Hello everyone,
We are coming up to the end of another year, and as I look back on it, a lot of things happened in my life in 2021. It began with the UK being put back into lockdown, but after things started to open up again in the months that followed, it certainly became eventful.
It was an extremely busy year which meant that time became more precious to me than ever before, and along the way I gained a lot more life experience and learnt valuable things about myself that shall stand me in good stead for the future.
Although the COVID situation has taken a more negative turn recently, once the lockdown was over this became a much better year than 2020 in many different respects, so let’s take a look at how I fared over the past 12 months.
Life
This has definitely been a year of huge transition for me. The most significant change was moving out of my family’s house in May to live in my own flat, which at the time was very exciting and a little daunting.
Seven months seem to have passed by very quickly, but I am pleased to say I am settled in and there have been no major disasters! It has been really nice to have my own space and I have had to get used to all the things that come with living independently, and I have taken all of it in my stride. The difference now is that I have to manage my time much more efficiently!
Elsewhere, I managed to secure a new job which I started back in March (more on that later), and had a couple of UK holidays and several lovely days out, especially in the summer. The highlights were visiting some beautiful National Trust properties, and seeing my Grandma for the first time since before the pandemic. Whether it was these trips or simply having the chance to attend sporting events again, it was nice to return to at least some degree of normality.
There were some low points as well and as far as my mental health was concerned it was sometimes a bit of a rollercoaster, but in general it was a fairly good year. In 2022 I am hoping to do even more, and some of my aims include passing my driving test, and achieving a better balance between life and work.
Reading
As my life became noticeably busier this year, I found there was a lot less time to read. It turned into something that I have often needed to fit into my day whenever I have had a spare few minutes, so it may not always has been as relaxing as I would like, but I have still loved it!
In respect of everything, I am delighted to have reached my Goodreads target of 54, and I would not have done it without audiobooks. I finally decided to try them out this year using the free BorrowBox app, and it has been a very positive experience. My attention span is such that I find it much easier to listen to non-fiction books, but overall it is so far, so good!
Aside from a little slump in June, my reading in 2021 has remained relatively consistent with between four and five books completed per month. Even though I would have liked to award more five-star ratings, there were still some absolutely fantastic reads. Meanwhile, a growing number of the books I read now are buddy reads, which are always such a lot of fun.
Writing
My main writing goal moving forward is to publish a poetry collection, and in the first half of the year I managed to write several poems that I am quite happy with, but sadly I just have not managed to prioritise it over the last few months. I wrote one last week and hopefully that is the start of something, so in 2022 I shall really try and make that my focus.
I was quite productive with some of my other writing projects this year. I am just in the process of publishing my second e-book on Kindle about the football (soccer) club I support, which is exciting even if hardly anyone will ever read it, and continued writing articles every two months for the Soccer 360 magazine.
A couple of years ago I wrote a sporting biography which is aimed at a more mainstream audience, and in 2021 I managed to successfully get a literary agent to represent me. Sadly, the three publishers we pitched it to all said no despite some positive feedback, so I shall have to explore the possibility of self-publishing. It sounds very difficult, but I hope to get somewhere with it eventually.
Blogging
This was my fourth year of being a book blogger, and I still absolutely love writing each and every post. I feel like 2021 has been quite productive on this front, with reviews for just about every book I have read, and the usual mix of discussions, tags, and lists.
To be able to keep thinking of ideas for blog posts is a challenge, but I am happy with the discussion posts I did this year. They included the question of how we all hear about upcoming releases, and when I shared a list of my favourite authors based on writing style categories.
I have found a blogging routine that works for me, which is two posts per week unless I am not taking part in a blog tour. A review on a Saturday and a different post on a Wednesday. I am just about able to keep scheduling my posts in advance, which is an absolute life-saver!
The only real disappointment this year is that I have not been able to do as much blog hopping as I used to, just because I have had less time. I think this is a problem many of us have and I know we all wish book blogs could get more of the appreciation they deserve, but it is a shame as I love reading other blogs, making friends, and getting all kinds of amazing book recommendations.
Let’s Chat
Did you have a productive 2021? Are there any achievements that you would like to share? Let me know in the comments!
Stephen Reads Books 