Category: Site Announcements
The Best and Worst of February
Whoa, is it March already? February is a pretty short month, but things went by very quickly for me. Maybe it had something to do with my vacation.
Anyway, me being on vacation also means that site stats are down. Although I scheduled posts to fill up all of the days I would be on holiday, I had to resort to reviewing some unpopular, obscure books. As you’ve probably guessed, not many people are interested in these books, therefore my stats are down drastically. If I had reviewed popular new YA books, ranted or done reviews on old classics like 1984, I would have had far more than 3,416 views and 1,843 unique views.
I digress. Let’s look at the top 5 best articles/reviews of February, shall we?
1. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
2. How to Alienate Book Reviewers
3. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome has been on the 5 Best list since I started doing this series in May 2012. It’s back at the top, which is not all that surprising. What is surprising, however, is the two newbies to the 5 Best list: How to Alienate Book Reviewers and What I Hate About YA. These are the kinds of clicky articles I was talking about a while back, meaning that not only are the titles something people would click on, but they’re the kinds of articles that people like to comment on. As for Matilda and The Outsiders, it’s not that surprising; they’re incredibly popular books. But now let’s take a look at the 5 worst articles of February.
1. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
2. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
3. Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer
4. My Status Update Journey by Marcus Matherne
5. Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
When you think about it, none of the 5 worst posts are all that surprising. I can vouch that they’re all excellent books that I thoroughly enjoyed, but for some reason no one is searching for them online. Which is a shame, really, because it’s nice to expand your horizons and discover new books.
So that was how my February went. How was yours?
The Very Inspiring Blogger Award
Thanks to James for the award!
1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you.
2. Post the award image to your page.
3. Share 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate other blogs for the award and inform them about it.
7 (Very Random) Facts About Me
1. I am currently addicted to AMC’s The Walking Dead.
2. I’m a night owl. I’ve never been able to fall asleep early and get up early very easily, which makes living in a morning bird world difficult.
3. Gum chewing is one of my pet peeves, especially when people smack their lips, pop it or chew with their mouths open. I don’t know why, but it just rubs me the wrong way.
4. The first time I read the Harry Potter series I also read it backwards from #6-1. Why? Because I’m stubborn and can be a complete idiot, that’s why.
5. I generally rank politicians low on my Respectable/Trustworthy People Scale, somewhere between tabloid journalists and used car salesmen.
6. When it comes to spending, I have two weaknesses: Books (obviously) and jewelry.
7. I may live in Canada, but I really, really hate the snow and the cold.
The People I’m Nominating:
Thomas of the quiet voice
Caleb of 20four12
Robert of A Life Among The Pages
Raya of Midnight Coffee Monster
Margaret of Steam Trains and Ghosts
Savindi of The Streetlight Reader
A Note on Some Site Changes
As you may notice, the Commenting Policy tab has disappeared. Don’t panic! My commenting policy is now under my FAQs section. And the FAQs are now posted directly under the Commenting Policy in the same tab.
So, you’re probably asking, what’s with the random, unannounced changes?
Well, the truth is I’m sick of authors contacting me with very general emails, then getting offended when I give them a link to my book reviewing criteria. They claim they couldn’t find it under the Frequently Asked Questions tab. It seemed a logical place to put the link to me, but that’s not the point. The point is that I want lazy authors to have absolutely no excuses like “I read your blog but couldn’t find your review policy! Wahhh!”
Therefore, I created my new Review Policy tab. Lazy authors beware: you will now have no excuse not to read my policy. IT’S RIGHT THERE AT THE TOP OF THE BLOG!!! (Yes, I’m shouting.)
Guest Posting at 20four12
Well, today I’m guest posting over at 20four12. This time I picked up a book that is more Middle Years than YA and was impressed with some things, but not with others. The book is Tunnels and it’s received a lot of hype from both book bloggers and professional critics.
Working for a Vacation
This year I’m going away for two and a half weeks on vacation to Costa Rica! That means a lot of tanning, swimming, zip lining, snorkeling and even a little bit of shopping. But what does it mean for The Mad Reviewer?
Well, you’ll see very little changes while I’m gone because I’ve already scheduled enough posts to fill up my vacation time. Sure, there will be a lot of Royal Diaries books because, hey, they’re quick. But other than that, you will see virtually no changes in the quality or frequency of posting. I’m taking my laptop, so I’ll still be responding to comments and I’ll still be doing my regular guest posting commitments. I will also be (finally) getting to a lot of books on my In Progress list in the evenings when there’s not much to do. So expect a lot of indie/self-publishing reviews next month.
However, if there’s anyone who would like to guest post for me (especially because I make it a point to reciprocate) in March, please read this article. I don’t have much criteria for guest posting and in exchange for posting, you’ll not only get publicity, but a post on your blog from me. Since I can’t pay you and I don’t think it’s fair you have to work for free, my post trading policy seems pretty fair. It’s a better deal than you’ll get in lots of places.