Mary Had a Little Book Blog Turns 3

Wow. Three years, huh? Hardly seems like any time has gone by at all.... Wait, no, that's a lie. Three years is a long time, and in that time I have gone through several Big Life Changes such as:

I moved to Dallas

I started working at a science museum

I moved again (still in Dallas)

Job at the science museum changed

I moved again (still in Dallas)

Job at the museum changed again

And again (yay, big promotion)

And again (SO MANY RESPONSIBILITIES)

And one more time (ummm....wut)

I got a second job at the library (wheeeee!)

I quit the museum

I moved again (still in Dallas)

I got a promotion at the library (WHEEEEEE!)

I'd say this has been probably the most impactful three years of my life, and through it all, I've had the book community at my back. But....this year, trying to juggle both jobs was more difficult than I ever expected, and I had to take an unexpected and unannounced break from the blog. Sure, I missed talking to you guys about books, but I was still doing that on Twitter only minus the stress of formatting and sounding "official" or whatever and page views and unique visitors and HTML and images and all that other stuff that will occasionally make you go insane. It's not exactly that I lost sight of the blog, but I felt like the blog wasn't what I wanted it to be. I was tired and facing an extreme bout of depression. Taking a mental breather was good.

Eventually I fell in love with ya again (2015 marked an upswing in the number of new adult and romance titles I read and a severe decrease in ya), and then I missed blogging more than I was glad to be taking a break. Hence, my glorious return! Huzzah! Seriously, it's good to be back. But now, rather than posting every day because I feel like I have to, even if I don't have anything unique or interesting to say, I have no problem waiting a few days. Suddenly I am made of chill when it comes to the blog, rather than being an obsessive weirdo. It was not a good look for me.

Ironically, though, the blog/my platform did hit a couple really amazing milestones statistically. During my break, I reached 100,000 total page views and in November, I reached 3,000 Twitter followers. You can't live and die or blog by stats, but I remember how excited I was when I hit 1,000 page views overall (it took four months) and how excited I was when I hit 1,000 page views in a month (it took another two months) and how excited I was when I hit 1,000 page views on a post (it took.... several months more). Those numbers are not indicative of the quality of anything, but.... it's still cool to think that sometimes I have something to say and people are listening (because even all the times I've looked at my blog while messing with the format or whatever doesn't equal 100,000 worth of hits).

So thank you guys for sticking in there with me. Thanks for reading and commenting and subscribing and sharing!

Love,
Mary

PS Totally going to do some giveaways this month. Just fyi. 



Mary Had a Little Book Blog gets a face lift

Notice anything different? Of course you do! Mary Had a Little Book Blog has been in existence for three years now, and for at least two, I've wanted to get a design change. The incredibly talented Hafsah of Icey Books & Icey Designs has always been my dream designer, and a couple months ago, Hafsah made my dreams come true with this design (which, btw, made me cry the first time I saw it).

Sooooooo I figured to celebrate my new look and Hafsah's brilliance, I'm going to do a little giveaway (we all know how much I love those)! This will be open to the US & Canada.

Prizes: 1 winner will receive a planner, journal, or print of your choosing (up to $25) from the Icey Designs shop + a Kindle copy of Hafsah's sci-fi ya novel Unbreathable (yep, she writes too!). 2 winners will receive Kindle copies of Unbreathable.

Giveaway ends 12 am cst December 1.

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March Madness! (but not a good kind)

Hey, friends!

Some of you may be wondering where the heck I've been. Sure, I've posted in the past few days, but I did two cover reveals and two memes, and I completely skipped a few days. Well, there are a few reasons that have contributed into a ginormous snowball from Hell of "Mary doesn't want to blog right now."

Reason 1: This is the biggest contributor to my March blahs, but I have been utterly uninspired this month. There are three novels I've been reading for weeks, but I haven't finished any of them because I just couldn't get into them entirely. I haven't felt like reading. I haven't felt like writing. Basically, I haven't felt like doing blog-type work at all this month because my tank has been pretty low. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd maintained my posts for Event Recap Month, but....

Reason 2: I cancelled Event Recap Month. This reason itself is the effect of some less-than-pleasant factors, but it boils down to the fact that Event Recap Month ended up not being as awesome as I had hoped it would be. It just wasn't working how I wanted it to so I unscheduled all the posts I had planned. This left me with very little scheduled content and none of it original. As reason 1 points out, I was out of creative juice this month. I could have scrambled to punch out some reviews, but I feared they wouldn't be quality posts. I once read blog advice that said you should put out something rather than nothing, just to get views or whatever, but I don't like that advice. I want my readers, you guys, to have quality material to peruse. I'd rather take a few mental health days of silence rahter than post meaningless drivel.

Reason 3: Hulu Plus. Since I was having a really hard time reading, I got hooked on a few shows. I watched all of Brooklyn Nine Nine in a week and am now all caught up on Star-Crossed. I think it was good that I cleansed my palate with some tv because it left me hungry for new books!

Reason 4: Real life got in the way. You know how it is. 

BUT there is some good news on the horizon!

Good news 1: I just read two great books in a row! Seriously, I'm feeling better already about upcoming reviews because I have things to say!

Good news 2: I'm finally ready to launch my new features! I announced Mary's Minute and Audio Adventures way back at the beginning of February, but with all the traveling I did, it wasn't a good time to launch them. March obviously wasn't good either, but it's finally the right time. Guys, I am so excited about these two additions to the blog! I enjoy memes, but these will be regular features that are all mine!

Good news 3: TLA 2014 is coming up in a week and a half! If you weren't around last year, TLA 2013 is what really kicked me into gear to be a better blogger. The first four months were pretty rough, but TLA opened my eyes to so many possibilities! It was absolutely the best experience, and I can't wait to attend this year!

Good news 4: I can FINALLY share my most awesome news with you guys! I've had to sit on this news for a while so it feels weird to put out publicly, but here goes! The Dark Days of Summer tour is coming to Dallas, and I get to moderate the panel!

So even though March has been pretty meh, I've got a lot of things to look forward to, and I hope you guys are just as excited as I am! Thank you so much for all your support and for hanging in here with me during all the blah days. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I'm going to do my best to...well, do my best! Blogging is a lot harder than I ever imagined it would be. There are so many things I never considered when I started. At times, I just want to pack it in and be done, but I'm glad that I have been able to keep with it, and I wouldn't have been able to if I didn't have you guys backing me up. So, really, truly, thank you.

Love,

Mary

Big News Part 2: Recap Month!

Lately, I've been talking about "big news" I've been keeping secret for the blog, and yesterday, I got to share the first part of it, my Find Me Readalong! Although due to an unfortunate blog scheduling error (meaning my poor overworked brain made a booboo) that caused this post to be published Friday night and allowing some of you to see this early, today I'm officially spilling my second piece of news: I'm declaring March to be Event Recap Month! March marks my birthday, which fell on a Tuesday last year. It gave me an excuse to give away some new releases that shared the special day with me. This year, I'm just going to celebrate all month long giving out a bunch of signed books instead. Any complaints? Didn't think so.

You guys know I love attending various bookish events in my community (or even events that are actually kind of far away), and I also love to recap those events. Well, last fall, I started to fall behind in all my recap posts. I was busy with work or it just never seemed to be a good time to post or I had a bunch of giveaways running or whatever. Well, in the past few weeks, I've been going to a LOT of signings and launches, and it's left me with a surplus of recap posts and a surplus of books. TLA is coming up in one month, and I really need to get some books cleared off my shelves for the new ones that will hopefully come in during the conference. More than than, I want to share all the stories and q&a sessions with everyone who hasn't been able to attend all the events I have.

So get ready, readers. Expect some awesome recaps (and corresponding giveaways) reeeeeally soon!

Love, 

Mary

New Feature Alert!

As many of you know, Mary Had a Little Book Blog recently turned one. I decided that it was time for me to start including some more original features to my blog. Last year, I tried out my Listmania Monday feature, which worked for a while, but I had a hard time keeping it going. Research for it was very time consuming, and I just didn't see it going anywhere. If I think of any more good topics, I may resurrect it, but it certainly won't be a regular feature on here anymore (and honestly, it hasn't been for a few months). I also participate in Top Ten Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday, which are fun, but they're extremely popular and common features on lots of blogs. I love how I get to pick what books to feature for both and the way that TTT lists can be so vastly different, but for a while I've been wanting to do some me-only regular features. So today, I'd like to introduce you to the two new features that will be popping up around here.

Thus far, my blog has felt more like me talking at people. Comments are primarily posted for TTT & WoW posts or giveaways, which is nice, but I'd like to start fostering discussion, a two-way conversation with you, my readers. So my first new feature is called Mary's Minute, which will be a discussion feature. I'll pick a bookish topic and give you my 2 cents on it, and then I'd love to hear your reactions and thoughts.

Secondly, long-time readers will also know that last year I got into audiobooks in a big way. I was never a fan before now, but with my long raaaaage-inducing commute, I've discovered that audiobooks are a perfect way to 1. keep reading in the car so as to not waste valuable reading time; 2. reread books I don't have time to physically pick up; and 3. keep my TEXAS-DRIVERS-ARE-SO-BEEPING-STUPID road rage in check (ad yes, I did mean beeping. Get it? Like a car horn? Get it? Sorry, I'll stop now). So my second new feature is Audio Adventures, where I'll talk audiobooks, do some reviews, and hopefully, feature some samples if I can figure out how to do that.

I haven't decided on an exact time frame for these yet, but I'm considering alternating bi-weekly (as in every other week) posts. I would love to see how you all react to them so please please please give me lots of feedback! Thoughts & comments? Fire away!

Blogiversary!

Wow, is it that time already?! It's crazy that it's been a year since I started blogging because it also marks the one-year anniversary of my big move to Texas, and it just doesn't seem like I've been away from home for that long. This has been a really interesting year in every aspect. I don't even remember what I expected when I started blogging, but it has been quite the undertaking. And you know what? I'm glad I decided to start. I wouldn't change it for the world. Hopefully year two of this noble experiment will bring about some good changes in operation (and design!). Blogging has been a lot of hard work but also so much fun. I hope to keep the good times rolling!

But TWO years after I had the idea, it's gone back to I'm a genius!*

Big thanks and hugs to everyone who has supported me along the way. My friends and family in real life have been (for the most part) very understanding and supportive of my not-new-anymore hobby. I think part is they were used to me reading all the time anyway. Love you guys. Thanks for not rolling your eyes too much whenever I told you about what I'm reading and why you should be reading it too.

Special thanks to my dear friend Maura who has been the most supportive of all. What started out as comments and recommendations on Goodreads became comments on my blog and late-night Twitter chats interspersed with Facebook messages. You've been the most vocal in sharing all my news and links and giveaways and everything. Seriously, you're the best, and I love you. I've known Maura since college, but you guys will know her as The Whimsical Mama. Please go show her some love on her blog!

Also, many thanks to all my fellow bloggers who have never minded a new voice popping up. You guys are so encouraging and never fail to help out with great advice when I need it.

To my readers: I'd have absolutely nothing without you. Several of you are long-time readers since the very beginning. I love and appreciate all your support, all your thoughtful comments, all your cheer.

To the publishers: Thanks for taking a chance with a newbie. I am so grateful for all the awesome books and swag you've sent my way.

To the authors: I wouldn't even have this hobby if it weren't for all your lovely words. Thanks for doing what you do and doing it so well. Thanks for all the good times on Twitter and never freaking out when you saw my stack(s) of books at signings.

SO. I figure my first move in my second year as a blogger should be to celebrate with a ton of giveaways. In the past year, I have accumulated a LOT of books and bookish swag, and it's time to give back. Over the next month, I'll be hosting manymanymany giveaways as my thanks to you guys for getting me where I am now.

First up is a month-long giveaway for a $50 Amazon gift card. This is an INTERNATIONAL giveaway and will end 12 AM CST January 1. All giveaway policies are located in the Site  Policies tab at the top. Best of luck!

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*I do know how to spell genius. The "genious" who created that chart for Cheezburger, apparently, cannot.

Friday update

Well, my friends, it has been an exceedingly difficult month for me, but I can say that I have survived! Today is my last day as a camp instructor at the museum where I work. Monday I will go in, and things will be more or less back to normal! Hooray! That being said, it's opened my eyes to some sad facts about my reading and blogging habits. Clearly, I need to be more organized in the likely event that something like this happens again.

No worries, though. I plan on sticking with my little lamb blog for the long haul. If anything, I have plans to make it bigger and better with more reviews, discussions, and posts in general. Also, giveaways.  They're kind of my thing. :) Speaking of, I've got one running right now; you should totally enter! Since it's going for another week and a half, I really suggest the daily Twitter entries. They'll really add up this time around!

Anyway, I want to thank all of you for sticking with me through the tough times. Your comments and tweets have kept me going when my demon charges students had me at breaking point.

Love and happy reading,
Mary

What's new & what's missing: A letter to my readers

Dear readers,
I've added a new feature to my blog in the past week, and meanwhile, something old has been retired. What are they?

What's old and outdated and now gone?
You may or may not notice I took GFC off the sidebar. That's because Google, who owns and operates Blogspot, is changing the way people can follow blogs. GFC is nice in theory because I can physically see how many people follow my blog, which makes this a good number to use to report followers for various and sundry reasons with which I'm sure you all are well acquainted or at least understand. However, Google is now pushing some of its other features instead of the old reader feature that was associated with GFC. I'm not thrilled about this change because I like GFC. However, to try to keep MHALBB up with blog trends, I decided to go ahead and change things now, before GFC is completely phased out in order to give myself time to test drive new and hopefully better methods for blog following.

What's new and exciting (I hope)?
In following some bloggers I admire and look up to, I've added a widget for Bloglovin. Yeah, it's a huge button so you can't raelly miss it. When I thought I'd have GFC and Bloglovin, I had a smaller widget, but i wanted this to be more obvious as a follow option now. Not gonna lie, I don't use my Bloglovin profile much, but it's pretty decent site with highly excellent email notification settings. Part of the problem with the evolution of GFC is that there isn't much purpose/function for it now that Google is really pushing Google+ and other widgets. With Bloglovin, you can customize how often you receive notifications about the blogs you follow and where you receive them. I'm all for that.

What does this mean for you, dear follower/reader?
Well, if you followed me via GFC, you still are. I've just taken off my widget. While I'm talking to you, seriously, THANK YOU to all of you who did follow via GFC. You guys have no idea how much it's meant to me to gain followers over the past few months. I like to think I'd blog even if no one was reading, but not gonna lie, it makes me feel good to think that you have been.

Now I'm switching to a new follow service so I'd appreciate it if you'd switch with me, but please don't feel like it's a must. I hate having to join new things just because someone tells me to so don't feel like I'm pushing you. If you don't want to try the new thing, that's cool. I'm keeping email up as a follow option if you're not up for the new stuff. Or you can just visit me without a follow. I'll still love you!

Okay, so for now, I'm limiting my options to email, Bloglovin, and Twitter. I don't want to spread myself too thin, which is why I don't have a Facebook for the blog or anything like that. I like to concentrate my attention on the most important and hopefully effective platforms available. Also, whatever is the least time-consuming because sometimes I get busy in real life, but I don't want to abandon the blog. Anywho, I'm gonna give Bloglovin a shot so you can follow that way or not. This is kind of a trial for me here so let me know how you feel about it via comment or email (spnfanATgmailDOTcom is the blog email). If Bloglovin doesn't work out, I'll try to find something better. Speaking of which, if you know of another great follow service, please also let me know via comment or email. I'm open to suggestions and advice!! Thanks again for your readership and please have patience with me as I experiment here.

Lots of love & good books,
Mary

PS During the time that I have Bloglovin, I will be using that as a method for giveaway entry so there will be at least ONE perk to getting a Bloglovin profile, but like with all giveaway entry methods, it won't be required. I decided I don't like forcing you guys to HAVE to choose one particular method if you don't prefer it. :)