Monthly Archives: January 2020

Welcome Back

Posted on by
Reply

As January wraps up, I would like to welcome you back to the new (and hopefully improved) Books On My Cat blog! During my time off, I took the opportunity to organize my thoughts around this blog and what I would like it to be. While my priority will be on sharing the books that I am reading, I hope to be more intentional with how I use the blog and want to give myself some room to breath as well.

Part of my revamp will be a slightly modified post format. Looking back to my previous posts, I realized that I have not always been good about including the full titles and author names for each book. I will correct that with the new format, and am planning to slowly work on ensuring that this information is included in all previous posts as well.

Currently, I have a bit of a backlog of books from the end of last year, which is a perfect place to start. I have looked ahead at the year to plan out some posts, and built in some breaks where I think I will need them. Moving forward, I plan to catch up on reviews, participate in The Unread Shelf Project 2020, and mix in a few extras along the way. My regular posts will still be on Wednesdays, and I will continue to feature a picture book at the beginning of each month. My last post each month to be the book I chose for the Unread Shelf, with a few pre-planned exceptions.

I am working on a few ideas for “bonus” posts— bookish content, but not necessarily book reviews. Even when planning some weeks for picture books and taking time off, there are simply more weeks remaining than books I will realistically read. At a minimum, I have these planned for months when there will be five Wednesdays. However, I would love to plan out something special to share every month.

My regular posts will resume next week, February 5, 2020, which is also the second anniversary of Books On My Cat. This post will be in the form of a book review, but will also include a surprise announcement! I am looking forward to a wonderful year of books and cats, and I hope you are too!

Under Construction

Posted on by
Reply

img_3117A few weeks ago, I posted that Boris and I were taking a break. This has extended a little longer than I had originally planned, but I am now hoping that it will be with good results.

While taking a break from writing, I took some time to think about my reasons for starting this blog. I love to read, and I love to share the things that I have read (although I am not sure of how many people out there are really reading). I felt like channeling this into a blog would make it feel a little more productive—and it did, at first. Over time, something that I truly loved to do in the beginning was starting to feel like a chore. I would fall behind on reading or writing reviews, which would make me feel guilty for being unprepared, and eventually lead to me feeling overwhelmed by the idea of writing. I have tried a few “tricks” along the way to help me catch up, whether that be posting about previous reads, adding in children’s books, or sharing other bookish things. Unfortunately, these were only temporary fixes. I want to change that.

So here I am with an update: Books On My Cat is still temporarily under construction. I am working on establishing some better habits, starting with making writing a regular routine. Rather than trying to force myself to write a review because of a deadline, I want to spend just a little time each day with my writing—thinking about the things that I have read recently, or perhaps with some other bookish musings.

Over the next couple weeks, I plan to take some time to lay out my vision for the future of Books On My Cat. I would like to continue to post here weekly, but I do not go through books quickly enough to make that feasible without expanding a bit from book reviews. I have a few ideas to fill in the gaps, but need some time to fully flesh them out. I plan to be back to the regular schedule at the beginning of February (if not sooner).

Until then, thank you to those who are reading! If there is anyone out there who has made it this far, I would love to hear from you. Please leave me a comment with something you like about this blog, or something you think could be improved. Or maybe just say hello!

Notes on the photo above: Boris is pictured with My Purrfect Friend by Charles Wysocki. This is a cute little book that was gifted to me. It is full of cat pictures and artwork, along with many quotes and poems related to friendship.