The Mad Reviewer

4. The Mad Reviewer is Open to Review Requests (Temporarily)

5. Othello by William Shakespeare

None of these are really new or surprising aside from my review of Othello. It wasn’t particularly in-depth or insightful but I guess that since Othello is a common grade 12 English play here in Canada I got some of the traffic from students. Overall it didn’t get that many views but it certainly did better than quite a few of my other more popular posts.

So what were the worst posts this month?

1. Aegis Rising by S. S. Segran

2. The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

3. If You Love the Iron Fey…

4. September Sky by John Heldt

5. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Most of these are books that aren’t exactly popular or are really dated posts like the Iron Fey one about the release of some short stories tying in to the main series. The only really disappointing one on this list is John Heldt’s book September Sky, which is an unconventional time travel romance that I absolutely loved. But, like most ‘worst’ posts one month, it will likely be off the list next month.

Well, that pretty much sums up my June. How was yours?

March 1, 2015

The Best and Worst of February 2015

February flew by in the blink of an eye for me. I don’t know why because I wasn’t particularly busy or anything but it just did. I suppose that’s a good thing because I’m super-excited about my upcoming trip to New York at the end of May for BEA 2015. And because I’m also super-excited for season 5 of Game of Thrones on April 12. So yeah, February was pretty uneventful and yet it flew past. I can’t really complain about my month this time around.

This month I received 5,169 views in total with 3,407 of those being unique views. That’s down from January when I received 6,644 views but considering that February only has 28 days this year, that’s not so bad. I had some pretty bad days stats-wise this February but I also had some good days where I hit the 300 mark compared to my usual 150-200. Really, like the personal side of my life in February, I can’t complain about the statistics side of things.

So what were the best posts this month?

4. Discussion: One Star Reviews

5. Why no Writer Wants to Tackle Chronic Pain

We actually have some different articles on the list this month! My discussion of one star reviews and negative reviews in general was hugely successful both stats-wise and comments-wise. It was very interesting to see peoples’ takes on the issue, both authors and reviewers. As for the chronic pain article, that really surprised me because it was never popular, even when it was new. Since I got more referrals from Facebook than I normally would I’m guessing that someone shared my post on Facebook in either an author’s group or some sort of chronic pain support group. Whoever it was, thank you and I hope it caused you to think.

Okay, then what were the worst posts in February?

1. Rotten Romans by Terry Deary

2. Bullying Under Attack by Various Authors

3. Have you Finished The Mad Reviewer Reading Challenge? Tell me Here!

4. Discussion: The Most Underrated Book (For You)

5. Feyguard: Spark by Anthea Sharp

As far as I remember, these are all new ones here on the worst list. As with most months, they’re either posts that are extremely dated (#3 being from 2013) or they’re books that are old or really aren’t that popular. For the first two the latter doesn’t bother me but I was surprised to see Anthea Sharp’s Feyguard: Spark on that list as well because it was an extremely good book. But oh well. I can pretty much guarantee that these 5 posts won’t be on next month’s worst list because the ‘worst’ posts always seem to rotate.

Well folks, that was my February. How was yours? Did it go by as quickly as mine? How’s the weather where you are? Are you as sick of winter as I am of hearing about that stupid #TheDress incident?

December 31, 2014

The Best and Worst of December 2014

As is my tradition, I’m posting my monthly stats analysis early so that tomorrow I can do my full-year analysis. This December was down from last December, with only 5,025 views total, including 3,066 unique visitors. Seeing as my posting was erratic yet again, this isn’t really much of a surprise. I’m happy that I actually did this well. December is always a hectic month and in two out of three years it has been worse than the previous months because everyone wants to spend time off the internet and with their families and/or friends.

So what were the best posts this month?

4. Best Seller by Martha Reynolds

5. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

As usual, nothing new this month. Two reviews, three of my most popular articles all make up my top 5 this month and pretty much every month. I’m hoping to write more articles in the new year so hopefully I’ll break the streak of the same posts always making the top 5. We’ll see. My Forgotten Figures articles don’t seem to be doing as well as I’d hoped. But maybe they’ll catch on.

What were the worst posts this month, then?

1. The Commander’s Desire by Jeanette Green

2. Genghis: Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden

3. The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

4. What do you think makes a good book?

5. The Sorceress by Michael Scott

I think this is the first time a couple of posts have appeared twice on the worst list: The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld and The Sorceress by Michael Scott. They’re not really popular books that people are searching out because they’re a couple of years old. Still, this is the first time in a long time we’ve had a repeat offender despite the relative popularity of both authors.

Well, that was my December, folks. Stay tuned in tomorrow for how my entire year went. But in the meantime, how was your December? If you blog, do you notice a traffic dip in December as well or is it just me? What was your best month in 2014?

December 1, 2014

The Best and Worst of November 2014

November went by in a blur for me, to be honest. Between not having internet for half of it and not having water for the past day and a half currently, I’m really quite sick of rural life. Still, it makes me appreciate all the more the fact I’m moving to a real-life city in the summer. So overall, not a bad month but not a great month.

In November, despite spotty posting, I managed to get 6,022 views including a total of 3,875 unique views. That’s fewer views than October, but I can’t really complain because of the aforementioned spotty posting. Hopefully the internet I pay through the nose for will be slightly more consistent in the future.

So what were my best posts this month?

4. Best Seller by Martha Reynolds

5. The Mad Reviewer is Open to Review Requests (Temporarily)

That’s actually a pretty respectable list, with two new posts finally making it. My review of Best Seller by Martha Reynolds is still going very strong and I’m glad that the author is still promoting it. It makes me far more likely to review books by authors in the future when they promote the heck out of my reviews, even mediocre ones. As for the last item on my list, I’m quite happy with the response I’ve had to my call for submissions. I’ve got 14 locked in right now and I’ve reviewed four of them; so far, so good.

And what were the worst posts this month?

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

2. Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer

3. Guest Posting Today

4. My Rating System

5. “Game of Thrones man hatred” and More Weird Search Terms

The only surprise there is that one of my weird search term posts finally made the list of the worst in terms of views. That’s shocking, actually. As for the rest, I can’t really complain. They’re either old articles or announcements or books that aren’t necessarily the most popular at the moment. Next month that list will totally change, just like every other list of the worst articles/reviews.

Well, that was how my November went. How was yours? Did you watch that heartbreaking mid-season finale of The Walking Dead last night?

November 1, 2014

The Best and Worst of October 2014

I had another exhausting Halloween of scaring kids and then organizing a local dance, but overall I’d say October was pretty good. The good weather is holding here in my corner of Saskatchewan and although work is getting slower, the construction industry never stops around here. Add to the fact that The Walking Dead is back on and you’ve got the recipe for a pretty decent month in my life.

It was so good that I re-opened my review requests and have been getting some awesome submissions. It also didn’t hurt my stats as I received 7,317 views including 4,778 unique views. That’s pretty good considering September was awful, with 4,861 total views.

So what were the most popular posts this month?