Blog Update June 2020: I’m Back (Part 1)

So, hello. I’m back.

In November 2019 I shared a little post saying that I would be taking a break from this whole blogging thing for a while. Things had substantially changed in my life and I was not reading anything at all really, nor was I in the mood to post reviews for things I had read previously (and had made notes on). It wasn’t a great time, but things have changed now and due to current events, I have a bit more time to devote to the things I enjoy. At present I’m working from home, meaning that I have about an extra two hours a day (Monday-Friday) to fill, and I have found that reading is very much taking up the majority of this time. And that’s excellent news for me, and hopefully good news for those of you out there who enjoyed reading my review and such last time around.

Please let me say here that I am fully aware of how harrowing the COVID situation has been (and continues to be), along with its wider effects and indeed current events in the US. I’m doing what I can to help with these (donating when possible, signing petitions and so on), but I don’t feel like my book blog is the place for this. I’ve noticed other posts from bloggers I follow and I wholeheartedly support their decision, it just isn’t one I want to make for ApertureReads.

I have decided to make a stage come back as it were – posting the odd wrap up and maybe haul post every so often, with comparatively more frequent mini reviews. I want the barrier to my return to be as low as possible so that I don’t view the blog as a chore. If it stops being fun I know that I will just stop blogging again. Previously I was operating on a review a week (as best I could) with additional posts here and there, my plans now are to share two blog posts per month.

So that’s the main headline. I’ll be back posting quick reviews and wrap ups every so often.

• I have a list of books that I want to talk about, as well as goals that I want to achieve before the end of the year, and I hope that you might find some of this content interesting.
• The focus will primarily be fantasy, though in recent months I’ve been moving more into new media of the genre (e.g. manga and the short story and light novel here and there) which I’ve found refreshing.
• I’ve also taken to picking up a ‘study’ book – simply a nonfiction publication which I will make notes on in a bid to gain more knowledge. I started this with Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, and plan to work my way through some of the cornerstone Very Short Introduction books.
• The reviews will not be like they were before – they’ll be significantly shorter and will most likely have three good things and three bad things about each books, though this format is not yet fully decided.

I’ll soon be posting another update with details of what I’ve been up to in recent months and what my plans are for the immediate future. The post won’t be based too heavily on books, but it will help to explain my absence, and might be an interesting read for some. After that, we’re back onto the books. I hope you enjoy reading some of my thoughts and sharing your own – I’ve certainly missed the community interactions.