From the Archives: A Blogging Retrospective - July 2006

[Post idea stolen borrowed inspired by Kay of Kay's Reading Life's Bookish Nostalgia and Stacy of Stacy's Books' A Look Back features. Thank you, Ladies!]


July 2006 was overcast, stormy and hot. I took advantage of a week long vacation to get in some quality reading time. My husband had a flat tire and the person at the tire repair shop switched out the wrong tire. I am sure there was plenty of cuddle time with my cat, Parker, and dog, Riley.

I'll be honest with you. The reason I decided to set up this blog at this very moment instead of tomorrow or two months from now is because I am avoiding the book I am reading.

With those opening lines, Musings of a Bookish Kitty was born on July 23, 2006. Sixteen posts went up during the final days of July, reviews mostly. I received all of one comment that month by my online book group friend, Linda Sheehan. Boy, did she make my day! I was very active in online book groups at the time, mostly through Yahoo Groups. I had been participating in them for years, enjoying the company of other book lovers who were just as obsessed with reading and books as I was. Although book blogging was not a new concept when I entered into it, the community was much smaller than it is today. In fact, I wasn't aware there was a book blogging community at all initially. I knew a couple of people who had book blogs, but that was it. When I did discover it, I was in awe of other book bloggers and the community itself. Everyone was welcoming and made me feel right at home.

Reviewing books for publishers, publicists and authors may not have been very common in 2006, but it was on the rise. I had been reviewing books for Harper Collins' First Look Program for little a while before starting my blog. There were also websites set up where readers could volunteer to read and review early releases or independently published books on those sites. I would eventually give that a try--but that's getting ahead of myself. One of the books I reviewed on my blog during my first July of blogging was First Look book, Lifeless by Mark Billingham, a crime fiction novel set in London. It was my first book by the author.

In July of 2016, My template for my reviews was more defined in terms of sections, although not much different from what I do now when it comes to content. I posted about my rating system, which I would go on to add numeric value and define a little more clearly the next year. At some point, I went in and added the numeric (1 to 5 paws) ratings in to those early reviews, although I can't tell you exactly when that was. I have since stopped rating books on my blog, although I still rate them on my reading spreadsheet and when I list books I read on sites like Goodreads and LibraryThing.

Although I reviewed 13 books that month, I read 11, which, even today, is a pretty amazing number for me.  I am tempted to copy and paste my July 2006 reading summary post because it describes the books I reviewed in July very well, as if I was traveling through the world--which I was, in a way.  My reading took me across the U.S., into Canada, and through Europe, Asia and Africa. Not to mention taking me all over history, past to present, fantasy, mystery, and more realistic fare. Most were books I owned, although one was a review book and another from a BookCrossing bookring (similar to my postal mail group, where a book is mailed from reader to reader). Just via books.

My July 2006 reviews:

• The Birth of Venus by Sarah Durant 
• Labyrinth by Kate Mosse 
• Lifeless by Mark Billingham
• The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
• The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
• The Attack by Yasmina Khadra
• Bombay Time by Thrity Umrigar
• Tales From a Child of the Enemy by Ursula Duba
• Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
• Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn
• Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

Three of the books I reviewed received my highest rating (Labyrinth, The Alchemist, and Tales From a Child of the Enemy) which must have been a happy surprise at the time. Even then I didn't give Outstanding ratings often. I still think highly of all three books. If I were to pick a favorite from the bunch today, I might be more likely to go with The Birth of Venus or Empire of the Sun, however. But I may have Empire of the Sun muddled in my head with the movie--which I loved. My least favorite definitely remains Christopher Moore's book, I am sad to say, which I liked somewhat, but found disappointing. I have yet to try anything else by the author.

It appears my first month of blogging got off to a great start. I certainly read and reviewed some great books that month.

• Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think?
• Do you remember what you were reading 10 years ago? 
• Do you think your opinion of what you were reading then has changed? 

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© 2016, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.