No list post today, no update on my Enneagram reading from the last year like I usually do in July. Something different and overdue.
Recently a friend posted on Facebook that due to a variety of life circumstances, she was taking a break, a sabbatical, from her beloved job – with their blessing – to do some regrouping. I was so impressed with her self-awareness and her company’s regard for her and for her work that they made this happen for her.
I started a full time job at the beginning of June. I’m still in those early days of feeling like a substitute teacher in someone else’s classroom. I’m sure my new boss is weary of my questions. I really want to do well in this, and there’s a HUGE learning curve. But while I took on this new responsibility, I had every intention of doing all the same things I did before.
It’s not working.
You might have noticed that a couple weeks ago I didn’t post a Thursday YA review, but instead posted adult reviews two days in a row. This week, I didn’t even post Wednesday. I thought it was the adult books slowing me down and keeping me from getting to the YA book in a week’s time, but in reality I have 45-ish fewer hours of time each week than I did this spring.
In the first 5 months of 2020, I was averaging 7 books a week – a pace I have been on for a few years now since I left my last full time job. For the first five months of 2021, I was down to 5 books a week – still a pace that allowed me 3-5 reviews a week and an occasional book read just for me. For June, for the first month of this new job, I have finished 11 books for the WHOLE MONTH. That’s not quite 3 books a week, and it is showing as I try to get to the books on my publishing schedule. This is not sustainable. I am resenting everything – the job, the books I do get to read, the ones I’m not getting to, the ever-present feeling of being trapped.
Something has to give.
So, I am taking the month of July off.
A sabbatical.
A bookmark in the journey to hold my place for a few weeks.
I have all of the Book News posts done and scheduled to post. I also have links to some past posts to keep you in book ideas for the month that I am away. When I come back in August, there will probably be some changes coming to my posting schedule. But I am also hoping to return with a fresh perspective on this space I have invested in and carved out on the internet for almost 5 years now. I also hope to come back with some reviews of books I have enjoyed just because I wanted to read them.
Yes, this means the reviews I have promised for books releasing this year will be late. And there may be some I choose not to review. It’s going to tank my review rate on Netgalley. But it’s essential that I take a break and re-evaluate.
So happy summer! I’ll see you back here in August. In the meantime, check out some fun posts from the last almost-five years of blogging and discover some reading treasures you might have missed the first time around. ♥