Happy New Year everyone! I’m going into 2019 with a positive attitude after a really fantastic year. 2018 went quickly, but it was kind to me and I made a lot of wonderful memories. We celebrated lots of family events such as my Grandma’s 80th birthday and my Dad and his wife’s wedding. We also went on three fantastic UK holidays (Centerparcs, Hunstanton and Great Yarmouth).
My daughter has just turned three and she has grown up so much this year. It’s a delight to see her growing and changing but the time is going way to fast!
Last year in my online life, I re-branded my blog, moved over to WordPress (wish I’d done it sooner!) and started engaging with memes and blogfests again, which has been so much fun. Towards the end of the year, I didn’t post as much as I would have liked to, but in general I’m proud of what I’ve achieved.
It’s been a great year for my writing too. I’ve worked hard on my novel and my confidence has greatly improved. My short story ‘Sea of Sorrows’ was also selected to be published in the IWSG anthology Masquerade: Oddly Suited (coming late April 2019).
Reading Stats
Books read: 16. I know this is really low compared to some, but with everything else going on in my life it’s hard to get much reading done. I only read 11 books in 2017 so at least it’s an improvement!
Book reviews: 6 (The Maze Runner series, Strange the Dreamer, Rooms, The INFJ Writer, Ink, Sever, Ready Player One.)
Reading challenges completed: 1. 2018 Finishing the Series Challenge.
See my Goodreads Year in Books for more stats.
Blogging Stats
Blog posts: 147. This is a massive increase on 2017 in which I only posted 15 times!
Events participated in: 4. A-Z Challenge, Winter 2018 Mini Bloggiesta, Spring 2018 Bloggiesta, Summer 2018 Comment Challenge,
Memes participated in: 11. WiP Wednesday, Teaser Tuesday, Cat Thursday, Friday Finds, On my Wishlist, Book Blogger Hop, Stacking the Shelves, What’s On Your Nightstand?, Top Ten Tuesday, The Sunday Post, We are the World Blogfest.
Book promotion posts (blog tours, cover reveals, author interviews etc.): 2. October Song by Ru Pringle, Once by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.
Most active month of blogging: April (32 posts).
Blog followers: 197 via Bloglovin’ (up 39), 24 via WordPress (up 24) , 330 via Facebook (up 31), 465 via Twitter (up 240), 237 via Google+ (up 11), 7 via Feedly (up by 7), 203 via Pinterest.
Discussion posts: 13
Top 5 most popular posts: An A-Z of Alice in Wonderland, A-Z Challenge Theme Reveal, A is for Alice, TTT: My Favourite Book Blogs, A Blogger’s Journal from Paperchase.
Comments: 2571 all time, 1069 in 2018.
Creative Hobbies
Progress made on novel: 26,220 words written (approx 44% complete).
Poems written: 1, The Sun’s Return
Short stories written: 2, ‘No People No War‘ and ‘Sea of Sorrows’.
Writing competitions entered: 1
Writing competitions won: 1
Art and craft projects: I’ve been experimenting with doodling and calligraphy for my bullet journal.
Cooking and baking successes: Balti and tikka masala curries, pumpkin pie, banana and choc chip cake, mini muffins, dairy-free birthday cake.
Favourites of 2018
Songs: ‘These Days’ by Rudimental, ‘A Million Dreams’ by P!nk, ‘Rewrite the Stars’ by James Arthur & Anne-Marie, ‘Paradise’ by George Ezra, ‘Hold my Girl’ by George Ezra, ‘Something Just Like This’ by Coldplay.
TV shows: The Apprentice, The Great British Bakeoff, Call the Midwife.
Films: The Avengers: Infinity War, The Crimes of Grindelwald, Deadpool 2.
How was your year? What are your favourite memories? Did you achieve all your goals for 2018?
That cake is so pretty! Congrats on finishing 16 books. That’s more than most non-book-blogger people read. Have a great 2019!
Thanks, AJ!
It sounds like you had a brilliant year and I am so happy that it went so well. I am hoping that 2019 will be able to be just as amazing a year for you. I think if you read 5 books a year that already makes you a winner so congratulations on reading 16 books 😀 And you made a lot of writing progress which is so good ^.^
Thanks, Olivia! I wish you all the best for 2019 as well. I’m sure you’ll smash all your goals!