SABBATICAL: Year in Review 2019

One of my favorite activities as the year winds down is to take stock of what I have read and whittle down my favorites list to 10 or 12. My Sabbatical posts the rest of this week will be links to my past favorites. Today, it’s my list from 2019.

Wow, 2019 was a great year of reading for me. So many of the books from this year’s list are ones I recommend over and over, or ones I re-read myself. The book in the number 1 slot, Polaris Rising, was one I read twice during the year and loved both times. And I’ve read it at least once a year since. The whole Consortium Rebellion series is great, but the first book is my favorite.

The top books in 2019 are a solid mix of YA and adult titles, including one of my most favorite Enneagram resources. Since there weren’t any kids books in my top 12, I added some honorable mentions. So there’s something on this list for everyone! Take a look:

Year in Review 2019

SABBATICAL: Year in Review 2018

One of my favorite activities as the year winds down is to take stock of what I have read and whittle down my favorites list to 10 or 12. My next few Sabbatical posts will be links to my past favorites. Today, it’s my list from 2018.

One of the first things I thought when I pulled up this post is how my #1 book, Kill the Queen, has stood up to multiple re-reads. I enjoyed the whole  Crown of Shards series, and the first book in the spin-off Gargoyle Queen series, Capture the Crown, released last week. I have a signed copy on its way to me. I can’t wait!

The other thing that I notice when I look back at this post are the middle grade novels on this particular year in review list. I remember how incredible those books were and how often I have recommended them to kids over the last few years. Be sure to check on the books in this post:

Year in Review 2018

SABBATICAL: Year in Review 2017

One of my favorite activities as the year winds down is to take stock of what I have read and whittle down my favorites list to 10 or 12. My next few Sabbatical posts will be links to my past favorites. Today, it’s my list from 2017.

In 2017, I added some of my year-end stats as well as my list of favorite books. The thing that stands out so clearly to me from this post is the top book – A List of Cages. I absolutely adore this book. I’d love to re-read it, but it wrecks me emotionally, so I have to be in just the right space and time to deal with the gut-wrenching sobs. The book is stellar. There are actually two books on this list that make me ugly cry. But there’s also two non-fiction books – they often don’t make it onto a best-of-the-best list, so that’s noteworthy of 2017. Check out the full post.

Year in Review 2017

SABBATICAL: Year in Review 2016

One of my favorite activities as the year winds down is to take stock of what I have read and whittle down my favorites list to 10 or 12. My next few Sabbatical posts will be links to my past favorites. Today, it’s my list from 2016.

Not all of these books have full reviews on The Neverending TBR since I started posting in September. But this is a GREAT collection of books. More than half are books that I still think of fondly as some of the best I have read. And several are on my re-reading rotation. Check out this list of five great middle grade stories, two for teens, and three for adults.

Year in Review 2016

SABBATICAL: We go back to where it all began.

Here is the first review I ever posted here at The Neverending TBR.

It had been a few years since I blogged, and I was eager to find a place where I could talk about books since I wasn’t going to be in the classroom talking about them with students. Check it out!

REVIEW: Ada Twist, Scientist

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Sabbatical

No list post today, no update on my Enneagram reading from the last year like I usually do in July. Something different and overdue.

Recently a friend posted on Facebook that due to a variety of life circumstances, she was taking a break, a sabbatical, from her beloved job – with their blessing – to do some regrouping. I was so impressed with her self-awareness and her company’s regard for her and for her work that they made this happen for her.

I started a full time job at the beginning of June. I’m still in those early days of feeling like a substitute teacher in someone else’s classroom. I’m sure my new boss is weary of my questions. I really want to do well in this, and there’s a HUGE learning curve. But while I took on this new responsibility, I had every intention of doing all the same things I did before.

It’s not working.

You might have noticed that a couple weeks ago I didn’t post a Thursday YA review, but instead posted adult reviews two days in a row. This week, I didn’t even post Wednesday. I thought it was the adult books slowing me down and keeping me from getting to the YA book in a week’s time, but in reality I have 45-ish fewer hours of time each week than I did this spring.

In the first 5 months of 2020, I was averaging 7 books a week – a pace I have been on for a few years now since I left my last full time job. For the first five months of 2021, I was down to 5 books a week – still a pace that allowed me 3-5 reviews a week and an occasional book read just for me. For June, for the first month of this new job, I have finished 11 books for the WHOLE MONTH. That’s not quite 3 books a week, and it is showing as I try to get to the books on my publishing schedule. This is not sustainable. I am resenting everything – the job, the books I do get to read, the ones I’m not getting to, the ever-present feeling of being trapped.

Something has to give.

So, I am taking the month of July off.
A sabbatical.
A bookmark in the journey to hold my place for a few weeks.

I have all of the Book News posts done and scheduled to post. I also have links to some past posts to keep you in book ideas for the month that I am away. When I come back in August, there will probably be some changes coming to my posting schedule. But I am also hoping to return with a fresh perspective on this space I have invested in and carved out on the internet for almost 5 years now. I also hope to come back with some reviews of books I have enjoyed just because I wanted to read them.

Yes, this means the reviews I have promised for books releasing this year will be late. And there may be some I choose not to review. It’s going to tank my review rate on Netgalley. But it’s essential that I take a break and re-evaluate.

So happy summer! I’ll see you back here in August. In the meantime, check out some fun posts from the last almost-five years of blogging and discover some reading treasures you might have missed the first time around. ♥