I’m pausing content today to mark Blogiversary #9, provide a brief blog update, and offer my sincerest thanks for all the follows, likes, shares, and comments.
Please enjoy a virtual cupcake!

Celebrating 9 Years of Book Blogging!

Find all the books I’ve reviewed here.

Reflections on 9 Years:

Virtual Friendships

If you had told me that one of the greatest joys of blogging is the supportive and friendly blogging community, I don’t know if I would have believed you. I was intimidated to push “publish” on those first few posts. I was terrified to comment on a stranger’s blog and to interact with strangers on my own site. It didn’t take long for me to set aside those apprehensions and fully embrace the connections! If I interact with you regularly, you know who you are, Dear Friends! Some of the lovely bloggers I interact with most frequently participated in my recent summer collaboration: “Summer’s One Must Read Book.”

My Tip For New Bloggers: Connect, Comment, and Collaborate!

Stats

The most important aspect of blogging is not the numbers. Blogging, reading, and reviewing is NOT a competition. However, I’m a stats nerd and I enjoy tracking my stats as a way to measure progress (competing with myself). The actual number doesn’t matter to me as much as the consistent upward trend. At nine years, I am satisfied with my overall stats. I have experienced steady growth as a result of diligent effort and persistence. 2026 has been my best year of blogging stats-wise.

This post is #1,587. My very first post was published on July 21, 2017.

I am delighted with my 2,265 followers, an exhilarating stat in light of that first 100-follower milestone! I realize that for some bloggers this is a low number and for other bloggers this might seem like an unreachable number. Each blogger is on a unique, personal journey, and every milestone is celebrated by the community.

My current total number of views/hits continues to exceed my expectations (1,722,280) as of this moment) Wow! Thanks everyone!

Tip For New Bloggers: Persistence/consistency in all areas–quality content, scheduling of posts, interactions with the blogging community, and (social media) promotion–is KEY.

One other important and related stat I track is the origin source of my views. Over nine years, the highest source remains search engines (which indicates that my SEO work is paying off) followed (in order) by WordPress Reader, Pinterest, Facebook, email, and BlueSkyTwitter/X. Instagram drives very little traffic to my blog these days because I’d rather be reading than making reels.

Domain Authority: A stat I track out of curiosity from time to time is my Domain Authority (DA) rank. In the simplest terms, it’s how your site ranks in search engine queries. You can check your DA free: Domain Authority Checker. (and check anyone else’s as well). One way to raise your DA rank is to optimize every post for SEO. DA is the most frustrating stat because it fluctuates for no apparent reason. I usually check it once a month. I’ve been bouncing around between 25-35 the last few years. Last month I was 27, and today I’m 25. So unpredictable and erratic. My record high is 36. The only reason to care about this number is that certain sites or brands you might want to work with might require a certain DA rank. You can read more about DA here. Most hobby bloggers can safely ignore DA stats. I’m just always curious.

NetGalley: Another stat I’m proud of and worked hard for is my NetGalley ratio. (NG is one way reviewers receive advanced reading copies) If you are a book reviewer and use NG, you know! I’ve maintained an above 80% ratio for a few years now! (currently at 96%) I’m making good progress toward my 500 reviews badge, as I’m currently around 392. I realize that this number might seem low compared with other bloggers and 9 years of blogging, but I’m picky about my ARCs….I dread having to DNF them or award less than 3 Stars or request so many that my ratio suffers.

Unrelated to Reading Stats: In case you wonder if I do anything else besides read, I need to tell someone that I’m at level 5,822 in Candy Crush! LOL It’s my brain break! Anyone else still playing CC? I work the booster reward system and have never spent a dime. I limit myself to about 10 minutes a day (unless I happen to fall into a winning streak or earn 30 min of free boosters!)

Do I ever need a break? Is it OK to take a break?

Well….life gets lifey and bloggers need to step away from time to time. I took a brief hiatis three years ago (in October) because I needed emergency surgery for a detached retina, then another last October when my mom died, and I’ll need to take another one this October when I have hip replacement surgery. (Yikes! What is it about October?!) It’s OK to take a break when life circumstances demand it, or especially for your own mental health. I’ll always keep you informed of any time away.

Beware of Despicable People:

Recently it has come to my attention that someone is impersonating me and this blog to send emails to get authors (I think) to sign up (and probably pay money) for me to promote them and/or review their books. PLEASE be careful of email solicitations that do not come from me but are impersonating me. The email I saw was from a person who claimed to work for me. Please ask if you are concerned. These despicable people seem to be targeting authors. Thankfully, I had an author reach out to me to find out if her email was legit. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about this except remind you to be careful! I’m continually amazed/horrified by the way people choose to use their “one precious life” to harm others.

Blogging Tip:

In 9 years, I’ve learned a few things (sometimes the hard way).

I remain thrilled with learning How to hide text.

Let me explain. I have a love/hate relationship with Trigger Warnings because, although I firmly believe in them and the reader’s right to know, I realize that they can contain spoilers that others might not want to see. I knew there was a way to hide text, but I hadn’t been especially motivated to learn the process. My excuse is that learning a new trick takes time, and I’d rather be reading or churning out reviews. Hiding text is fairly simple, and I should have done it sooner.

In Word Press, you need to download the (free) Ultimate Blocks plugin. Then, (in block editor) when you begin a new paragraph, click on the plus sign and enter Expand into the search bar and a new option appears: Expand. Click on it and it will bring up a block with two + signs. Click on the first + , select paragraph, and add visible text. Next, click on the second + , select paragraph, and add hidden content. When you are finished, click away from the block and it will look like this:

I can send you screenshots if needed! I have no idea how to do this in the Classic editor or with other platforms. Here’s the WP video I watched to help me learn.

In Other Blogging News:

Block Editor: I continue to update old posts to the Block Editor, a never-ending task.

Book Club Kits. I’m continuing to work on my new feature: Free Book Club Kits. I have six now and I’m working on a seventh (The Burning Side). I had hoped to create four per year, but I need to find a book I really love, and one that lends itself to making a kit. They are time-intensive, but they attract lots of views, so I believe the time spent is worth it. Thanks to Jo @ Jo Linsdell for the inspiration! The ones I have created are free, but I think the new ones will eventually be behind a pay wall.

• James Book Club Kit
• Go As a River Book Club Kit
• West With Giraffes Book Club Kit
• The Boys of Riverside Book Club Kit
• The Correspondent Book Club Kit
• Theo of Golden Book Club Kit

Have you used one of my Book Club Kits?

New Feature!

This is year two of another new feature, my once-a-month (last Friday of the month) Link Party (open for 30 days) for your most memorable or captivating character of the month. Find my posts here. Join me for this fun monthly feature!

Book Reviews are FREE and Written by ME (not AI)

I’m continuing to offer FREE book reviews and Book Kits. However, if you’re feeling especially generous and have appreciated certain content, I welcome donations.

Sorry About the Ads

One way I avoid a pay wall is by allowing ads on my page. The small amount I make from the ads pays for my Word Press blog expenses. If there’s money left over, I use it to buy a few books or make donations to support other bloggers. I realize that ads are annoying, so thanks for tolerating them.

Another way I finance my blog is to use Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase a book (or anything really) from my link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Amazon issues me gift cards which I use to buy books for review. Over half of the books I review are ARCS (free advanced reader copies) and I’m a heavy library user, but I depend on that affiliate link to purchase the rest. Thanks for using the link! Every purchase helps support the blog!

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Thank You! THANK YOU!

Each visit, follow, comment, and share is sincerely appreciated. I could not do this without you! Grab a virtual cupcake as you leave today!

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QOTD:

If you blog, how many years do you have under your belt?
If you are a new blogger or are considering a blog, do you have a blogging question for me?

I would love to hear (in comments) about one book you’ve read as a result of reading one of my reviews or posts.

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Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

Find me at:
Twitter/X
Blue Sky
Instagram (Threads link in bio)
Goodreads and StoryGraph
Pinterest
SubStack: @carolreadingladies
Reading Ladies Book Club on Facebook

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