Today's Book Blogger Appreciation Week theme is to talk about what book blogging means to you.  As a newer blog, this is a tough subject to tackle, because I've barely had enough time to take in the whole blogging experience!  So instead, I'll touch on how reading and blogging fit into my already-crazy life..

I'll do a little Before and After to illustrate this for you.

So, Before.  As in, before I had my son in mid-2011.  I had many, many hobbies (I'm kind of a hobby whore), but reading was always the one that was given the most time.  I would read in the morning before showering for work. I would close my office door and read on every lunch break.  I would listen to audiobooks in the car.  I would read in waiting rooms and Starbucks lines.  I would curl up in bed on rainy Saturdays and just READ.

Actual photo I took as I was reading on vacation in 2010. Current me is all like, "MUST BE NICE"

'Twas a simpler time.

After.  I am not shy to admit that my son is now my favorite hobby.  Stacking blocks and singing Old McDonald are my new MO, and I do it like a boss.  However, over the last 14 months, I've had to figure out new ways to fit in my reading, because while I love flying my son over the dog like an airplane and making him laugh hysterically, I do so desperately want to read, as well.  And Lil Dude is only interested in reading Goodnight Moon so many times in a row.

That look means he has many burning questions about Moby Dick.

How do I do it?  Well, I still wake up a little early some days so I can read a few pages before my son wakes up.  On the days that I work, I still soak in reading time during my lunch.  At night, I'm much more likely than Before to read vs watch TV.  I used to just listen to audiobooks once every few months, but now I always have one--because my commutes are precious reading times as well.  And when most moms ask for "me time" at the salon or the mall, I usually take those times to go to the library, or go lay in bed with a book.

Is it harder to find time to read now?  Sure.  But I feel like I appreciate that time a lot more than I did before.  So in some ways, I'd say reading has become a more valued activity for me since my son arrived.

Now, you're probably thinking...why in the world did you start a blog if you already have NO time?  I don't have a good explanation, other than to say that the pull to start this blog was so strong, I couldn't help but just do it.  I've read book blogs for a long time, and always thought to myself, "I could do that...if I had the time...I would LOVE to do that."  Even before my son was born, I felt like book blogging was a natural fit for me.  I read a lot, I always write (albeit small) reviews on Goodreads, and I think the blogging community is a great thing.  But I never pulled the trigger because it was never the right time.

However, after recently closing out a personal blog of mine, I realized that it would NEVER be the "right" time.  Life is always going to be busy, so if I wanted to start this blog, I had to just do it and figure out how to fit it in as I went.  And that's what I did.

Now, three weeks in, I'm so glad that I did.  Yes, it has been very time consuming as I get started and work on layout, post ideas, etc.  I've had a few nights (especially while my son was teething, good Lord) where I should have gone to bed much, much earlier.  But it has been worth it.  I love having the opportunity to share more in-depth reviews than I did on Goodreads.  I think all the new bloggers I've made connections with are wonderful.  I am thankful for the opportunity to review ARCs in my blogging capacity.  And I'm getting excited for all of the new books I've heard about through the blog community.

Mostly though, I've realized that this blog is a natural fit for me.  I don't feel like it's an imposition on my time, or that it's a pain in the arse to sit down and write a post.  I look forward to it.  I get all giddy about it sometimes; I have to go lay on my fainting couch whenever I get a Twitter mention or a new post comment.

Me, reading on my fainting couch.  Oh my stars.

Bottom line: it's a good freakin' time.  And I am looking forward to sharing it with all of you as I keep calm and blog on.  :)

On my old personal blog, I used to do a monthly post recapping all of the books I read that month.  I figured I'll continue that here, because even though I'm reviewing every book on the blog as I go, it's also nice to see what kind of progress I made over the last month.  Here's what I read in August (three were pre-blogging, so I included Goodreads review links):

The Other Woman by Jane Green (here's my Goodreads review)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Goodreads review)
Still Alice by Lisa Genova (Goodreads review)
Gold by Chris Cleave (blog review)
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (blog review)
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline (blog review)

Definitely one of my more productive reading months this year!  I know that's not much compared to many other bloggers, but I think many moms of babies/toddlers will agree that reading habits inevitably get harder to maintain when you have a crazy (though adorable) banshee running through your house 24/7.  (Speaking of which, I saw this excellent post on Book Riot last week; mom book bloggers, check it out!)

I used to average about 75 books/year...now I'm closer to 50.  But I'll trade those 25 books for time with my little banshee, no questions asked.  Also, since this is still a new blog, I should warn you that I am also an obsessive mommy photographer, and any mention of my son requires me to immediately share a heart-melting photo of him (well, it melts mine, and so I naturally imagine it melts all others).  Ooooo, here it comes!

Le sigh.

Anywho.  I'll end here by saying that I'm quite enjoying this book blogging venture so far.  Thanks to all those that have welcomed me to the blogging community (book bloggers and book readers alike!).  If you haven't yet, follow me on Twitter @TheWRRedhead...I'm still working on being witty in 140 characters or less.  Twitter is not for the verbose.