Welp, it’s finally happened. I need to take a break from this blog! I’ve gotten burned out on writing reviews and spending so much time on the computer and I am quite desperate to read a book (or two or three or ten) without feeling the need to write a review about it. I also have been contemplating shutting down the blog for good, but I’m not sure I reeeallly want to do that, so I’m going to take this blogging break as a test run.
I’m not exactly sure how long this review break will last. I plan on continuing to do my weekly Want It Wednesday posts, with a few breaks here and there, and will also continue on with the monthly Six Degrees of Separation meme, but other than those posts I don’t have any plans to write more full reviews at this time. Maybe I’ll still do some mini-reviews, but maybe not! I do know that I will be keeping up with reading other blogs and will still be liking and commenting on other blogs. But I’ve got to take a review break for now!
I’m looking forward to the time away from my computer, and am hopeful that this means I’ll read more books. Perhaps this step back will help me reach my goal of reading 100 books this year, which is a goal I make every year and have yet to actually reach. And who knows, I may just be one book away from getting back into writing reviews!
Anyways, thanks for reading my posts and following my blog, and I’m hopeful that this step away will rejuvenate me and rekindle my love for blogging!
Have you ever taken a blogging break? Have you ever contemplated shutting your blog down?
luvtoread 
Have a good rest. 🙂 Yes, I have taken a break. I stepped away from my blog for a month once.
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Thanks! 🙂 I hope to come back more excited to blog!
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I’ve never heard of someone stepping away from their blog but continued to read other blog posts. It sounds like reviewing books may take too much time and spoil some of the enjoyment you feel when reading but you still want ideas on what to read in the future from other bloggers. I know one blogger who would write a monthly post linking all books read that month to Goodreads (so people can read the synopsis on their own) and then 1-2 sentences with their overall opinion on each book.
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I absolutely don’t want to stop reading other’s blog posts. I’ve gotten SO many great recommendations from bloggers that I would’ve otherwise not ever heard of the books. Without bloggers recommendations (yours included!) I’m at the mercy of the same old, same old that everyone reads. There’s a world of books out there that I’m anxious to dive into! But then I feel guilt about not sharing what I read… 😦 I’m keeping a list of what I read while I’m “breaking” so that if I desire I can write mini-reviews about the books for future posts. I actually have had to restrain myself from writing some mini reviews now, ha ha, so I think that’s a good sign that I’ll be back at some point. My computer usage really needs to wind down. I’ve developed an eye twitch that is super obnoxious and I hope that less computer time will help that.
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Back when I was still teaching, there was always an eye twitch that kicked up at some point, typically near the end of the semester. Hoo-boy. I’d be terrified that students could see it and think I was a lunatic.
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Yikes! Sounds stressful! I’m hopeful mine will go away with less computer usage… but we’ll see!! 🙂
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Enjoy your break. I’ll miss your reviews, but can totally understand the need to read for simple pleasure without the pressure of notes and decisions what to include, etc, I go nuts (and at a sudden loss for anything someone else would care about if thinking of reading the book) every time the goodreads/Amazon review box comes up on anything I read on Kindle
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Thanks! 🙂 The funny thing is that since making this decision, I’m still taking notes while I read… I tried to stop but haven’t been successful so far 🙂 I’m hopeful that I’ll read lots more books while I take this break!
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I have taken a couple of breaks. It helps 🙂 Enjoy and relax! x
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Good to hear! Thank you 🙂
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Hey there. Haven’t been to your blog in a long, long time. Saw the headline here and wanted to wish you the best for your break. Hopefully you’ll get the rejuvenation you deserve. I have also felt that reviewing sometimes takes away the joy of reading a book/watching a film/series.
I have taken umpteen breaks and can vouch that the love and urge to blog comes back.
Happy resting. 🙂
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Well hello there! 🙂 Thanks! I’m hopeful that I’ll come back to blogging more inspired than ever!
What did you think about that last season of Game of Thrones?
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It was so good until the bells tolled. But now that there’s been some time since the show aired, I am more at peace with what they did at the end, even though when I start thinking, all these stupid problems come up, like Dany, Arya’s life, Bran etc etc.
I also keep going back to a news I’d read a few years back which said Dany/Daenerys was one of the most favourite names for young girls in the US. I shudder to think what those parents now feel.
The Long Night battle was a high watermark though.
Enough of my musings. 🙂
What did you think of it? And, all the best for the break, again. Happy New Year.
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It’s strange. I love the show, and will absolutely re-watch it someday, but that last season I hate to say it, was awful. It used to be that I’d think of the show all the time, but even while watching that last season it didn’t have the same feel as previous seasons. It felt too rushed and wasn’t thought out that well, but… well, at least I can say that surely the books will be better once they are (ever) published!
And the thing is, I wasn’t even all that upset by Dany’s torching the city – I think that’s the way her story is headed in the books (she repeatedly says to herself “if I look back I am lost”), but they just did a lousy job showing how she could mentally get to that decision and it didn’t work for the character they portrayed in the show. They just had her snap rather than build anything up to that moment.
I wish I could’ve enjoyed The Long Night, but unfortunately, I was one of those viewers who couldn’t see what was going on… it sounded good but it was just way too dark for me to see.
Good to hear from you and Happy New Year! 🙂
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I agree with you on almost all these points. I haven’t read the books so I don’t know how it’s going to be handled there. But yes, she just snapped, after talking of saving people etc etc. I couldn’t see much of the Long Night myself, but I tried working around that by rewatching with increased brightness 2-3 times. Hopefully they’ll address that in the home releases.
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Yeah, hopefully they’ll address that in some way on the home releases. I never went back and re-watched it with the brightness increased, blinds closed, etc. I’ll need to try that when I rewatch that episode! Some day 🙂
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Enjoy your break, Ami. If writing reviews feels like a drudge then you need a rest. I take time off from blogging when I need to, when work is horribly busy or when I’m tired and have always come back happier for having a break.
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Thank you! Good to hear that the break helps!
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Breaks are great! I take them regularly – or maybe that should be irregularly – whenever blogging starts to feel like work rather than fun. Hopefully in a few weeks your fingers will be twitching to get back to typing reviews, but other posts are always fun too, so keeping going with them is a good idea. Enjoy your break! 😀
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Thanks! 🙂 I’m hopeful that I’ll be back soon! For now it’s feeling like a relief that I don’t have to write a review, but I hope that feeling goes away eventually!
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You absolutely should take a break if you’re feeling that burnt out. Honestly, I think a lot of book bloggers are too structured. I consider myself a book blogger too, but I don’t post all these monthly wrap-ups and TBRS, and Wednesday book tags, and gah! Looking at it all makes me feel exhausted.
Just ramble about the book and throw a few images in there. I think that’s more entertaining anyway.
Or instead of blogging about each book individually, combine them with a common thesis in one post “Too many fantasy books have dragons” or whatever other theme interests you.
Basically, I know my fellow book bloggers work really hard, but, y’all are working too hard.
Write in a fun, conversational way. Write WHEN you want to write.
Nobody needs to be stressed out, writing about books. This is supposed to be relaxing 🙂
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Yes, thank you. I’ve quite enjoyed my break these past few months! I’ve really done a lot of thinking about the blog and even though I meant to do a post here and there while on my break, it hasn’t happened yet. I like your point about writing WHEN you want to write. That was a big part of why I took the break to begin with – it started to feel more like a job rather than the fun it should be. I’m still not sure when I’ll be returning to blogging, but I still hope to return back to it at some point!
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