5 Year Blogoversary

December 30, 2020

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Death by Tsundoku! FIVE YEARS PEOPLE! It cannot believe it. We’ve been through so much together… I’ve grown from a blogger with no community to one who wouldn’t give up her blogger community for the world. I’ve learned what sort of posts I like to write and read. You’ve seen by blog crash a handful of times, change hosts, and watched me painfully learn how to manage all those self-hosted things. You’ve seen me get married and now we have just brought our first child into the world — we’ve been through a lot together, friends.

And we’ve been thought a lot more together this year than I believe any of us expected. 2020 wasn’t the year anyone wanted it to be, no matter where on the globe you are located. As terrible as this year has been overall, it definitely helped us all realize what is truly important to us and brought us closer together. I hope that 2020 was patient and kind with you. For me, I learned a lot. As a result, things will be changing a lot here at Death by Tsundoku. In good ways. I promise. 🙂


 

2020. How does one even begin to explain the lessons learned from 2020? This year was a shambles for everyone in so many ways. But I’ll try:

Blogging habits are both physical and mental. This is a variation of a lesson from 2019. In 2019, I struggled with the changes in my life that moved me from city life to farm life and how I lost all the good habits in my life. That was a physical disruption. I had to rebuilt my space for blogging, my schedule, the time I set to do this, etc.  In 2020, I struggled with how my life went almost entirely digital overnight – something I’ve never enjoyed a lot of. This is, more than anything, a mental disruption. I’ve been able to conquer the physical things that drive a habit. I still have all the physical things I need to make blogging successful and I’m sticking to them. But mentally? Mentally I’m not there yet. I still have a long way to go to ensure my mind is in the best place to optimize my time blogging and for reading.

I am not motivated to write book reviews. When I started this year, I was crushing it on book reviews. I did a decent job keeping up with writing them as I read books. But as 2020 progressed, I found this the hardest part of book blogging. Isn’t that odd? You’d think dumping my opinions about a book I just read onto paper would be simple. But… I don’t know if this is part of the 2020 mental fog I’ve experienced all year, but I found them harder and harder to write. I need to revisit what book reviews mean to me, why I write them, and how I want them to be delivered if I’m going to maintain a successful book blog into 2021.

I need book clubs and buddy reads. NEED. There is something so incredibly vital to my happiness associated with discussing books with others once I’ve read them. When the pandemic started, most of my book clubs went virtual. But, as the pandemic continued, a lot of my books clubs… changed. People were less engaged (makes sense), fewer people read the books, and sometimes we just skipped meeting entirely. This left me with a hole in my heart I didn’t expect. I ended up doing more buddy reads this year than in the past. But I also struggled with the same things my peers were struggling with, so I occasionally let some buddies down. See Lesson #1. I need to reflect on this as I begin my next chapter as a mother.

Did you know, blogging is a hobby?! I know, I know. Shocking. I don’t get paid for this. I just love to do it. I joke that I’m “semi-professional” because I’ll occasionally get compensated in the form of books to write reviews, but does that really count? I digress. The real lesson here is that while I get out of blogging what I put into it, it’s still a hobby. The only person I’m beholden to at the end of the day is myself and my own expectations. This community rocks. You were all so supportive when I mentioned taking a 3 month hiatus for baby – that was the moment. Oh. This is for ME. So I set the rules. Duh. And in Jackie’s World her rules are whatever she needs at the time.

 

Interested in checking out what my previous lessons were? Pop in on my 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year blogoversary posts!


 

Hopes and goals are different. Hopes are my ambition, but they aren’t necessarily measurable. These are the principles by which I hope to live my blogging life for 2021. Goals to come in early 2021– but these should guide my reading and blogging, and thereby my eventual goals, this coming year:

Give myself space, patience, and kindness.  I am a highly motivated, type-A personality. My career is based on seeing opportunities for improvement, making those improvements, and measuring the change. I act little differently with my blog. We all hold ourselves to a higher standard than everyone else does – but I’m often told that I can be an extreme version of that. It’s my hope that in 2021 I will be gracious with myself in all aspects of my life, but particularly with blogging. I don’t need to be ambitious and post all the time. I don’t need to beat myself up for missing important posts from my favorite bloggers. I need to be kind to myself. I hope for the grace to be kind to myself and my blog.

Find balance with reading, blogging, and my new role as a mother. This ties to the previous hope – but it’s different in my mind. My life is changing drastically! I want to be there for my little girl, but I also want to ensure I don’t forget who I am and what’s important to me. Reading and blogging are a big part of my life. I don’t want to give these things up long term, even if I am making sacrifices in the short term. I hope for the self-awareness and commitment to keep reading and blogging commonplace in my life.

Keep Book Clubs and Buddy Reads. This shouldn’t be surprising either. And, as seems to be a theme, ties to the previous hope. Book clubs and buddy reads are important not only to inspire me to read books I never would have and to talk through what I’ve read, but also to create a deeper human connection. I’m a highly extroverted person. COVID quarantine has been challenging for me mentally. It’s been great to still connect virtually, but it isn’t enough. I hope I can balance baby and book clubs/buddy reads in 2021 enough that I can stay happy and see people in person.

Find a happy place with my book reviews.  Now for something completely different! As mentioned above, I’ve lost the motivation to write book reviews. Sure, part of this is quarantine and the mental game of blogging. But a big part of it is also understanding what I want from my reviews. I hope to spend time consciously exploring how I write my reviews and coming up with a better system. I don’t really know what I’m trying to do with my reviews anymore. I hope to make review writing a stress-free process.

 


 

Finally– thank you SO MUCH for being here. It means the world to me that there are people who listen, respond and push me to be more than I thought I could be. Thank you for being a part of my journey. Thank you for participating in everything I do. Thank you for sticking around through my rough spots and my amazing moments.

This community is the reason I continue to blog. The reason I spend hours reading and blogging when I should be sleeping. You make every moment worth it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!

While I have many people in the blogging community I connect with regularly, there is a small group who have been vital to my blogging over the last year. Without these people, I would have, at times, given up, walked away, or just felt defeated. We all had those moments in 2020. Whether you know it or not, you pushed me to be a better reader, blogger, and friend this year. Thank you:

  • Melanie @ Grab the Lapels For being a proper friend. I mean, there aren’t words to describe how important your friendship is to me. Baby Skullface Mercenary cannot wait to meet you.
  • Kim @ Traveling in Books: For inspiring me to write so many posts, read so many books, and stay with my blogging and reading. You’re a proper, real-life friend now!
  • Laila @ Big Reading Life: For consistently reminding me that we’re all human and blogging is just a hobby. For keeping me in your life. <3
  • Krysta and Briana @ Pages Unbound: For Classic Remarks. I kid you not, there were weeks this meme was the highlight of my blogging. It’s been inspiring and I hope it resumes in 2021!
  • Bill @ The Australian Legend: For providing me the tough love I need sometimes while always being encouraging. And for teaching me all sorts of things about the Land Down Under.
  • Captain @ Captain’s Quarters: For being a steady hand at the helm of friendship, even when my ship sometimes blows off course. You’re always there for me. I see you. I appreciate you. My blogging wouldn’t be the same without you.
  • Megan @ Hungry Bookworm: For being the newest blogging mom in my life right now. I will have so many questions. But your blogging also proves to me that it’s possible to blog and be a mom. This sounds silly when I write it down… but is a proper fear of mine!

To anyone I didn’t mention directly– you are amazing and wonderful and meaningful to me as well. I don’t know what I’d do without you all! I hope that we all continue to grow together. Here’s to another amazing year of reading, blogging, blog hopping, and discovering who we are.

 

Happy reading,

Jackie B.

Jackie B Forman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


What do you think?

  • What do you think of Death by Tsundoku? What are your loves, likes, and dislikes? What do you want to see more of in the future?
  • Can you relate to any of my lessons learned? Any of my hopes? Why or why not?
  • What lessons did you learn from blogging this year?
  • What are your hopes for 2021?

15 Comments

  • confessionsofayareader December 30, 2020 at 10:24 am

    Congrats on 5 years!

  • Laila@BigReadingLife December 30, 2020 at 11:25 am

    Congratulations, Jackie! Our blogiversarys are separated by a day. 🙂 Thanks for the shout-out – I’m so glad you are in my life and I thank YOU for the blogging encouragement and friendship.

    I am also trying to think about reviews. I have lost the enthusiasm for writing them as well. I think I need to try a new review format – more like a short Q& A or something. Need to research that. Anyway, Happy New Year!

  • Sam@WLABB December 30, 2020 at 12:15 pm

    Cheer’s to five years! This is such a sweet post, and I feel you with writing reviews. I used to require I write a review before starting a new book, but nope, not in 2020. I think I am 3 in the hole right now.

  • lydiaschoch December 30, 2020 at 2:46 pm

    Happy blogiversary! I look forward to seeing what you post in 2021.

  • Kim @ Traveling in Books December 30, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    Awww, thanks! It’s been great getting to know you better this year! I hope we can pick back up with all the buddy reads when you’re back from maternity leave!

  • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks December 31, 2020 at 3:35 am

    Congratulations! I wish we stayed in touch better through 2020 🙁 but I’m so glad to see all those changes in your life – you probably struggle to find time to basically eat now, so I don’t know how you’re keeping on top of blogging! I’m not a mom, and yet I barely post anymore 🙂 I’m glad to see your blog still going despite all of the changes.

    Here’s to a good 2021!

    • Jackie B January 30, 2021 at 10:31 pm

      2020 was a mess in so many ways. Don’t worry about our lack of connection in any given timeframe – that won’t change our overall connection!

      Haha– I scheduled all my posts from November 25th through the end of the year ahead of time. I didn’t expect to post anything once Baby came into the world. In fact, she’s 6 weeks old and today is the first day since her birth I’ve picked up a computer. Wowza. I’m officially on hiatus until mid-March when my maternity leave is over, but I’ll do my best to post a few things here and there. Some updates and the like?

      Here’s to a better 2021, for sure. <3 Stay healthy!

      • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks January 31, 2021 at 3:15 am

        Wow! You scheduled ALL THOSE POSTS O.o oh my gosh, you are a determined blogger! Much respect.

        • Jackie B February 1, 2021 at 11:32 am

          Thank you! It was certainly work – but only turned into one per week through the end of 2020 and two in 2021. Now my haitus is properly silent… but I hope to have time to post a hiatus update this week. Just to let people know I’m not dead. XD

          • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks February 1, 2021 at 2:46 pm

            I can’t do one per week even without the scheduling xD so I think you’re doing great xD i haven’t posted for most of January now!

            • Jackie B February 2, 2021 at 2:37 pm

              Pft, that’s okay. Post when you can — this is a hobby, after all! and, for what it’s worth, your blog posts are ALWAYS the top thing on my timeline whenever I log into Facebook.

              • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks February 3, 2021 at 4:02 pm

                That’s good to hear 🙂 i did post more actively on Facebook for the last month or two!

  • Grab the Lapels December 31, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    I Googled around and saw that a few bloggers discuss different ways to write book reviews. A book review can fit your lifestyle and schedule or how you feel about the book. Here’s one example: https://www.writersknowhow.org/articles/5-types-of-book-review.

    Here is another: https://natureofwriting.com/courses/common-writing-assignments/lessons/creative-book-reviews/

    Happy New Year!!!

  • wadholloway January 1, 2021 at 5:05 am

    Well done on getting to five years. We’re all ready to cut you a lot of slack through year 6. You’re probably already prioritising sleep time. It’s fun being able to share views with someone who is not old and set in their ways (not looking in any particular mirror). All the best for 2021.

  • Lexlingua January 2, 2021 at 4:34 am

    Aww, Happy Year 5! Great to hear about your blogging experiences here. Blogging is a hobby for me too, though I started fairly recently and keep reminding myself that it’s a hobby and so I get to decide the rules and frequency of posting — and that it’s OK to cut yourself some slack whenever you want.

    And since you mentioned Blog Buddies, wondering if you’re up for some Japanese lit (I’m going by the title of your blog, haha). I just signed up for it because it looks awesome, and spreading the word: https://japaneselitchallenge14.blogspot.com/

    Hope you and the Baby are doing well. Happy 2021. 🙂

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