It has been quite a while since I did an update, the last one was before the summer really kicked off in June! So this is a well overdue post… The post was about the books I was planning to read while I was having a blog tour break. I didn’t read that many from the lists I had because I kept buying new books and reading them instead… no stock rotation going on there haha.

I managed to read some of the books in the picture above, and then quite a few on my kindle. In total over July, August and first half of September I managed a total of 46 books. A few of these were some overdue from NetGalley, other were for pre-agreed to Blog Tours.

So by the end of the summer holidays, I was shattered, working in a tourist-based industry during the crazy months is hard and also good fun. I had worked there for 12 years and it was with a heavy heart that I made the decision to leave. I was amazed at the leaving presents I was given by the owners and my colleagues. A fabulous leaving do followed with laughs, memories and some alcohol left me feeling less than bright eyed the following morning… definitely worth it 🙂

The end of September was when I began my new job, with a complete change of direction, lots of coursework to get me up to speed and a lot to learn. In the New Year, I will begin a course with them that will mean working toward a diploma. And if one course wasn’t enough…

The beginning of this month (October) saw me start the 2nd year of my History Degree with the Open University. I am so glad I am doing this on a part-time basis as I don’t think I would have coped otherwise.

So as I move forward I have quite a lot going on in my brain, a new job with loads to remember and courses as well, continuing my History degree, blogging, reading and having time for myself, I am finding I feel a little frazzled and occasionally discombobulated (I love this word). My husband keeps telling me “to quieten my brain down”, he actually says some sensible things some of the time :). I find that some days I just do not have the time to share or comment on Social Media. I know this is something a lot of Book Bloggers deal with all the time and it is all about finding a balance, something I am still trying to do 🙂  It is nice some days to take the odd break from Social Media, and occasionally, if I don’t have a post to share I have what I call “A Quiet Day”… something I will be doing this weekend and try to get into the garden to have a tidy up, depending on the notorious British weather of course.

Blog Tours are something that I enjoy doing and being part of and I found myself doing more and more of them. The break I had over the summer months was something I also enjoyed, going through my own books, reading a few from my TBR to stop it from toppling over and burying me…

If you are still here and reading at this point… I’m impressed and also wondering why you haven’t got better things to do 🙂

Anyway, I have gradually started to reduce the Blog Tour commitments I am making. This brings up another thing that I know other Book Bloggers go through and that is over-committing. In life, I never know what is around the corner so I am being a little cautious over the next few months as I know I am going to be a little busy.

It is still, just, October, Christmas and New Year are just around the corner, the clocks are due to change on Sunday. Makes you wonder where does the time go…

Some valuable things have I have realised over the past few months…

1. I can’t do everything and still have time to read so prioritise
2. It is okay to have “Quiet Days” and its sometimes necessary
3. I am only 10 books away from my Goodreads Target for the year of 200…
4. I am never, ever, ever in a million years (this may be a slight exaggeration) going to read all the books I have bought but I will keep buying more 🙂
5. I like using “…” in my posts… 🙂

Right then, I am going to leave it at that and say thank you for taking the time to read my post. I wish you a wonderful day xxx

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