I read a lot in 2018, more than usual and definitely more than I should have because it brought me so close to book burnout that it’s not even a joke.  Part of that was immersing myself in a few new genres that caught my attention, part was simply being unable to say “no thanks” to more review offers than I could realistically fill without serious lack of sleep.  So 2019 will bring about a few changes to my reading schedule.

The upside to that overabundance of reading is that I’ve been able to better define what authors’ “voice” I want to follow in the future, and what “voices” no longer work for me.

The “voice” of a book is an elusive thing to define.  I believe that every single reader has a different, specific “voice” that appeals to them alone.  It’s the way a book is worded, the conversation between author and reader that flows easily over your mind and transports you into another world without effort.  It’s a feeling of comfortableness, of being at ease with how the story is delivered, how it unfolds to you.  It’s also a matter of trusting that the “voice” you’re listening to is going to be true to the genre, and not spin you off so far away from what you thought you were reading that you become lost.

It’s coming to the words, “The End” and sitting still for a moment thinking, “Yeah.  That was good.”  It’s not always fireworks — it’s also a quiet feeling of satisfaction.

I’ve come to better understand what “voice” appeals to me after this past year’s heavy reading schedule.  I know the authors that simply do not speak to me.  Perhaps once they did, but their “voice” has changed over time and what once comforted now jars.  It happens, it’s sad when it does, but it does happen.

I’m more willing to walk away from a book that just isn’t working for me.  Once I would stick until the ending just in case something changed along the way… now I’ll not be wasting precious time.  I’ll be polite, I won’t trash anything, what works for you may not work for me… and that’s okay, it’s not personal.

Every reader has a different word or phrase for what I call the “voice” of a book.  It’s simply what appeals to you, what brings you back to an author time after time, what you love about a genre, what makes you want to sit down and wander off into another world… it’s what you enjoy and that is unique to us all.

I love seeing the new book related Challenges begin to show up around the beginning of December.  It usually gets me revved up for the coming year – but come June I’m shaking my head at myself and wondering how to get caught up on them.  It’s not that I don’t read the books for any of the Challenges I joined in back in December… it’s that I didn’t keep up with the link to the Linky thing, or update my Challenge post (or page).  Life happens and I give up trying to keep track.  Please tell me I’m not alone in this!  Please.

This year I’m going to divide and conquer those Challenges in a different fashion.

As some of you may know, Keeper Bookshelf is my main book review/book-related blog.  But it’s not the only blog I work on each week (or day, sometimes).  I have several other genres specific blogs that are smaller, by definition, but they showcase my other reading loves.  When I’m in the mood for a new book to pick up I visit the blogs that I know of that specifically talk about those books.  Often in a wide general fashion like Romance or Mystery… but still specific to what I’m in the mood for.  (If you’d like to visit any of my other blogs the links are in the sidebar.)

This year my accepted Challenges are going to be talked about on and linked to the specific blog of mine that they most are relevant to… and perhaps ensure that I actually officially finish these Challenges this time around.

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