The Cozy Book Corner No. 9: The Differences Between My Two Blogs

Welcome to my Monday 

bookish feature!

In each weekly post, I explore 

my thoughts on several 

book-related topics.

 

Back in 2010, I first began to think about the possibility of starting a book blog. Actually, it was a co-worker, in a job I had at the time, who suggested it to me, and, the more I thought about it, the more interested I became. So, in September of that year, my first blog, A Night's Dream of Books, was born.

At first, my new blog was an eclectic one. I love several genres of fiction, including popular ones, and I also love nonfiction. However, I began reviewing fiction exclusively at first, later on expanding to include some nonfiction. 

I noticed right away that, since I was reviewing Young Adult Fiction on that blog, my readers didn't seem to be interested in any other genres. I got more comments on my YA reviews than I did on those that weren't in this category. Also, whenever I reviewed nonfiction, I got very few to no comments.

Therefore, I decided to start MindSpirit Book Journeys in 2012, in order to accommodate my other literary loves -- adult fantasy and science fiction, literary fiction, Christian fiction, and, of course, nonfiction. At the same time, I decided to restrict the reviews on my other blog to YA fiction, with perhaps an adult review every so often. 

In addition to book reviews, A Night's Dream of Books eventually included other kinds of posts, such as blog tours, giveaways, blog hop book memes, and author interviews. When I first started out, I also participated in blog awards and book tags. Eventually, however, I had to stop doing so, as these became much too time-consuming. Needless to say, MindSpirit Book Journeys is not the type of blog that would lend itself to these activities. I now have statements to this effect in the sidebars of both blogs, as well as in the comments form for posts.

It's been a rocky road since then, as life and work have frequently gotten in the way of my blogging. This blog, MindSpirit Book Journeys, went through a three-year hiatus, and I began to post on it again in 2015. I still don't post on it as often as I do on my other blog, though. This is a situation I would definitely love to improve!

There are obviously some differences between the two blogs. First of all, I consider my second blog to be a more 'serious' one. I have dedicated it to genres that require more intellectual analysis, as they deal with more profound topics. This is especially true of the nonfiction topics I'm particularly interested in. 

The purpose of each of my blogs is entirely different, and I do want them to remain totally distinct from each other. Therefore, I will continue to post on serious subject matter on this blog. This also means that I will not be doing giveaways or blog tours here, at any time now or in the future. Nor will I be posting author interviews. Obviously, I have nothing against these events, since they are part of my other blog. However, certain obligations come with such posts that I feel actually detract from a blog with a more profound type  of approach. Because of this fact, I also feel that these types of posts take away some of my freedom to publish what I consider to be important, and to my liking.

Unfortunately, I have actually felt forced to participate in the above activities on my other blog for the sake of giving it more exposure, and getting some recognition for it. Sometimes I feel that I've compromised my 'blogging values' to some extent. This is why I don't want to include the same types of posts on my second blog, which, to be quite honest, I would really prefer to make my priority.

Blog hops and reading challenges are not a problem for MindSpirit Book Journeys, though. In fact, I've already participated in one weekly blog hop, "First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros", which is hosted by Diane @ Bibliophile By The Sea. This was an enjoyable hop for a while, but eventually, I came to the conclusion that there was too much of a discrepancy between the books I like to read, and those the other blog participants like to read. So I decided to stop participating. I will join another blog hop, though, if I find one that includes books that are more compatible with my literary tastes. This might sound like a rather elitist, snobbish statement to make, but surely every blogger has the right to express their own opinions, and have their own particular literary tastes. For instance, what could either of my blogs possibly have in common with book blogs that review the genres of erotica and horror? I detest both, so I would not be at all interested in interacting with bloggers who love them.

Reading challenges are very interesting, and I feel they are perfect for both of my blogs. At A Night's Dream of Books, I'm currently participating in The 2016 Reading Challenge, hosted by Evie @ Bookish Lifestyle. At my second blog, I intend to participate in The Women's Classic Literature Event, which is hosted by The Classic Club. 

These challenges do not require any 'compromise' of my blogging values and standards. I am totally free to post about the books I enjoy reading, with no pressure to publish posts by any required deadline, as happens with blog tours, for instance. Of course, these challenges do cover the present year, but still, there's no pressure to publish posts at any given time. Participants are entirely free to choose the number of books they want to read, too.

It would be great if I could get more follows and comments on my second blog, but, since I don't include the 'crowd-pleasing' posts that I publish on my other blog, the likelihood of this happening is rather slim. Unfortunately, not every blog reader is interested in reading more serious posts such as the ones I publish here. 

There's another good reason for my lack of followers and comments on this blog. I have discovered other, similarly serious blogs that do have more comments and follows. These blogs employ a more conventional type of blog design, with white backgrounds and black type in their posts. In contrast, MindSpirit Book Journeys has a more 'ornate' type of design, so this might put off blog readers who are looking for more serious content. 

Again, I feel this blog allows me to be truly myself, to do things in complete freedom. I happen to be a very visual person, so I prefer to have bold images on both of my blogs, as well as more colorful blog designs. In the case of my second blog, if this puts off readers who might otherwise be interested in my posts, then that's a sad fact I will just have to live with. I simply do not feel that having a more conventional, staid type of design reflects my personality at all. My second blog might come off as too 'flamboyant' to some readers, but this is the type of design I like. I don't feel it detracts from my serious posts at all, either. 

In short, there are distinct differences between my two blogs, as each of them reflects a different side of my bookish personality. Both, however, do have one thing in common, and that is being 'uncommon'. I don't want my two blogs to look like other blogs, nor do I want them to look visually conventional. Not at all!

I will continue to keep both of my blogs distinct from one another. MindSpirit Book Journeys may never get the interaction I have on A Night's Dream of Books (although I don't get as many comments on that blog as other bloggers I know do on theirs), but that's just the way things are. I need to keep blogging away, hoping that my second blog will eventually reach a larger audience. But if it never does, I have to be content with that. After all, I'm blogging primarily for my own enjoyment. If others of like mind discover that they enjoy reading the posts at MindSpirit Book Journeys, they will be welcome, even if there aren't that many of them! 

I would like to acknowledge and thank those of you out there who are reading and commenting on this blog. I greatly appreciate you guys! 

What are your thoughts 

on this topic?

Please leave a comment

and let me know!

The Cozy Book Corner No. 5: Balancing Fiction and Nonfiction

Welcome to my Monday feature!

Note

I have moved this feature

from Friday to Monday.

In each weekly post, I explore 

my thoughts on several 

book-related topics.

Note

This post might sound a bit 

like the one from last week.

Please bear with me. I think my 

subconscious mind simply decided to

expand upon the topic presented in 

the previous post.   

Book blogging is such a delightful venture! All of us who blog about books do so because we love to write book reviews, post other kinds of book articles, and, of course, also love to meet other passionate bookworms. 

Most book bloggers, I've noticed, blog about fiction, and prefer specific fiction genres, as well. However, there's a number of book bloggers who also, or even exclusively, blog about nonfiction. The first example that comes to mind is that of Brian Joseph, whose blog, Babbling Books, contains fascinating posts about both fiction and nonfiction books. I'm not sure whether he consciously strives to keep a balance between these two broad categories, but I do see a nice mix of the two on his blog.

In the years since I began to blog about books (2010), I have often resisted specializing in one specific genre or category, preferring to have an eclectic blog, instead. However, I have also noticed that, whenever I have posted a review about a nonfiction book, I usually got very few or no comments. This was very discouraging, as I wanted -- and still want -- to be able to read and review all the genres I love, and these definitely include nonfiction books. 

One day, I decided to start a blog specifically for classics, literary fiction, adult fantasy, science fiction, and nonfiction. I also wanted to include Christian fiction. Thus, MindSpirit Journeys was born, in 2012. Meanwhile, I decided to dedicate my first blog, A Night's Dream of Books, exclusively to the Young Adult Fiction genre, with perhaps an occasional adult title (historical romance, for instance) every so often.

I soon began to feel the pressure of having two blogs, so I abandoned MindSpirit Book Journeys for quite some time. I didn't think I'd ever return to it, but eventually, I did, for the simple reason that I wanted to review books I knew my YA audience wouldn't be interested in. Most of these were nonfiction books.

Then the tug-of-war began.....it took me a long time to actually acknowledge it, but now I am doing so. Both fiction and nonfiction are interesting to me; both draw me in, and there are times I prefer to read one more than the other. So it's quite impossible for me to attempt to make sure I read an equal number of books in each category, much as I would love to! I simply "go with the flow", at least most of the time.

Even when I begin reading a novel that keeps me turning pages, there are times when I fall into certain moods, or some topic catches my interest. At such times, I frequently will abandon or "leave for later" whatever novel I happen to be reading, and reach for a nonfiction book.

A case in point: for several days now, I've had the novel Water For Elephants in my sidebar, posted as the next book I'll read. Well, sure enough, a nonfiction book has caught my attention, and this is the book I'm actually reading.... I'm not sure why I got into it, except that the topic involved -- the Kaballah -- has been an interest of mine for quite some time, even though I haven't read about it consistently, or extensively. The reason for this, ironically, is that I've been pulled away by either other nonfiction books, or some very compelling novels! Now I'm feeling a pull in the opposite direction, and so I have started (I'm currently in the middle) Kaballah: Key to Your Inner Power, by Elizabeth Clare Prophet.

I have already changed the picture in the sidebar to reflect my real current read. So now I'm feeling somewhat "guilty" for not reading the other book at this time, when I was "supposed to". I almost feel as if I have to make it up to this book, as if its feelings had been hurt.... Kinda funny, right?

I do want to read Water For Elephants. I will probably do so after I finish the Kaballah book. Well, that will happen unless another nonfiction book happens to catch my eye.... Could there possibly be such a thing as "fickleness" and "unfaithfulness" in reading?

I wonder if other book bloggers also experience this tension between reading fiction and nonfiction. I wonder if any of my fellow bookworms agonize over their decisions to read one or the other of these two categories...

Compounding the problem, in my particular case, is the fact that I do have two blogs, AND, on top of that, am a pretty slow reader, usually managing to finish 2 or 3 books a month. This means that, if I read a book that I know I will review on one of my two blogs, that's time I cannot spend reading a book that I will review on the other blog, because of the different target audiences.

What to do?! I'm seriously thinking of flipping a coin the next time I get ready to start reading something!  I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I should be asle to decide, in a logical, non-emotional manner, which book -- as well as genre -- I should read next. Well, perhaps Mr. Spock would calmly be able to do so, but I have emotions, and it's frequently my emotions that influence my choice of fiction vs. nonfiction. On the other hand, intellectual interests do influence my decision to read nonfiction (although these interests are tinged with emotion, as well, albeit one of intellectual fascination). There are many topics that utterly fascinate me. Most of them have to do with psychology, art, literary criticism, theology, and even some philosophy and science. History is another topic I want to read more about, as well.

The thing is, when I am caught by the pull of a particular interest, I am unable to ignore it, and stick with the book I had previously chosen to read. Whether the pull is an emotional or intellectual one (or a mixture of the two), actually doesn't matter at all. I feel compelled to abandon my previous reading plan, and go with the one that has unexpectedly presented itself....

Meanwhile, my mind and emotions are usually torn; I want to go on with my original intent. But there are other times in which I feel no regrets whatsoever, and happily go on with my revised reading plan.

So the struggle continues.... As I look over my bookshelves, here in our living room, my eyes lovingly caress all those fascinating book spines, and I sigh with a mixture of love nd despair.....I love all of these books, and want to read them all, but don't know if I'll EVER be able to, especially when there are times I can't decide between reading fiction or nonfiction, and, even when I make a choice, I still look longingly at the book I have "left behind" for later, wondering if perhaps I never will get back to it....               

What are your thoughts 
on this subject?
How do you balance fiction and nonfiction in 
your reading life?