Saturday, February 26, 2022

Ten Years of Blogging

On February 25th, 2012, I wrote my first blog post. My goals for blogging were to keep track of what I was reading, review the books I read, and take part in reading challenges. At the time I never imagined all the additional benefits that would  come from blogging.


What do I like best about blogging?

  • The community of book bloggers. It is wonderful to be able to learn from others who share my love for books and reading. 
  • The process of writing down and organizing my thoughts about the books I read. 
  • Reminders of authors I need to check out or get reacquainted with.
  • Discovering new authors. I thought I knew a lot about older mystery novels (pre-1960's) before I started blogging, but there are always more authors to learn about. Plus the fact that more vintage mysteries and authors are being reprinted now than ever before, so they are more available than ever.


What is new in my blogging?

When I started blogging, I read mystery novels almost exclusively. I still love mysteries, and I give a high priority to vintage mysteries, but I now read a good number of books from other genres. More science fiction and fantasy (heavier on the science fiction). More contemporary general fiction and historical novels.

I joined the Classics Club in late 2018, and have been working on reading books from my Classics List. I am not reading in that area as much I had hoped, but I keep working at it. 

Another new joy in my blogging life is reading more short stories and sharing my thoughts about those on the blog. 


In closing I will feature a few books. All of these books have skulls or skeletons on the cover:

Ray Bradbury's One More for the Road is a book of short stories. Frankly, I bought this book for the cover (over 15 years ago). The stories in this book  are mostly from his later years, based on reviews I read. I will be checking them out later in the year.



Aaron Elkin's Skeleton Dance is the 10th book in the Gideon Oliver (forensic anthropologist) series. I have only read the first two book's in this series, although I have read several of Elkin's standalone novels and loved them. I have copies of many books in the series, mostly because I just love the skeletons on the covers.



The third book, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard, is my husband's book, but I have always loved the cover illustration. I am thinking I may try reading this one, although it is far outside of my usual reading. It has a carnival setting, which could be fun.





22 comments:

Cath said...

Happy blogging anniversary, Tracy! Ten years flies by. I really love the community of bloggers too, and over the past few years I finally feel like I found my people. Quite a handful of you feel like friends now. And the book recommendations are precious.

I love your skeletons! (Something you don't imagine yourself saying to someone. ;-) )

TracyK said...

Thanks, Cath. It doesn't feel like it was ten years ago, although I did have more energy back then. And it is very nice to find blogging friends. I am glad you like the skeletons.

Jo said...

Congrats on 10 years, that's truly amazing in the blogging world!! But you are definitely an inspiration, so thank you!🤗

Mary R. said...

Happy 10th blogoversary! And good job getting your post written. I have another skeleton cover for you -- and it is also a fun, weird book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33456.A_Dirty_Job

Margot Kinberg said...

Congratulations, Tracy! Your blog is so consistently good; I learn every time I visit. I look forward to what you have coming for us this year. Thanks for being an essential part of this community.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Jo. That is very kind of you to say. I get very much good out of blogging as we all do.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Mary. We lost our internet on Thursday and did not get back until late afternoon Friday, so it is amazing that I got this post out.

That is a great skull book cover and I should try out that book by Christopher Moore. (and I see that it has a sequel that came out several years later) I have never read anything by that author, and years ago I would not have tried that kind of fiction, but I am reading more books like that now.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Margot. I love being part of this community and I appreciate the part you play in it too. We all learn from each other.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I think I started in around 2005. Before facebook, my blog was very active. I did short story challenges and up to forty writers would participate. One group was published as an ebook. Now it is quieter. But even facebook is less active as younger people drift to new places. As I wind down so too this part of my life.

Mary R. said...

Glad to hear you are willing to give different kinds of books a try -- there are so many great things out there to read! I've read most of the Christopher Moore books and find him uneven. He writes in short (2-3 book) series and generally the series are consistent within themselves. The one that starts with Second-hand Souls is very good, and the Melancholy Cove ones are probably my favorites (great on audio!). I look forward to hearing what you think.

Lark said...

Happy 10 Years! What I love about blogging is meeting so many other people who love reading and books as much as I do. I hope you're around for many more years. (And I thought Johannes Cabal The Necromancer was a pretty fun read. I liked it a lot.)

Rick Robinson said...

Tracy, congratulations on your blogging anniversary, and hopes for many more. When I started The Broken Bullhorn in 2008 I posted several times a week and was really into it, with a lot of commenters and busy conversations. When I switched to Tip the Wink many of those people dropped away, though I don’t know why. Then I began posting less and many of the blogs I used to read have gone away. All the more reason to value yours! Thank you for being here.

TracyK said...

Patti, I knew that you had been blogging for years when I started because by then Friday's Forgotten Books was an established event. But I did not know you had started in 2005. Amazing. Blogging had changed a lot over the years, but I am encouraged that it is still going, because I am not interested in social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc. I do like Goodreads. I do enjoy your blogging and keeping in touch with you and I know I would not be the only one who would miss it.

TracyK said...

Mary, You are right, I am discovering many fun and interesting books I would not have read earlier. For years I would not read general fiction because it had disappointed me too often, now I have better resources to learn more about the books before giving them a try. And maybe easier availability of some books via ebook format helps, although I still can't get myself to read ebooks very often.

I like the idea that Christopher Moore does short series, and thanks for more suggestions for his books. My husband did read one of his books, Shakespeare for Squirrels, and did not like that one. He was disappointed because he liked the premise so much.

TracyK said...

Lark, I agree, it is wonderful to be in contact with people who enjoy reading and books as much as I do. Before blogging, I did not know that many people who were as interested in books as I am (except my husband). I worked for a publisher for decades, so that is strange but still true.

And thanks for your thoughts on Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. I was hoping there would be someone who had read it.

TracyK said...

Rick, thanks and I do hope to continue for many more years of blogging. I had wondered how long you had been blogging, and remembered that you had The Broken Bullhorn blog previously. I had heard other bloggers say that that they lost some readers when they switched to a new blog but I don't understand that either.

Thanks for the kind words and I hope you continue posting on your blog, even if less than before. I need to go back and read your posts on The Broken Bullhorn.

Katrina said...

Congratulations, ten years seems to go in a flash. I too love the community of bloggers, 'meeting' people that I would never come into contact with otherwise, from places I won't ever visit.

Sam said...

My sincere congratulations on completing 10 years of book blogging. That's a long haul, for sure. Keep 'em coming. The items you listed about blogging for so long is exactly why I miss it so much after being shutdown for the last 6 weeks.

Kay said...

Tracy, congratulations on 10 years of blogging! Wow! Time sure passes fast doesn't it? Let's have 10 more, OK?

TracyK said...

Katrina, Yes, it does go by fast. Visiting bloggers from other countries has helped me to learn a bit more about other parts of the world. Geography has never been my strong point, but I like to place where people are from and visualize what it is like there.

TracyK said...

Sam, I checked back and you first started posting on Book Chase in January 2007 (and had a blog before that), so you have a lot of blogging longevity. I did wonder when I started blogging how long it would last but it has continued to provide a lot of satisfaction to me in so many ways, so here I still am.

I miss your blogging and hope someday you can return to it. I do check your last post for updates on your reading. I have also been checking into your posts on "books on books" and time travel books.

TracyK said...

Kay, I do hope to have 10 more years of blogging. We shall see, but I do enjoy it now. And I hope you continue on along with me. I enjoy your thoughts on books and how things are going in your life.