Another Year Over

And a new one almost begun…

Hello friends, and welcome to the almost end of 2023. Every year, I go through a rehash of my year and the plans I have for the coming year.  Some work, some…not so much. Let’s get into it! 

First, I surpassed my reading goal again this year at 117%. My reading goal was 75 books this year and I’ve hit 88.  I’m proud of myself for being able to read that much and plan on raising the goal higher again for 2024. One of the things that helped me with that was being able the listen to audiobooks on the way to and from work. I’ve had audiobooks that I’ve listened too before occasionally or when I needed to get through a book I knew absolutely I would not be able to read, but this year, I’ve really made use of my Audible credits. Part of this small success is due to being introduced to the Rivers of London series by a friend back in April.  And the dulcet tones of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith reading the books. I’ve also listened to so many more memoirs and biographies than I have ever done in the past years because of audio books. I’m counting this as a win and can’t wait to see what next year’s titles bring.  

At the end of last month I joined BookSirens. BookSirens is a website that connects authors with readers who will read, rate, and review their books. This was a decision I thought about for a while before I accepted the invitation I received. One of the things I said I didn’t want to do was be one of those reviewers who insisted on ARC’s alone to add into my reviews. Until now, any ARC’s or free copies that I’ve gotten have been bought before I posted a review.  And that will still hold true.  What I’ve enjoyed about BookSirens is I get to choose what books I want to read and review. They send out a list every week and if there’s something that catches my interest, I’ll pick it. They aren’t assigned to me. I have 30 days to read it and to post a review to the author’s chosen review sites. So far I’ve done two books and they’ve both been interesting. But keeping with my promise, I will not be posting any reviews on Mouse’s Reading Nook unless I have bought the book. That promise will remain. My reviews will be posted onto Goodreads so if you want to see what I thought, you are welcome to go to my site and read what I thought. I’’ve posted a link to my Goodreads account on my profile page. Quarterly, I’ll post a listing of ARC’s I’ve read along with book covers in case something might catch your attention. I’m excited for this change and can’t wait to see what happens in the coming year.

Another amazing thing that’s happened is I’ve graduated again!  I am now the proud graduate holding bachelors in both English Literature and Public Relations. Which, if I have these two degrees, I might as well use them right? I know one of my goals last year was to use2023 to focus on my social media more. Which I failed miserably at. I can promote anyone else except myself. Which I need to work on. So, we’re going to try this again in 2024. Posting on social media more. I have an Instagram, X (aka Twitter) and now a Bluesky account. I have a TikTok as well, but that is mostly me sharing things and not posting content.  I’ll be trying to figure out how to up my posting on these three sites at least.
One other thing I want to try out is stretching my writing and researching skills.  There’s been a few things I’ve wanted to write on over this last year, but work and school and life in general have halted that. Many of the things have happened at the last minute so all you’ve gotten, friends, is my hot takes on it during the bi-weekly Mouse’s Musings.   

I’ve falling down the rabbit hole of You Tube essayists and realized how much I miss researching and writing essays. So I want to try adding that into Mouse’s Reading Nook. I thought we’d start out with twice a year, just to see how it works out. If it’s good then I might upgrade it to four times a year in 2025 going forward. As with my Musings, any essays posted on this blog will be focused on books and their corresponding media. This, of course, will include comic books and graphic novels as well.
And speaking of comics and graphic novels, 2024 will be bringing me not only the graphic novel of Good Omens but MMPR: The Return which is a 6-part (I think) comic series I funded on Kickstarter. I need to start adding comics back into my rotation and these two are a great way to pick that back up.
As always, I will be alternating my book reviews with my Mouse’s Musings, so if you have a book you liked and want to see what I thought or a topic you’d like to see me discuss, my comment section is always open and you can always get ahold of my via my email as well. There are so many things I want to try with this blog and I will try to keep you up to date on them.  
Oh, question for you all friends, especially those who write and enjoy tracking. I’m trying to find a great online tool to keep track of my posts and ideas and scheduling. Any suggestions would be welcome. 

With that said, we’ve made it through another year my friends!  May you find your final days of 2023 peaceful and quiet and my 2024 bring exciting and surprising new adventure for you. 
I’ll see you next year on January 5^th with the first book review of the year.
Until then, enjoy your weekend, celebrate with friends and loved ones and if you miss reading this time around, don’t fret, next year there will always be time to get comfy and curl up with a good book.