It seems to come around quicker every year as I pass another year of blogging, and it has been 17 years since the first blog post. In that time, as of today, 21st June, on the blog there is –
2587 posts over the last 17 years means 152 posts a year, or a post every 2.5 days, over the last 17 years
I have written 1,521,156 words over the last 17 years
1572 books reviewed, which is an average of 92 books reviewed a year I aim to hit 200 by the time the blog turns 21
From 136 countries, I slowly like adding a country every once in a while for me, the aim isn’t to read a book from every country it is depth in every country over time, so it will be much the same as I am currenttly doing where so far this year I’ve read 51 books from 22 countries 45 of those books were in translation this year so far .
The most read countries over the last 17 years
- France 187 books
- Germany 126 books
- Italy 72 books
- Spain 71 Books
- Japan 66 books
- Argentina 58 books
- Austria 51 books
- England 43 Books
- Netherlands 37 books
- US 37 books
A top ten I can see over the next decade: Korea maybe coming into the top ten. The next ten countries after that are a number of Latin American countries, with over 150 Latin American books over the years.
Blog Highlights ]
Going to both the Old IFFP prize ceremony and the London Book Fair. Getting asked to talk to the Swedish translators. Having the blog mentioned on a book cover a few times. Doing the shadow panel, of course. Being part of the blogging community, I have still tried to comment more this last year or so. I never quite got over the loss of Google Reader for keeping up with blogs, as I still see a bright future for blogging among passion bloggers like me, where it is about reading and sharing my reading journey, not trying to be anything other than the everyman of world lit!
The coming years
I am always flirting with the idea of Vlogging but can’t see it happening. If anything, I am now going to work on the quality of the pictures on the blog for posts; try to tie the blog in with my Instagram feed more over time. For me, this is a hobby, and I won’t be trying to make money from it. I don’t have a Ko-fi or Patreon account, or a wishlist of books I’d like for myself; this is a passion, not a way to make a little bit of money. I pay for my WordPress these days, but I don’t mind as it means I don’t have to worry about running out of space for the blog. I aim to hit 2000 books by the time the blog turns 21 in four years’ time. I would love to maybe join in a podcast or such once in a while. I also see the trend of my review posts getting longer over time; they have slowly grown since I started the blog. I also do hope to get back to London in the near future. I also hope to meet more of my fellow bloggers over time. Here is to the next 17 years of blogging fun
On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone for the comments, the books sent for me to read, the invites, and the chances I have been given over the last 17 years; it has made all this worth every minute.
