Hey there.
Long time no blog.
Yep.
Been kinda quiet around here.
So I guess its time for true confessions of the blogger for the close out of 2016.

First, Happy New Years Eve

Yep.

Pretty much over self thrashing now.  I mean it is what it is.  I didn't meet my personal goals for keeping up with blogging last year. You can tell from the side bar. Three posts.  Granted they were for charity - so bonus points on the positive sharing.  The year before of the reinventing of me - 23.  I'd say I fell down on the job.

So what happened?

On the serious side, I did take some time off in January and February to have elective surgery that I am happy to say went beautifully and so happy I took care of.  But if I was being honest, it's the excuse.  I had two 'overdue' blog posts not done prior to my surgery.  When I thought about blogging, well...two turned into three...and so on...and so on.  Kinda of a snowball effect.  I felt overwhelmed by my pastdue unwritten blog entries.

Where do I start?
Do I do the most recent past due one?
Or the oldest past due one?
Or the one I've been thinking about?
Or the one that I think is the most interesting?

I just didn't start.  That didn't solve the problem. I just choose to ignore it. All year long.

Just so you know.  It wasn't just blogging that I fell apart on commitment. That effort to write reviews for everything I read?  Yeah, that got overwhelming too.  I read a shit ton of books while recuperating but the reviews just didn't happen.  That added to the anxiety- do I catch up the blog or the reviews first?  Sheesh...as Elisa says I let it go.

Okay fine there you have the reasons.  Why am I writing this now?  I got inspired by a friend. See she's started her own blog.  (Link on the side bar) And her blog is everything I wanted this blog to be.  Not a promo blog.  Not a strictly review blog.  Just a blog of her reading and random thoughts on life. So, its what I want my blog to grow up to be someday where I talking about the reading world and what is on my mind on a fairly consistent basis.  Not for anyone else but me.

Okay - LETS DO THIS (again).  I've got a plan.

And the plan is:  Just blog whatever is on my mind and whenever I feel like it. I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't get my Tuesday night entry done.  When it happens, I will be basking in the awesomeness of getting it done.  And rather than taking the approach where I am fair and unbiased.  I'm going to be biased as hell.  Yep, I'm going to fangirl all over your face about something that I absolutely love.  You'll see - in my head - there is an epic blog entry tomorrow.  Baring any hangovers.

Now, what about my past blog entries.  Those will come.  You see, I have some really great pictures to share and awesome adventure tales to tell.  Which means this blog entry will become somewhat out of whack because -yes, I'm admitting to cheating- backdating the entries to when they occurred.  So you'll see 2016 go from 3 to unknown number. It's kinda OCD of me.  But hey, my blog and my rules.

In the mean time, grab a cocktail of your choice, be with your favorite people and usher in 2017 with a big smile.  I will with a great book in my hands.

Since you asked so nicely. It's an ARC of Dirty Secret by Chelle Bliss and Brenda Rothert.

What is the real count of all the books I've read?

Is this a test on accuracy? I sure hope not. I can probably ballpark it and will attempt on my new task of updating my Goodreads shelves. I joined Goodreads in 2009 at the encouragement of my friend, A. At this point, I had a job where I travelled a lot and she felt this was a good way for us to keep in touch with what we are reading.  Fast forward to 2011...

I am now on a project in Los Angeles, CA. The company has brought in consultants from all over.  I team up with one, and we become fast friends.  We enjoy many of the same things even our choice of books.  I read WAY quicker than she does; often finishing and moving on.  Since day one, she has encouraged me to blog or at minimum keep a log of everything I've read.  So, L, this is all because of you.

Once I decided to put my reading musing to the virtual world, I also decided to update Goodreads. Before the 'Goodreads update project' began, I had only 84 books on my shelves.  I learned (and now love) that I can import my Amazon ebook purchases. HOLY HELL! I now have 1138 books on my shelves.  This does not count all the paper versions I have read.  As of "you may now use your personal electronic device in the airplane mode", I have not purchased a paper book until this year.  I still have all my past paper versions to load to shelves.  Now to answer your burning question: "What is your 'Goodreads update project'?

I am going through the shelves marking every book with date read (approximation of course), properly assigning the shelf, and rating with stars.  Will I add reviews i.e. back dating? Most likely no. Unless it makes sense to.  For example, I just reviewed Grey. I couldn't exactly write a coherent review unless you know how I felt about FSOG.  In that case, I did.  Unless the review cannot stand alone, then I am only going forward with publishing reviews to my shelves.

If you want to know how many books I have read, the titles/categories, and what I think, go visit me over at Goodreads: https://goo.gl/rppT5q