Bye Bye 2017 // Blogging Favourites (Whatever That Means)

I know I wanted to list my favourites blogging wise this year but I wasn’t sure what to include. This is my attempt to include everything from blog posts to bloggers. I have my final 2017 post coming soon (once I start writing it) of my favourite books of this year. It’s going to be a hard post to write.

Most Read Post Of This Year

It came between two posts for the coveted ‘most read’ spot this year. I trawled through looking at my views and did my checks and my most popular post was in fact ‘Do Your Reviews Ever Feel Repetitive?’ with ‘Why I Am Happy To DNF’ in a close second. I was in no way surprised to see a discussion post as the most popular post of the year, they are the posts which get the most views and comments on a weekly basis and I love that. It is why I will undoubtedly be doing the Discussion Challenge again next year. It helps motivate me to write those discussion posts (as they take up more time and energy to write) but they are the ones I engage with people more on.

Most Read Review This Year

Every book blogger knows that reviews simply aren’t as popular as other posts on the blog. I mean, my Sunday Summary posts are viewed more often than most of my reviews. You would question what is the point but then if you are posting your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon then the point is you are boosting a books popularity and helping an author out. You may not care that much when it comes to books you didn’t like, but those you love? I know I would sure like more people to read my favourites, especially if it means an author can keep writing what they love.

Anyway, diversion aside, I wanted to know which review I did garnered the most attention in 2017. I was in fact a review for a film: Five Reasons To Watch Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. I’m not surprised to see something Harry Potter adjacent received attention but I am surprised to see my most popular review in 2017 is for a film. My second most popular review was in the same format and was Five Reasons To Read Alchemists Of Loom. I’m surprised that was so popular as well. It does show me that a five point format works for people in reviews. I think because you have the three headings and a summary. They're easy to look and digest if you don’t have time to read the whole thing. I’ll have to do that more.

My Favourite Post Of The Year

I know in one tag for the year there is the question of which post you wish had received more attention, I think I always wish my posts received more attention. I want folks to love them all. Instead, I am going to select the post I loved the most from the past year.

I think the post I most enjoyed writing and felt was most true was ‘Commenting: Sometimes Less Is More’. I am a fan of writing long comments and I like receiving them but honestly, I like folks commenting. It doesn’t matter if they say a few words or write an essay, it’s good to see folks stopping by so that’s what motivated me to write that little post and I am really pleased with it.

My Favourite Review Of The Year

How do you pick favourites when it comes to a review? I am not exactly objective on what was a good or a bad review. I pretty much think everything I write is amazingly terrible but I keep on doing it because blogging is fun. Anyway, I think the review I enjoyed the most was the one I wrote for The Love Experiment. It’s nothing special or different but I just enjoyed spewing my thoughts onto the page, and reading it back made me smile. I also noticed I have not done anywhere near enough ‘Five Reasons’ reviews of late. Probably because they’re a little more time consuming but I am changing that next year guys, I will bring back those posts (maybe… hopefully… we’ll see).

Post I Wish I’d Written

There are plenty of posts I wish I wrote. Pretty much every review which either convinces me to buy a book or reminds me why I loved it in the first place. Those, along with the many well thought out and informative discussions which get me thinking mean that I could write a very long lost here for you. There is one post which springs immediately to mind though and that is the one Evelina at Avalinah’s Books wrote after Netgalley changed things up for international bloggers.

She wrote an encouraging post which hopefully helped those who felt disheartened at the changes occurring in the bookish community and felt excludes by them. I had wanted to write something similar but life prevented me. In fact, I still have the notes on that post saved on my phone. It was basically me encouraging folks to take alternative routes to get books from libraries to indie books to taking a shot and emailing publishers. I didn't feel the need to finish my post after reading hers.

Book Bloggers Who I’ve Enjoyed This Year

The bloggers who I've enjoyed the most this year? For me, I feel they should be obvious. There may be new faces on here or they may be old but they all deserve to be here.

• Nick and Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist: Nick for always providing the best romance recs and for reading all of the things so you don't always have to (it's like she checks them out for you and if they get her stamp of approval they must be good). And Nereyda for her amazing bujo skills and reminding me you can go through a reading slump which feels never ending but eventually you will get back into reading and love it. Also for making me always feel I should exercise more and linking to good YouTube videos.
• Metaphors and Moonlight: Kristen reads the best indie books. If you are ever in doubt you want to read an indie she is there. Also if you need any good/different paranormal recs. She managed to survive a hurricane with chronicle illness! I mean seriously guys, check her blog out.
• Fine Print: Danya is a blogger I have followed for a long while. She reads excellent fantasy. Has great taste in romance and is just generally great to chat to. She had a tough time of it towards the end of the year but she is still reading and blogging and still adding plenty of books to my TBR, as usual.
• Avalinah’s Books: Evelina is a newer blogger to my list but considering she wrote the post I wish I had this year I felt she definitely deserved a spot on here. I’m only a recent follower to her blog but I know I like her discussions and she is so active on Twitter that I feel I should try harder.
• Book Haven: Greg has had a tough a year. I mean major heart surgery and still blogging!? Yeah, I feel like I’m slacking too.
• Diva Booknerd: Kelly’s blog is one I have followed for a while but never really commented on too much but this year I sucked it up. I’d posted how short comments mattered just as much as long ones so was determined to practice what I preach and turns out Kelly is great. She also ends up spending way too much on romance under the influence of Nick. And she is a champion of OzYA which is great but upsetting for me because a lot of books she reads haven’t made it out of Australia yet and they sound so good! I cannot justify going to Australia just to stock up on some books, I don’t gave that kind of cash.
• Weendizzle: Rowena is great. She reads good romance, has the biggest family known to man so always has an interesting story to tell and always seems to watch good films. She is one of those bloggers you feel actually pays attention to what you say when you stop by. And she keeps you well informed about whichever sport she’s following which is in season, which is always fun.
• KissinBlueKaren: Karen is a blogger who I discovered a while ago but who I began following after one comment on my blog. I couldn’t help but keep stopping by. She reviews a variety of books and helps me discover books I might never normally read.
• We Live and Breathe Books: Specifically Sam who is reading all the YA so I don’t have to. I can pick and choose the best from her. She is always friendly and posts so much which is great because you never run out of new recs and in good discussion posts.
• The Innocent Smiley: Val blogs about YA mostly and I love it. She also has a cat, Primrose, and I love when you stop by and there’s anew cat picture. Any blogger who loves cats is one I want to be following.
• It Starts At Midnight: Shannon not only hosts the Discussion CHallange long with Nicole, she also loves The 100 and blogs about books when The 100 is having downtime. She has excellent TV and book recs so I keep on stopping by.
• Feed Your Fiction Addiction: Nicole is the other host of the discussion challenge but she is also a brilliant blogger. She reads so many different books and she is great she keeps track of bloggers birthdays/blogoversaries. She is like this central hub, you stop by on a Sunday and her posts include giveaways going on and preorder gifts. You not only get reviews but bookish information, what’s not to love?

There will be plenty of bloggers I’ve forgotten. There are so many I follow so if you’re missed off it’s not because I’ve not been loving your blog this year but simply because I am forgetful and began to feel my list was getting a bit lengthy. If you’re missed off feel free to shame me in the comments.

What blog related things have you been loving of late? Which bloggers have you loved this year? And which post do you wish you wrote? Tell me blog things below and let’s make 2018 a great year for bloggers!