Friday, May 27, 2011

ARMCHAIR BEA...BLOGGING ABOUT BLOGGING

I feel like I covered what I feel is one of the essential musts in blogging yesterday.  Comment on others' blogs and always reciprocate.  The only other thing I can say is that I just do not believe in the 'rules' of blogging.  I have said this before in a post last year, ultimately you must stay true to yourself.  There will be people who love your blog and, most probably, people who hate it.  You know that old Ricky Nelson song, "you can't please everyone so you gotta please yourself."  It's the truth.  If you're not making yourself happy, you certainly aren't going to make anyone else happy.  Okay, I'm done preaching! Now here is the topic I want to discuss:

There are quite a few book blogging events out there. Which are your favorites and why? How do they affect your blog directly?


One word...READ-A-THONS! Anyone who knows me/follows my blog probably knows that I love read-a-thons.  I usually end up taking part in every one that comes down the pike. *L*  And even though the majority of the time I end up failing miserably, I still just can't resist! 


First, a shout out to the one that started it all.  Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon.  Dewey was a book blogger who was well loved in the book blogging community and she started these twice a year events, in April and October.  Unfortunately, Dewey passed away a year before I started blogging so I never got to meet the great lady, but she has left behind a legacy that brings together an entire community of book bloggers for 24 hours of reading bliss.


I am participating in a read-a-thon this week (again, failing miserably) that is hosted by the group over on Goodreads, Cover to Cover Challenge.  They have these read-a-thons four times a year in February, May, August, and November.  They are a week long and they start and end on a Saturday.  The first day of each read-a-thon is a 24 hour reading spree.  They also have challenges going during the event.


Some read-a-thons that are coming up are:

Last, but not least, I'm going to tell you about my read-a-thons.  Yes, I love them so much I decided to host my own! My read-a-thons are a week long and the main idea is to personally challenge ourselves in a laid back fashion.  And they have a theme.  I call them my seasonal read-a-thons.  My first one was the Fall Catch-Up Read-A-Thon, then A Winter's Respite Read-A-Thon, and Spring's Serenity Read-A-Thon.  My summer read-a-thon, the High Summer Read-A-Thon, is coming on July 25 at 12:00am CT through Sunday, July 31 at 11:59pm CT.  I have not posted the sign-up yet, but you can read more about it HERE.



How about you?  Do you believe that staying true to yourself is the way to blog?  Are you a read-a-thon addict like me?  Share your thoughts!


12 comments:

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment. It means so much.

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  1. I think Be True To Yourself is definitely good advice. I think that when people start taking blogging too seriously...it becomes more like work and less fun.

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  2. I definitely agree. Which is why I don't participate in a lot of memes. One I don't have time but it is just not me. I love readathons but I really love readalongs. They get me to tackle books I wouldn't normally challenge myself to read.
    I am looking forward to summer when I can actually take part in some readathons and catch some sleep. Grading papers is exhausting.

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  3. I stay true to myself, and like Ti mentioned in her post yesterday: "I'm not much of a joiner". I prefer to do my own thing, but I do participate in a few memes that I enjoy: Mailbox Monday, Tuesday Intros, Waiting on Wednesday and Saturday Snapshots. -- I enjoy these, plus they help me to fill in the days that I usually won't have a book review to post.

    Do what works for you. I did one read-a-thon and just didn't like committing to a whole day/weekend of reading.

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  4. I agree if you are not yourself then you are someone else :)! The read a thon thing is fun. How are you doing in our challenge? I have finished Odd Hours and I am half way through No scars and Midnight Club.

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  5. PS I am a blogger with three different blogs next time you do your armchair thing and you need someone to interview I am available.

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  6. I think "staying true to yourself" is really the only rule--if you follow that, then I find the rest of the good blogging practices follow naturally.

    I'm a very selfish blogger--I blog about and read about what interests me. If it strikes a chord and inspires someone to comment, that's icing on the cake. Expressing my thoughts about what I'm reading or watching is enough for me.

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  7. Michelle, you're right about staying true to yourself in blogging. I want to get to know the blogger's personal take on things. I want to share what I can of their world. Your read-a-thons must be fun. I have an ill partner, though, who needs help with things on a somewhat inconsistent basis. Which makes scheduling diversions difficult.

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  8. This is a great topic. I agree about pleasing yourself. There's no way you can make your blog appealing to everyone, so you absolutely have to please yourself first and make it the way you want.

    I do alot of memes, although there have been a couple of weeks when I didn't participate because the topics weren't anything I was interested in or I was busy and couldn't do everything.

    I'm not big on read-a-thons, but I do love reading challenges and I join and host quite a few of those.

    All in all, I think everyone should make their blogs whatever they want them to be.

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  9. You really are a read-a-thon addict! The true definition of "hope springs eternal!" I love the idea of read-a-thons but somehow they never seem to time out well for me. I'm hoping to have a lazy weekend next weekend so maybe that one...!

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  10. Great comments here all! It seems we all pretty much agree about blogging and staying true to yourself. There do seem to be some differences in read-a-thon love though. =O)

    Thank you all for commenting!

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  11. You know how I feel about staying true to oneself with blogging! ;) It is my only rule that I every feel must be shared with everyone.

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