December To Be ReadI have taken the inspiration for this idea from Simon at Stuck-in-a-Book and Fleur In Her World (both posts explain where they get it from and I’m sure I’ve seen it on other people’s blogs, too, but these were the ones that triggered me doing it). The idea itself? Take the first line from your first post in each month, and see what that tells you about your blogging life. Well, my usual first post of the month is my State of the TBR one, so I’m not sure how illuminating this will be, so I might cheat and pick the first line from the first review I’ve posted each month instead …

January 2014

“Well, it’s that time again – my friend Ali and I decided to have a month of re-reading every six months or so, to revisit those books we’ve loved and kept, but not got round to re-reading because of the huge, tottering To Be Read mountain.” (from A month of re-reading in January – my selection)

February 2014

“For once I’m doing a singleton review, not really for any reason other than the fact that I’ve got two pairs of Viragoes and two non-fiction books coming up, and this one really belongs to the Month of Re-Reading.” (from Book reviews – Jude the Obscure)

March 2014

“Well, I am pleased to say that I have made inroads into the terrible State of the TBR at the beginning of February – hopefully you can see from the picture that the blue book about two-thirds of the way along the shelf is the end of the front shelf.” (from State of the TBR – March 2014)

April 2014

“Here’s the TBR on 1 April and no, that’s not an April Fool and it’s looking quite good, isn’t it.” (from State of the TBR – April 2014)

May 2014

“Well, here’s my TBR looming out of the gloom: it’s not that “good” in terms of numbers, is it, but it is full of great books.” (from State of the TBR – May 2014)

June 2014

“So, here is the TBR shelf and it’s not actually looking that bad, is it! I’ve got quite a lot read, although I have removed some, too (sorry again, EJ Howard!) – and the reviews are stacking up waiting to be posted on here, as I’ve had a very busy couple of working weeks and got all behind with my reviewing (but not my reading!).” (from State of the TBR – June 2014)

July 2014

“Well, I have to say, the TBR is not looking too bad at all, is it?” (From State of the TBR – July 2014)

August 2014

“Just a quick post today because all my patient Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn contacts were bombarded with stuff about my business, Libro’s, fifth birthday and my new website I’ve set up for the books I’ve written (did I mention I’ve written some books?).” (From State of the TBR – August 2014)

September 2014

“OK, so here is the full TBR as of 1 September 2014. Please note that there are no books in front, that’s just one shelf from left to … well, towards the right.” (From State of the TBR – September 2014)

October 2014

“Oops. I knew the wonders of the September TBR weren’t going to last – have a look at the Book Confessions category to see how this has come to pass!” (From State of the TBR – October 2014)

November 2014

“Well, here’s the TBR, and that’s not doing too badly, is it?” (From State of the TBR – November 2014)

December 2014

“Hello! It’s the first of December and time to report on the state of my TBR.” (From State of the TBR, a book confession mystery and why I’m glad I “lost” NaNoWriMo)

Well, I don’t know about you, but I quite enjoyed that little excursion into the ups and downs of my TBR and my obvious need for reassurance from my readership that “it’s not too bad, is it?”! You can see it waxing and waning (and there are pictures on all the linked posts if you’re so inclined). I have never done this before, but I am going to extend it over to my usual round-up post on my Libroediting blog (last year’s example here) where I share the rankings for the most popular posts on the blog for the year)