Tomorrow marks eight years of blogging for me, but I’m just going to celebrate today since I’ll be busy with weekend activities then. (Yes, I do know which day it is 🤣.) I wasn’t quite as active with the blog during the second half of 2019 due to a lot of life happenings, but since we’ve all been at home, I’ve started posting more again.

When I first started this blog, I was writing middle grade, and it was my main focus. I’ve since switched to young adult, so I don’t read as much middle grade anymore. However, my kids are now MG readers, and with us all home together, I’ve been including them in the review process. It’s great to still have a middle grade presence here on the blog through my actual middle grade readers! I post most of my YA reviews on Instagram these days and then compile them here as summaries. The content on this blog has evolved with my writing and commitments, but I think that’s the nature of things.

My book release is getting much closer! So in the coming year, you can expect a lot more information about my winter 2021 release, YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED.

I enjoy commemorating this blogiversary every year and pulling together statistics. It’s fun looking back and seeing how visitors have interacted with the blog. Even if you don’t find it as interesting as I do, stick around to the end for this year’s giveaway!

On to my annual statistics.

Top 10 Posts Published in the Past Year

10. After the Book Deal: All the Doubts – I haven’t put very many writing updates on the blog in the past year, but I did include an honest post in October about the doubts I experienced when the book deal started to feel real.

9. MG Review: WINTERBORNE HOME FOR VENGEANCE AND VALOR by Ally Carter – While I just said that I don’t read a ton of middle grade anymore, there are some exceptions, and Ally Carter writing a middle grade is definitely an exception! St. Louis was the first stop on her tour for this book, so we got to see her before stay-at-home orders starting going into effect. Both my son and I loved the book.

8. YA Review: SCARS LIKE WINGS by Erin Stewart – My editor sent me an ARC of this book from BEA last year (let’s all be sad just a moment that it won’t be happening this year). I was a little hesitant to read SCARS LIKE WINGS because I tend to shy away from books I’m afraid could make me cry, but it was such a fantastic read.

7. MMGM Sixth Grader Review: MY LIFE AS A POTATO by Arianne Costner – Once stay-at-home orders began, I decided my sixth grader should take over middle grade reviews on my blog, and the next three entries on this list are proof people are reading his reviews!

6. MMGM Sixth Grader Review: THE CHANGELINGS by Christina Soontornvat

5. MMGM Sixth Grader Review: A WISH IN THE DARK by Christina Soontornvat

4. YA Interview & Giveaway: ACROSS A BROKEN SHORE by Amy Trueblood – Set in 1930s San Francisco, this sophomore book by one of my critique partners is a fantastic read about a young woman who longs to be a doctor but whose family expects her to become a nun.

3. Happy 7th Blogiversary to Me! With a mystery signed book giveaway! – Maybe people do like my statistics? Or probably just the giveaway 😉.

2. MMGM Interview & Giveaway: THE MULTIPLYING MYSTERIES OF MOUNT TEN by Krista Van Dolzer – Krista Van Dolzer is actually part of the reason I started this blog. She was one of the mentors for The Writers Voice contest in 2012, which required entrants to post their sample on a blog. So thanks, Krista! We have since become friends and critique partners, and I adore this book about math camp.

1. MMGM Interview & Giveaway: MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM by Rajani LaRocca – This is another middle grade book I just had to read last year, combining Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with baking. It was one of my favorite reads in 2019, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should!

Top 10 Posts/Pages of All Time

When I first started this blog, I wrote a middle grade review every week, so it’s fitting that several of those posts have stood the test of time.

10. MMGM: THE UNWANTEDS: ISLAND OF SILENCE – The second book in a popular middle grade series.

9. MMGM: ONCE UPON THE END by James Riley – Here’s another MG author for whom I will always make an exception. His books are hilarious and awesome.

8. Subjectivity and Why You Should Get Multiple Opinions – I wrote this post in 2013, and it is continually in my top ten. It’s a great reminder that we all need feedback to make our work the best it can be!

7. Series Recommendation: DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth – A popular series. I’m still baffled by those movies 🤔.

6. MMGM: SAMMY KEYES AND THE HOTEL THIEF – This book is the first in an eighteen-book middle grade mystery series. I’ve read several of them but haven’t quite gotten through them all. They’re really great!

5. About – Seeing that people are visiting this page makes me really glad I just updated it 😀. (Note, I removed this link as it was from my blog, and it’s now been replaced with a new About page on my website.0

4. Before the Draft: Outlining in Scrivener – This post is listed on a Scrivener site somewhere and so continues to receive many visits. I do love my Scrivener!

3. A Glimpse at My Agent Spreadsheet: Middle Grade Books I’ve Read – The post that started my page listing middle grade and young adult books agents represent (see No. 2).

2. MG/YA Agents & Their Books – When I was researching agents, I found it helpful to know what books they represented. I still maintain this page for writers who may benefit from that same information. 

1. Remembering a Friend Lost Too Soon: Ashley Gammon – Four years ago this past January, my friend and former colleague Ashley passed away unexpectedly. I wrote this post as my own tribute to her, and I’m glad people continue to read about her here and honor her memory.

In previous years, I’ve included stats on searches as well, but WordPress doesn’t give as much information anymore, so it’s not very fun. Oh well.

Let’s move on to the giveaway! I’ve been supporting my local independent bookstore with regular orders over the past couple months, but I’d love to support others. So I will be giving away a $50 gift card to the independent bookstore of the winner’s choice. To enter, leave a comment below or click on the Rafflecopter link for additional entries. The giveaway will end at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, May 8.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: This giveaway has ended.