they read one book a decade, as long as they are like, open to and appreciate the concept of books. People who say “ew reading” are pretty much dead to me.

Can we all make it through another year, meet back here for a -holy crap- 10th year at It Starts at Midnight? Great!

Guys I miss them so much. 

 I will do a stubby giveaway for a Book Depository (or Amazon or BookShop or whatever for my US friends) book! Under $17 I must say, for I am poor, but that should get you just about any ebook or paperback and quite a few HCs! Ends 11/15 at 11:59EST

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For funsies, tell me something random that you did in the past nine years! Or, a random blogging truth for you. Or really, any old thing you want to share!

Posted October 8, 2022 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Blog Recaps, Funsies, Giveaway / 26 Comments

Divider

26 responses to “It Starts at Midnight is Nine!

  1. Congratulations on nine years! You still crack me up after all this time (never change). I am with you on the stats. I just don’t care. I don’t have the time or energy to be on every platform, but I still love blogging, so that, I will do.

    • AW thank you! You have no IDEA how much that made my day ♥♥ And that is exactly how I feel! (I also realized I didn’t word the giveaway very well- you can absolutely enter for an ebook, I just think I can’t send one internationally? I thought of that after I saw your comment!)

  2. I see another blogger having a blog anniversary (saw two this month) and I’m happy for you. I find many bloggers aren’t blogging and it’s sad but I have accepted that as normal.

    Something I did in the past nine years? I can’t think of a thing worth mentioning. Not having quit blogging after all these years seems to be my biggest achievement or maybe not. I don’t know.

    Congratulations on your blog anniversary.

    Have a lovely day.

  3. WOW Congrats on 9-years!!

    Something I did in the past nine years? Let’s see, I haven’t stoped blogging. I went back to reading for me and not worrying about reviewing every book I read. I ended up getting into a review slump… still am… but it’s getting better. And, life is great!

  4. Happy blogoversary!!!!!!!! *showers confetti* I’m with you on book decorating. Like, I’ll think about covers and how they’d look on this or that shelf, etc. Sad, really. And I got inordinately excited a couple years ago when I went to my nephews house for Christmas and they had the same edition of a book prominently displayed *rolls eyes*

    Anyway,,, yay!!!

  5. Congrats on the 9 years! That’s awesome! Blogging has been something I still enjoy despite it being a dying breed. It seems everyone now goes on Instagram or TikTok and shows you a book that you ought to read but gives you no reasons why. Guess I’m still old fashioned and like reading reviews other than them saying “it was so good” because the publisher sent them a free copy. *eyeroll*

    Hope you have many more happy blogging years to come!

  6. Congrats on nine years! I still love blogging and miss all my fellow bloggers who have fallen away. I get that blogging fatigue is a real thing, but I guess it hasn’t hit me yet so I’m over here like “Why isn’t anyone blogging anymore?” Like I threw a party any no one came, lol.

  7. Danielle Hammelef

    Happy Blogoversary! I enjoy reading your posts very much because I appreciate (and share) your sense of humor which always shines through your words. Hmmm. Something random from the past nine years for me would be turning pescatarian mostly to improve my own health. I don’t remember the last time I ate a hotdog or a hamburger and I’m good with that.

  8. Congrats on 9 years! I’m the same way about stats. When I started my blog, I didn’t care about them at all. Then I read a bunch of “How to blog correctly” stuff and became obsessed with stats. Now I’m back to not caring because I have way too much other stuff to care about.

  9. Congrats on 9 years! I gave 0 fucks about stats long ago as well, but I’m low-key a data nerd so I kinda look at it from a more observational standpoint? I guess it’s more accurate to say I look at my stats like I’m looking through a microscope lol.

    Something I did in the past 9 years… there’s a lot of milestones but let’s go with I somehow mastered cooking something in the microwave without destroying anything in the process. (One day I’ll get to the stove.)

  10. Kel

    Congrats on 9! I too have far too many “decorative” books, but no review copy or similar excuse for not reading them. I’m trying to work through them (or at least figure out if there’s still a chance I’ll read them or if that ship has sailed).

  11. Congrats on nine years! Yeah, I haven’t published or tried to publish any books, but I do get really frustrated on behalf of authors. And to be fair, I don’t buy or get many print books nowadays, but when I do, they’re usually ones I’ve already read. So talk about decorative lol. We’re supporting authors whether we read the books or not, it’s all good!

  12. Congrats on nine years! That’s very exciting. I am glad that you are still blogging after all these years. So many people have quit, and it’s sad, but I get it. It’s really easy to get burnt out.

    Here’s to many more years!

  13. Johanna B.

    I’m not that old so nine years isn’t even half my lifetime yet and it’s safe to say that a LOT has happened in that time haha! Biggest change though would be when I moved from North Carolina to London with my family!

  14. Yeah, I’ve definitely been feeling that pain of saying everything there is to say. When we started the Discussion Challenge, I was brimming full of ideas and excited to write about them all. Now I’m like, “There is nothing for me to discuss that I haven’t already talked about in twelve different ways.” It’s so hard to be motivated these days, especially now that I’m busy with other things. But I do love my blog and the community I’ve built through it. I won’t be giving it up, even if things aren’t the same as in the early days.

  15. Happy blogoversary!!! =D Even if you don’t have the ability, you must become a super entry-level techy. CSS and HTML basic knowledge is a must — particularly when a blog post seems to be all over the place and nothing else is working.

    I wanted to share something random I did in the past nine years, but like when someone asks me about the plot of a book I just told them I love(d) and/or recommended, my mind is blank. Could that be my blogging truth? This blogger cannot remember what she reads when you ask her about it.

    Wishing you many more years of blogging! Love your blog — and you’re one of my favourite bloggers EVER!

  16. AHH Shannon congratulations on 9 years, what an incredible milestone! And I’m here for the 10th year! Funny how time flies, isn’t it. I loved reading this so much and so agree with you about how unfair publishing can be and especially lately with TikTok books and such, with so much hype and non sense while some excellent, underrated books remain there, cruelly underrated. Could rant about that for hours with you 😂😂
    And I’m so happy to hear you’re not giving too much thought about stats or anything else, lately. (and thank you for linking to my post!). I hope to reach that point, I’m going to reach my 9th year of blogging next year, so maybe then I’ll be there, as well! 😀
    Here’s to many more years of blogging!! <3

  17. Julie Waldron

    Happy Blogiversary! So much has happened in 9 years! Our youngest graduated high school, got a job and met a great guy. Our oldest got married and they moved into the house she grew up in. My husband and I had a house built on the family farm, several months after we moved in we got a dog.

Leave a Reply