Hello, lovelies! Welcome to another Bookish Breakdown installment, my monthly wrap-up post. In these Bookish Breakdowns, I discuss life generally for the past month. Also, I share last month’s reading, as well as life musings, blog hopping links and intention updates!
So, April. It was okay! (Honestly, I think that’s a positive right now. A lot of 2022 has been “dumpster fire amped up to 11” status, so when I can get to “okay,” I’ll take it.) A very busy month, with my day job. But, I also reconnected with some friends (some virtually, some safely in-person), which was lovely.
My partner celebrated his 38th birthday by doing a special birthday stream. I surprised him by asking all of my friends to show up and follow, which 11 people did!! (Y’all are all MVPs.) That was honestly the highlight of my month.
Otherwise, it really was just about surviving, I think, and hoping that the next month might be better.
Creatively, how’d I do this month? Let’s find out.
Bookish Breakdown: Reading
What I Read
I finished quite a few books this month! This is surprising to me, because I feel like I hardly read at all. A few I started in March, so I feel a little cheat-y, but honestly, that’s just pedantic at this point. I’ve already written a review for Hall of Smoke, which I really enjoyed. Promise of Darkness review is upcoming. I also plan to do an anti-racist reads review post in the next few months.
What I Hauled
After finishing Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, I knew I HAD to purchase her other novel, Mediocre. I also have been wanting to read The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor. Once I learned I had a chance to her as a guest speaker (!!), I knew I could wait no longer.
Reading Challenges Update
What: A yearly challenge tracked via StoryGraph of how my books I want to read this year.
Goal: 50 Books
Status: 11/50 Books
What: A personal challenge I’ve put upon myself to read at least one antiracist book a month (or 12 a year).
Goal: 12 Books
Status: 3/12 Books
What: A personal challenge where I want to do a better job that of reading books written by (or featuring protagonists) that aren’t the publishing “standard”, i.e, white, male, able-bodied, straight and based on Western cultures or Christian/Catholic religions.
Goal: More books that break away from that “standard” than books that do.
Status: 7/25
What: A yearly challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight where you write and share your bookish discussion posts!
Goal: 24 Discussion Post (Chatty Kathy Level)
Status: 10/24 Posts
Posts:
- Let’s Talk Bookish: 2022 Reading Goals
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Blogger and Audience Relationship
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Changing Book Ratings
- Book Bloggers, Why Aren’t We Kinder to Ourselves?
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Maintaining A Blog Aesthetic
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Updating Old Content
- When A Reader Fights Reading
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Evolution of Book Blogging
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Joys and Pet Peeves
- The Importance of Commenting on Book Blogs
Bookish Breakdown: Blogging
What I Posted
I am very, very thankful that blogging has continued to stay a consistent in my life. Even when I don’t stick to my usual MWF posting schedule, I’m being more forgiving of myself than I “traditionally” would. Plus, I’m still publishing pretty regular content.
For reference, here’s a list of what I wrote this month:
Posts Published April 2022
- Assassin’s Gambit
- The Struggle Between Career and Choice
- Hobby Hustling and Monetization in Capitalist Culture
- Supporting Book Bloggers by Sharing Ko-Fis
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Joys and Pet Peeves
- Hall of Smoke
- The Importance of Commenting on Book Blogs
- Allyship Check-In No 25
- Summer Writing Project
- Novels and Narrations No 17
Read Around the Blogosphere
Check out some of the fantastic posts from this past month from other bloggers! I finally blog hopped after like, four weeks? Maybe over a month? Who knows, except that the quality of what other bloggers are writing is NEVER ceasing to be incredible.
Other Bloggers’ Posts I Loved
- Mackenzie @ Colour Me Read shares fantastic book and video game pairings!
- Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books writes an amazing SEO guide that I’m bookmarking to make sure I’m at the top of my game.
- Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat has had some KILLER posts recently. Here are some of my favorites: how to get out of a blogging slump and 20 blogging lessoned learned.
- Amanda @ Bookish Brews wrote a truly important piece about why reading, supporting and sharing diverse literature is important. Please read it.
- Check out this fun series of Tolkien-inspired guest posts, hosted at Pages Unbound (and might even feature a post by yours truly).
- Gabriele @ QueerBookdom shares April 2022 queer anticipated reads.
- Nia @ Not Controversial (used to be Perceptive Madness) writes a brilliant article about paying an enjoyment tax to work at a job you enjoy but get paid shit for. Highly recommend.
- Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshanathan go in conversation with Molly McGhee on “the publishing life of junior publishing employees” for Lit Hub
- I really enjoyed Amanda @ Bookish Brews post discussing and recommending space opera reads!
- Zainab @ Dead Bookish Society shares two fantastic book rec lists: one of POC romances by BIPOC authors and another for books written by Muslim authors, in honor of Ramadan!
- Caitlin @ Realms of My Mind writes about why reviewing backlist titles is both okay and valuable.
- Kate @ Your Tita Kate discusses how to stop wasting time on social media and oh goodness, what I reminder I needed there.
Intentions Check-In
As you saw from my intentions post, I tried to narrow in my focus this year. So, I check in each month below. Mostly, so I don’t lose sight of what I’m hoping to achieve, change and celebrate! Bookish Breakdown felt like a good place to do just that.
I was in strict survival mode in April, so I didn’t even try to get a routine going. Le sigh.
Still haven’t continued with the great reorganization project of 2022. However, I did reach out to help with my family for my backyard, which is just a dumpster fire. Really proud of doing that, because that’s hard for me. Hopefully, May will show some project in some project area!
Honestly, got done more than I thought I would in April, considering day job hecticness. A win here, even if I don’t truly “feel” it.
Looking Forward
So, April ended up being a month of busyness and reconnection. In May, I have a few goals:
- Make creative pursuits a priority
- Actually try to formulate some sort of routine
- Rest and recharge before the summer
Thanks for reading this month’s Bookish Breakdown. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. Particularly in taking care of your mental health right now. It’s something I think is hard for all of us right now. That’s okay to admit! But it doesn’t make it any less hard, nor important.
Rooting for you always! 🖤
Patreon | Newsletter | Editorial Services | Twitter | Instagram | Kofi
![Not me needing to repost this announcement because my first post had a typo. I promise I can actually edit! 😅
REPOST of original message below:
I've been thinking a lot about publishing and the barriers it places, particularly on traditionally underrepresented and marginalized writers. As an editor, I wanted to try and break down those barriers a bit.
So, going forward from now and forevermore, if you identity as a queer, BIPOC or disabled writer, you'll receive 10% any full manuscript edit. No need to self-disclose how you qualify. I will trust you at your word!
Another stigma (that's being broken!) that still exists is that self-published authors write at less quality than trad--pubbed writers. We all know this is bullshit! But, to help support my indie badasses, your first edit with me for a novel you plan to self publish will be 10% off.
**Please note these discounts are for full manuscript edits, including: developmental edits, copy edits and proofreading.**
Curious? DM me or email me through my website, linked below!
Link here: https://thoughtsstainedwithink.com/editorial
[Image description in alt text.]
#writing #writinghelp #editing #amediting #amrevising #edits #freelanceeditor #SFFWriters #fantasywriters #writingcommunity #writing #querying #amquerying #writersofinstagram #writersofig #WIP #editorial #developmentalediting #nowbooking #queerwriters #edits #CampNaNoWriMo #marginalizedwriters #BIPOCwriters](https://thoughtsstainedwithink.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Lots of interesting books. The one about the Vikings and “mediocre” look particularly intriguing to me.
My April was somehow both awful and forgettable, I’m just glad it’s over haha. I totally feel you on being in survival mode and building routines just not being an option right now, it’s where I’m in my life currently as well! I really hope we can both rest, recharge and rebuild in May, sending you a lot of love 💜
Ugh, I’m so sorry to hear that, Lay! I feel that. Let’s hope both of us can recharge and get out of survival mode sooner rather than later!
Hey, you had a good reading month, congrats! And your partner’s birthday stream sounds like a lot of fun!!
It was a lot of fun! Thank you, Caitlin!
Mediocre is a Kindle Deal this month, so I’m tempted to get it since I also loved So You Want to Talk About Race this year 😊 I also loved checking out what posts you have mentioned! I hope you have a great May 🌷
I’d definitely get it. I haven’t read it yet, but I am very much excited to!