TMST: It's been a while... tell us more about you! (Including, how do you read?)

So, I suck at blogging lately (and by lately I mean this entire year). 

I suck at reading... I suck at life.

Seriously this year has been tough and I have had little to no interest - at most sporadic bursts of interest - in my hobbies and various passions: especially reading and bookish pursuits.

This obviously makes book blogging rather difficult. 

I've thought a million times that I was ready to "come back" and get "back to normal" but nothing is normal for me at the moment and I doubt it will be for a long while to come so I've decided not to force it and rather than hide from my current reality I'm going to roll with a new normal.

I'd been avoiding my blog as something as simple as opening up the web browser and typing in the URL sent me into a negative spiral.

Seriously... it's not healthy. But why? 

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure I even know, but I think it's because I feel like I'm failing and letting people down... It's a bit ridiculous really. How can I fail at a hobby?! It's not a job. I don't get paid to post. I'm not forced to read other peoples blogs. I do it because I want to and if I don't want to, or can't, I don't. It should be that simple, right? Ha! Tell that to my stupid brain! 

Then there is the fact that I struggle to muster regular enthusiasm about books and reading even though I LOVE both books and reading because... that's how depression works. It robs you of your passions.

So, how can I have a book blog when I'm struggling with books? 

Weeeelllll, I've decided to post whatever I feel like and to heck with being a book blog for now!

To be clear, I'm still classing myself as a book blogger, I'll still have a lot of bookish posts, but right now I just need to get back to posting regularly and building a routine whilst I recover...

I guess you could call this a soft re-launch? A facelift without actually changing appearance? An experiment? I dunno... Maybe it'll just be another failed attempt at returning to blogging but it's worth a try!

Now onto Tell Me Something Tuesday...

It's been a while... tell us more about you! Was last week's Tell Me Something Tuesday question that I meant to answer but missed because of the whole "sucking at blogging" thing I've got going on.

Paper, electronic, audio... How do you read? is this week's question.

I figure that both of these questions would make a wonderful place to re-start blogging!

I'm drawing a line under all the comments I haven't answered and all the blogs I haven't read.

I'm attaching cement shoes to the guilt and tossing that bitch into the ocean.

It's the only way forward... Starting over without actually starting the blog over!

So... Hello all!

I'm Nicci, a "book" blogger in my mid-30's from the UK.

('Tis me! I don't think I've ever really shared pictures of myself on here before... Have I? I don't remember. 👀) 

I'm married, and I'm a mother (of one). 

I love animals, especially cats.

Tea is my favourite beverage.

Reading romance is my jam.

Rock music is my jam.

Farming sims... Bring me joy.

I'm a marvel fanatic. 

I love to bake.

I cross-stitch.

My educational background is Bio-Med but nowadays I work as a Project Manager for a STEM organisation which feeds my need to plan shit, organise people, and make lists.

I have a weird sense of humour, I'm sarcastic, prone to snark, and will metaphorically bite people if they bug me.

Oh! And I love Lilo and Stitch. It's the best Disney movie ever. Fight me. 

(And yes... I enjoy the sequels. And the tv show. And have merch. I'm not sorry.)

 

Erm... I don't know what else to add! I guess for those that have known me for a while very little of the above is news... I guess, ask a question in the comments if there's something you want to know and I'll answer... 

🌻

When it comes to reading... I read anywhere and I consume in all formats: paper, electronic, and audio. I have my ereader, my kindle reading app on the phone and audiobooks with me pretty much everywhere I go. Physical books, I read less often but when I do read one I prefer paperbacks as hardbacks are too awkward when reading in bed. 

I'm a non-monogamous reader (aka more than one book on the go at all times) as my audiobook and ebook are always different. Plus, I'm a mood reader so sometimes I have multiple ebooks on the go at once... But only ever one audiobook as I tend to only listen whilst cleaning, cooking or driving and if I had multiple audios on the go simultaneously I'd never manage to finish one! (Thanks to covid and more WFH I don't drive much anymore so it severely reduces the audio time.)

How do you prefer to read?