Sunday, September 25, 2016

From the Archives: A Blogging Retrospective - September 2006

[Post idea stolen borrowed inspired by Kay of Kay's Reading Life's Bookish Nostalgia and Stacy of Stacy's Books' A Look Back features. Thank you, Ladies!]

September has long been my favorite month. With it comes my favorite season, the beginning signs of cooler weather, and my birthday. Ten years ago, if you would have told me  I would be shuttling my daughter to Girl Scouts, soccer and swim lessons, and helping with homework and making bead bracelets with five and six year old girls--heck, just being a mom--all the while juggling it with work, I would not have believed you. My life was much different back then. My ideas of what I wanted out of my life, not quite the same.
In September of 2006, I wrote a post about why I read.That is something that has not changed much, but rather expanded. Thanks to blogging and the books I have read. Thanks to life experiences. And most especially thanks to all of you. Reading is more than just a hobby for me. It truly is a passion. Experiencing, learning, growing, feeling, being inspired and entertained, experiencing beauty, and knowing truth, to feel hope again even in spite of the darkness, and yes, to escape . . . All of these are a part in my love for the written word. 

Looking back ten years ago in my reading, I was on a Keith Ablow binge. The series came recommended by a friend, and I had enjoyed the first book, Denial, which I had read in my pre-blogging days (2004). Forensic Psychiatrist Frank Clevenger is a bit of a mess, but he is very good at his job. I read and reviewed four of his books that September, including Projection, Compulsion, Pyschopath, and Murder Suicide, with mixed results. The series started out strong for me, and I especially liked Psychopath, which was written in third person, a switch for the author who had written the previous books in first person. It was both an extremely thrilling and disturbing book. The book that followed would be my last of Ablow's. It left me sorely disappointed.

Another book that left me feeling disappointed was Scenes From a Blanket by Ted Torres, which offers a glimpse into the nightlife of New Orleans, the magic, glamour, and temptation of drugs and sex. I had hoped for more. It certainly was original, just not to my tastes.

Unconfessed by Yvette Christiansë did not disappoint, however. It is a sad and thoughtful novel, that will not appeal to those who try to avoid books that bring out the heavier emotions. It is the story of a young black mother sent to a brutal island prison in South Africa during the time of apartheid. I still think on that book now and then, remembering Sila, and all she and her fellow prisoners had to endure. While fiction, their story was all too real for many.

Earlier in the month, I had read and enjoyed the fourth in the Monkeewrench mystery series by mother/daughter writing team P.J. Tracy, Snow Blind. After a slow start, it took off for me--and as always, I enjoyed spending time with Detectives Leo and Gino.

My favorite book of the month, however, was The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters. featuring a journalist trying to hide and heal in England after her captivity and investigation into the murder and rapes of several women in Sierra Leone. Walters captured the fear and anguish of her main character quite well. 

I found books I both loved and then those I didn't that September in 2006. In other news that month, my husband and I saw the movie Hollywoodland and I was adjusting to a new work schedule, switching from working a late shift to working the day shift. It was a relatively uneventful month otherwise.
  • Has your reason for reading changed over the years?
  • Have you read any of these books? What did you think?

© 2016, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

24 comments:

  1. That's cool that you have posts going back that long and can see how much has changed. I haven't read any of the books you mentioned though.

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  2. Oh woah. My blogging style has changed a lot (I think), and I'm actually a little afraid of looking back through the archives :p

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    1. Eustacia - I'm finding books I don't remember reading. LOL It's been fun looking back.

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  3. :) I'm a little afraid of looking back, too! The only book you mention is Snow Blind--I'm caught up with the Monkee Wrench gang series. I've always been an eclectic reader, so maybe my choices have not changed that much over the years. I have cycles of reading certain genres, though.

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    1. Jenclair - I do think I read more variety now, but I still love the same genres. Although I do read fewer memoirs.

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  4. I've added the Minnette Walters book to my list. That sounds really intriguing and I love her books. Happy Reading!

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    1. Heather - I really need to read more by her. I enjoyed The Devil's Feather quite a bit.

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  5. Awesome post - I need to look through my archives as well. It is interesting to see how reading tastes and blogging styles change through time. It sounds like we have similar lives now - my daughter is soon to be six!

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    1. Laura - Thank you! It is interesting. I know my review style is very similar to what it was, and yet different too. I'm a lot less wordy now, but I also don't think I analyze a book like I once did when reviewing it.

      Five is such a great age, isn't it? Certainly not without its challenges though. :-)

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  6. I was like that with Patricia Cornwall. I loved her earlier books but then they just became disappointing. I'm not sure I've read Minnette Walters. She's been on my list for so long that I feel like I have but I can't think of a single title so I'm thinking I haven't.

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    1. Katherine - Same here regarding Patricia Cornwell. I haven't picked up one of her books in a long while.

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  7. Never even heard of these authors but will try to get a copy of Unconfessed. Lovely post. I have also gone on a binge on certain authors and then felt jaded and given up on them.

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    1. Neer - I hope you like Unconfessed if you read it! It was a very moving story.

      I don't know sometimes if it's us for reading too many of the same books all at once or if it's really that the series just goes downhill that is too blame.

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  8. Isn't it amazing how our reading experiences have evolved over time? I had such different priorities and plans before and now that I am a mom, they are different. Love this post.

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    1. Athira - It really is interesting when you think about it. Although, not really surprising, I suppose. Time and experience is bound to change us over time. It doesn't always seems obvious though as it happens.

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  9. Ooh Minette Walters. I haven't read her in years but some of her books are great! My reading tests have changed over the years. Before blogging I used to read a lot more cozy mysteries and romances, and I probably wouldn't have thought of reading graphic novels or YA. Now while I still mainly stick to fiction and mysteries, I try to read more of a variety of genres. Have found so many great authors and books!

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    1. Iliana - I really liked the one I read and keep meaning to read more by her--famous last words, right? I am glad to hear you enjoyed some of her other work.

      Oh yes! So many great authors out there I never would have found without you and my other fellow book bloggers!

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  10. So true, reading is a passion! Isn't it interesting to look back on reading over the years? I might have to borrow this idea for a post too if you don't mind :)
    The cover on The Devil's Feather is nice and the book sounds good.


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    1. Naida - It is interesting to see what I was blogging about ten years ago. I didn't have any followers then--no comments the entire month, but that didn't stop me. :-)

      Feel free to borrow this idea--I borrowed it from others as well. :-)

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  11. It's great that you have posts going back so far! I attempted a blog during the 2006 timeframe, but due to the infantile state of social media and dial up internet being a pain, I soon gave up on it. I haven't read any of the books you mentioned, but I know I've come into my "taste" in books now more than I had before- I used to make do with YA (which was nice, but reinforced the idea I wasn't quite normal, which isn't what teens like to feel like- or at least I didn't like to feel weird). I read for the same reasons now (to learn, to grow, and to entertain myself) but I read books that are better suited to my proclivities.
    ~Litha Nelle

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    1. Litha Nelle - I remember dial up. We had it at my parents' house back in the nineties. It really was a pain. It's fun to look back on my reading back then and what I was blogging about.

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  12. I'm so glad that you are doing this. I missed last month but will get back on track this month. Being a mom sure does change your perspective, right?! Again, wish we lived closer so our kids could play. Who know, maybe we'll travel to Disney at some point. Gage is afraid of plane but has assured us that when he's 6 he'll fly, lol. That's next week!

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  13. Stacy - It's been fun looking back on my first year of blogging. I know Mouse would love it if she and Gage could play. :-) I can't believe Gage will be six next week! Mouse says that she'll stop sucking her thumb when she's six. She said that she'd do that when she turned five too . . . They're so cute. Haha

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