Category: Site Announcements
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Today I’m guest posting for Savindi over at The Streetlight Reader in return for her amazing guest post while I was on vacation. This time I reviewed the second book in the Giver series: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. So was the second book better than the first or did it suffer from the dreaded Book 2 Syndrome? Click on the link to find out!
And while you’re over there, check out some of the reviews and articles Savindi has written on her own blog. She reads a lot heavier material than I do, so you’ll be sure to find something to appeal to your intellect.
The Best and Worst of March
No, this is not some weird April Fool’s day joke. Honest. Although, looking at my stats this month, I sort of wish it was. My overall monthly views are up from February at 3,488 hits and 1,998 unique views, but they are still lagging behind the record-setting month of January. This very likely has to do with me taking so many holidays and posting reviews of obscure books. Obscure books = less search engine traffic = less overall views. I’m happy to say that as far as I know, I’m home all of April, so we’ll see if this is a new disturbing trend or only temporary.
Now here are my 5 best posts for March:
1. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
3. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
5. What Makes a Character Memorable?
We have two newcomers this month! Both 1984 by George Orwell and my article What Makes a Character Memorable? are completely new to my Best and Worst series. I have to say that this is a refreshing change from the usual five that top this list. Of course some of the regulars are still there, but at least there seems to be more traffic going to my newer articles. What about my ‘worst’ articles, though?
2. A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
3. The Fourth Wall by Walter Jon Williams
4. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Once again, every single book at the list of the worst five articles is completely new. Notice that they’re all book reviews too? It seems my articles are more popular, as I observed long ago. Well, at least the good news is that my worst articles keep rotating and aren’t like the best articles where it’s pretty much the same 5 every month.
So how did March go for you?
All Travelled Out
I am so done with planes, vacations and work. That’s why I’ve scheduled posts for the next three or so days and will be holed up in my house catching up on sleep and food. Don’t expect me to be very active on social media, but please tweet me if I still haven’t responded to one of the comments you left here. The hotel wi-fi was not exactly the greatest, but I did try to respond to all comments.
Also: I have absolutely no plans to travel for the rest of 2013. It’s too darn exhausting, but I’ll probably end up eating my words. As usual.
To sum things up in the next few days you can expect virtually no presence from me, lots of book reviews, a pictures post for my vacation and a new books post. I don’t think I can be coherent anymore, so goodnight/good morning/good afternoon wherever you guys are!
Travelling (Again)
Well folks, I’m off travelling again! I know, I know: I’m barely home for two weeks and I’m hopping a plane again. No, this time I’m not going to Costa Rica. I’m back in Ottawa again for a week.
Once again I’ve scheduled enough reviews, articles and guest posters to fill up the time I’ll be gone. Thanks to both Savindi from The Streetlight Reader and Margaret from Steam Trains and Ghosts, I only had to schedule five posts in advance. The quality of content will not be affected and I’m taking my laptop along to respond to your comments once or twice a day. However, I’m going to be very busy so please don’t be offended if I don’t respond right away. I’m not ignoring you.
Also: expect a new books post. I just can’t resist the siren song that calls forth from every book store I pass when I travel.
500 Posts and a Guest Post
Well, I was checking my stats the other night and found out that my review of Shirley Verrett’s memoir, I Never Walked Alone, was my 500th post here on The Mad Reviewer. Obviously, it’s not really my 500th post because I’ve done plenty of guest posts, but still. You guys know how I love my milestones.
Also, today I will be posting for Margaret over at Steam Trains and Ghosts. For review #297, I’m reviewing Antony & Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough. And now all you history buffs will be forced to go check out my review, right? Especially since I’m talking about historical accuracy.