Weekend reads and yucky times...


It's a stunning February day, but I'm home sick and feeling blue. I don't know if it's something in the stars, but houses and homes are causing me a great deal of stress, both our new home and our old rental. Expensive stresses, too.

I'm self medicating with flowers and oranges and planning to some reading over lunch. I'm finishing up Heidi Heilig's The Girl From Everywhere, which has me captivated, and am starting Susan Wittig Albert's Loving Eleanor, a historical novel about Eleanor Roosevelt's romance with AP reporter Lorena Hickok. Yummy!

Amazingly, today's theme for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) is Blogger Burnout -- something I'm becoming all too familiar with!

I remember when I first started blogging in 2010, I couldn't imagine anyone getting burned out. Free books! Reading! Writing! Swapping enthusiasm with others!

It's caught up with me now, and not in the ways I imagined. I've got the luxury of saying the free books are tiresome -- though free, they come with a different kind of price -- and the relentless tension of promotional machine versus personal space for introspection has tripped me up frequently. I feel like I'm doing neither right and I wonder if I'm loving my reading despite doing so much of it. (My malingering top ten of 2015 is slow to come, in part, because I'm struggling to assemble 10 reads that electrified me to my roots!)

How do you deal with possible burnout? And what are you reading this weekend?

Comments

  1. bermudaonionFebruary 19, 2016 at 12:33 PM

    I love the way you self medicate!

    I'm not sure how to deal with burnout but I'm feeling some of it too. Writing posts is becoming harder and harder to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AudraFebruary 19, 2016 at 1:56 PM

      Kathy, I often mope so am trying a sunnier method now! ;)

      Not sure what has made it hard to write posts, but now I've such a backlog I'm frozen, le sigh.

      Delete
  2. Jenny @ Reading the EndFebruary 19, 2016 at 1:50 PM

    Aw, hon, it sounds like you have a ton on your plate! I hope you're being good to yourself and reading only the nicest books. Feel better! I'm glad you found time to participate in BBAW, even though you're not feeling your best. HUGS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AudraFebruary 19, 2016 at 2:00 PM

      Jenny, thank you for the sympathy -- I appreciate it! BBAW has been a lovely bit of shine this week or so -- been enjoying the mutual adorationing between bloggers.

      Delete
  3. France BooktoursFebruary 19, 2016 at 3:54 PM

    take care of yourself. with all that going on, book blogging is certainly not the good time. I hope you have some good relaxing read available

    ReplyDelete
  4. MarceFebruary 19, 2016 at 4:01 PM

    Flowers and oranges are perfect medicine :-) house financial stress are total nightmares, I understand.

    I had to smile about you still putting together your top ten for 2015. Enjoy your weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Literary FelineFebruary 19, 2016 at 4:13 PM

    I'm sorry for everything you are dealing with right now. Books are my go to medicine for when I am feeling stress. I hope you enjoy Leaving Eleanor. I have a copy of that one to read and am looking forward to it. :-)

    I understand what you mean about the relentless tension of promotional machine versus personal space for introspection. I have struggled with that too at times. I wish I had an easy answer for it. If you find one, be sure an let me know!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Shannon @ River City ReadingFebruary 19, 2016 at 5:11 PM

    Such good self medicating! It can be so hard to just turn off a switch in the way you read/write when you've been doing it so long. Along with that, I think (as book bloggers) we can spend so much time turning over our own feelings on reading that it can get worse. I hope you find something that sticks and a good way to get it all out!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Terra HangenFebruary 19, 2016 at 11:40 PM

    Yes, I cut back on accepting free books and writing reviews, and instead mostly choose any book I want and read that one. Much more fun. Be well reading friend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LisaFebruary 20, 2016 at 11:12 AM

    Moving is so incredibly stressful in and of itself! I don't think I read anything much during my last move. And then all the unpacking was so distracting as well. On top of all that you're not feeling well. I like your prescription :)

    ReplyDelete

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