Hello, 2017!

2016 in General.

2016 was full of ups and downs and I am definitely happy to say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017. I have no aspirations, no resolutions, no pressure on myself except to live my life how I want to, take care of my family and ignore everyone else. Topping off 2016 was the political atmosphere on facebook among my 'friends' - which was ugly and disappointing to witness. I realized so many things about the world we live in and how warped it is. I unfriended many, unfollowed others, and decided I like my life on what we affectionately call The Burton Compound and I will focus on our introverted life and that is it. To hell with everything else.

Favorite books of 2016

According to Goodreads, I read thirty books during 2016. Here is a screenshot of my top rated titles.
I really enjoyed reading several of Billy Coffey's titles this year. I would like to read more from Kate Morton, and more from favorites Susanna Kearsley, Philippa Carr and Elizabeth Chadwick. I did read two very very very long Games of Thrones books, and don't think I'll have the urge to continue the series (except for the television series of course).

Things that happened on the blog.

I deleted many of my older reviews due to author's political rants or general unfriendliness in social media that I came across. I have no desire to pretend I support any author in any way shape or form, and I definitely do not want my site to ever be associated through a google search to an author I find to be rude and unworthy of my measly reviews of years gone by.

 Things that did not happen on the blog.

While I still read thirty books in 2016, most reviews never made it from my brain to this site. I think I enjoyed blogging once because there were not fifteen million blogs out there and we had a niche of bloggers we were interested in. When the book touring things got out of hand and every blog started promoting the same book it all just became pointless. Rage against the machine!✖✖

When I created this site in 2008/2009, I had more spare time before my children got older and life has simply evolved to where I shifted priorities. I do still catalog and rate on goodreads any reading progress made. As I have no desire to be a writer or author (especially since anyone can do it these days), I no longer feel the pressure or the desire to write reviews, and I no longer feel like I need the comments to keep my site active so I also turned off commenting on my blog.

2017 Predictions

I may or may not create a review in 2017, and I could care less if I did. It's not like anyone cares anymore. ☺☺☺So we will just play it by ear and see what spare time I have. These days I still work full time, I volunteer my time at church and I am member of two separate local councils. Time outside of those things will consist of hanging out with the family, cleaning cat boxes and praying that everyone remains happy and healthy.

I have no idea what will happen in 2017, but I hope it is a great year for everyone. I hope that we all get to enjoy life and step away from the electronic devices (unless you're reading an eBook!)