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The Summer Slowdown

the summer slowdown

I hope you’ll forgive a bit of navel-gazing for today’s post. Over Memorial Day weekend, I got to thinking about what to do with the blog over the summer. A couple of bloggers I read regularly are embarking on projects to post on every one of the 99 days of summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day). I love that idea so much, but when I sat down to consider it myself I immediately knew ramping up the blog for the summer is not what I need.

What I really want is a summer slowdown, a dialing back of internet-related commitments so I can enjoy the beautiful weather, spend time with friends and family, and find some space to think about what I want this blog to be going forward. I’m turning 30 this summer, and just recently celebrate eight years of blogging. I want to think about what all of that means. Plus, work is gearing up for some difficult transitions this summer, and I want to give myself some extra wiggle room in that part of my life too.

I thought about just taking the summer off — 99 days without blogging, if you will — but quickly realized that I don’t want everything to go dormant. I value this space as a reading journal and social outlet too much to just stop writing. I thought about just blogging when the mood strikes, but I also know that I’m not good at any practice without a schedule that creates accountability, even if that accountability is only in my head.

Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that I’m going to shift to two posts each week: a Currently/Reading Log post each Monday and another post of any topic on Thursdays. I think this will give me the combination of structure and flexibility that I need to make blogging fun for me and enjoyable for others to read.

Cheers for an awesome summer full of sunshine, fizzy drinks, grill outs and great books!

P.S. In case you missed it, my interview with Leigh Bardugo, author of The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows, was posted to Book Riot last week. She was a lot of fun to talk to, and shared some good stuff about her upcoming book Crooked Kingdom and plans for a YA adaptation of Wonder Woman.

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  • Sarah's Book Shelves June 2, 2016, 6:36 am

    Enjoy your relaxing summer! And I saw the 99 days of blogging thing and felt the same way about it. There’s no way I could post every day for 99 days and I wouldn’t want to…nor would my readers want me to b/c a lot of those posts would be there just to get something up!

    • Kim June 4, 2016, 1:14 pm

      I think if I sat down and did some planning and committed to catching up on reviews I think I’d have enough to say for 99 days over the summer… I’m not sure it’d all be interesting, but it would be a fun challenge to try. Maybe this winter, when there isn’t much else to do 🙂

  • bermudaonion (Kathy) June 2, 2016, 7:41 am

    Good for you! I’ve toyed with going to three posts a week on more than one occasion but have never done anything about ti.

  • Bryan June 2, 2016, 10:11 am

    Even though I am doing the 99 days of blogging thing, I hear ya. At times, it’s been difficult to get up one post a week and especially with what sounds like your life being so busy, I don’t blame you at all. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m sure most out there will be happy to see you when we do see you…even if it’s “only” twice a week. Some people don’t even post at all or do let their blog go dormant and then sadly, they (often) disappear, but not always.

    • Kim June 4, 2016, 1:12 pm

      Every time I think about shutting down for an extended period, but then I realize I’d forget everything I read during that period and that’s just too much of a bummer. So, somewhere in the middle it is 🙂

  • Leah @ Books Speak Volumes June 2, 2016, 2:54 pm

    A summer slowdown sounds like a great compromise. I’m still trying to figure out how to balance blogging and the rest of my life, but I hope this works well for you!

  • Jenny @ Reading the End June 2, 2016, 8:56 pm

    Makes sense! The summer’s a quieter time in the blogosphere anyway, I always feel, with people dashing off on vacations all the time. I hope you have plenty of time to devote to enjoying the pleasant weather. Louisiana has seen the last of the pleasant weather until probably October, so I shall be spending my summer inside glowering at the heat/humidity beyond my windows. :p

  • Andrea ( aka rokinrev) June 3, 2016, 9:51 am

    My spouse keeps saying I ought to slowdown to two books instead of four a week. My TBR pile says differently. Its too hot to be outdoors much, so what do you do? Sit and read. We signed up for ancestory this summer and I’m going to do some searching there. So far, this is a depressingly hot season, so I may slowdown as she suggests…we’ll see

    • Kim June 4, 2016, 1:08 pm

      It hasn’t gotten terribly hot in Minnesota yet — I suspect we’ll be at the too hot to move weather sometime in August… yay?

  • Unruly Reader June 4, 2016, 7:47 am

    Sounds like an ideal balance! Glad you’ll be hanging around here this summer… and also doing lots of great stuff offline.

    • Kim June 4, 2016, 1:07 pm

      I really want to get to the lake more this summer than I have in the last couple of years. Usually we just make it for Fourth of July, which is such a shame.

  • Kristen M. June 6, 2016, 10:00 am

    I should probably come up with a blogging plan for summer or the days will just fly away from me without any posts written at all. Twice a week sounds doable so I think I might just copy you! 🙂

    • Kim June 7, 2016, 8:01 pm

      Do it! Have a schedule works for me because it keeps me accountable and it makes blogging a choice. I can always choose not to do one of my planned posts, but when it’s a conscious decision I feel better about it than just sort of flying by the seat of my pants.

  • Jennine G June 12, 2016, 5:22 pm

    I’m with you. I don’t post more than twice a week and plan to keep it that for the summer. I’ll be reading more personally this summer too and won’t always have stuff to share anyway I think.

    • Kim June 14, 2016, 8:32 pm

      The more I think about it, the more I’m realizing the reason for a slowdown isn’t because I don’t have enough to say — I’ve got plenty of books to review and some thoughts on many of them. It’s all the “extra” stuff — visiting other blogs, responding to comments, being on social media — that I feel like cutting back on. Slowing down with posts is one way to get at that in a tangible way. Plus, less writing 🙂