2018: A Yearly Review

The year is now over, and today marks the first day of 2019. Today also marks the one year anniversary for Lost in Pages! I didn’t expect to get to this point or to interact with so many great people, so thank you to everyone who viewed, commented, or liked a post from this past year! I genuinely appreciate it.

The last year managed to simultaneously be incredibly long and go by instantly – don’t ask me how. I had some ups and downs, and there was definitely a reading slump or two thrown in there for good measure. I thought to start the new year, it made sense to have a reflection of sorts.

When Ashley and I decided to team up and create this blog, I was so excited. I had wanted to start one years ago, but I was always so nervous to start something like that on my own. It was daunting, and I didn’t think I had the capabilities to keep it running. Thankfully, Ashley was a good year or so into blogging herself, so she basically taught me everything about WordPress and the book-blogging community! It was so much fun to create content together and to interact with fellow book lovers.

We attended BookExpo and BookCon back in May/June which was super fun! It was our friend-iversary because we met at last year’s Con. We got to meet so many amazing authors, and we each came home with a giant suitcase loaded with stuff! Thankfully, we documented basically every part – which you can see here.

It was definitely bittersweet when Ashley decided to take a break from the blog around mid June. I was sad to see her go and blog solo, but she got pregnant with her first little girl. Honestly, I’ve never seen her more fitted for any other role. Mother and daughter are killing it, and she’s now started her own mom-life blog! Definitely go check it out –Growing Everleigh – because Everleigh is the cutest! She’ll be a reader one day soon, that’s for sure!

For the latter half of the year, I worked a bunch and went to numerous signings. My friend Summer and I made the trek to Cincinnati at least three separate times, and each time was well worth it. We got to get our books signed and meet Stephanie Garber, Ashley Poston, Lisa Maxwell, Sara Raasch, and Val Emmich! Joseph-Beth Booksellers is honestly a great place to go for author events. I feel like I’m there every other week, and I love it immensely.

Being a manager in retail during the holiday season is a bitch. From Thanksgiving until about a couple of days ago, I worked, worked, and then worked some more. I was too exhausted to come home and read or blog or take any Instagram photos, so you can definitely tell I’ve slacked a bit. This was the start of my end-of-the-year slump, and I’ve read maybe a collective 10 pages since Thanksgiving. I did finish my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge but just barely. I’m hoping that January is much kinder to me, and I can get some actual reading done. I have multiple ARCs that I’d like to get to, as well as some great recent gifts/purchases that have been on my TBR for a bit. We’ll see how it goes!

All in all, 2018 wasn’t completely horrible. I read 80 books and really loved the vast majority of them. I was more selective with what I read, and I didn’t waste time on ones I knew I didn’t want to finish. My goal for 2019 is 75 books – which is lower, but I also don’t want to stress over any kind of reading goal.

I have three separate resolutions for 2019 in regards to my bookish life. First, my reading resolution is to read 1-2 books that I’ve had on my shelves for a while each month. I’m tired of collecting books for years only to have them sit unread and collecting dust.

Next, my bookstagram resolution is to be less themed. I recently had a close friend tell me that he thought my photos looked “too matchy”. He obviously didn’t mean it in any hurtful way – he’s not a dick, I promise – but I totally get what he said. I panic every so often about posting because I want to have a theme of sorts, but it definitely limits what I can post. I want 2019 to be a year where I take photos of beautiful books without a constant themed backdrop. Basically, I want more personal artistic freedom. I got a new camera for Christmas thanks to my lovely boyfriend, so I’m excited to test it out soon.

As for my last resolution, it’s blog related. I would like to have 2019 be a stress-free blogging year. I don’t want to worry about what can be posted on a particular day, so my goal is to be less structured with blog posting. Maybe what I’m finally realizing is that I’m far too uptight when it comes to patterns. I feel like the blog and bookstagram both have become monotonous and boring, so I’m going to spice them up!

Here’s to a great 2019!

Until next time,