Skip to main content

October 2016 Reflection



I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to make an October Reflection for this month. After all, I didn't really do anything this month. It was a "break" or just a little "gap". This past month doesn't count, right?

That's where I decided to go ahead and write a reflection. This month wasn't an intentional break month. I didn't make a notice in advance for everyone to know. I didn't even know myself that this was going to happen. But it happened, and, since it's a tradition to do these little monthly reflections, there should be no excuse.

Moving on, if you have not been around for our past monthly reflections, I would recommend that you of course look at our past ones (that is, if you're interested in these). I'll also give you a little summary about what we do: In these reflections, I look back on how our blog and bookstagram (Instagram + books) did as well as give a sneak peek into our blog and bookstagram in the coming month.


Looking Back Into October


The Blog
So, funny story: I didn't exactly work on the blog much in October? As a result, our pageviews dropped significantly, by about 77%, in fact. That is extremely bad. It certainly is well-deserved, but I hope to never have another month like this past one again. Only two posts were published in the whole month. (And I missed my chance at a Halloween post, since it was on one of our posting days.)

Instagram
Luckily for all of those people who follow us on Instagram, I did keep up with this. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the exact number of followers we had at the end of the month, but I believe we had around 950 followers. This means that we gained a bit under 250 followers this month, which is around the same amount as last month. I think the trick is finally nailing an editing style and participating in Shoutout for Shoutouts (a.k.a sfs).


We also successfully participated in @commasandampersands on Instagram's October 2016 photo challenge, #ampersandoct16. One of our photos was even featured in the weekly overview of the challenge:

(Above: the picture that was featured on @commasandampersands's page.)

Goals
I did not make goals for October because, well, I didn't actually write my September 2016 Reflection until late October, and thus never made any goals for October.

Coming Up in November


The Blog
I'm currently planning a handful of posts, which include a book review on On Writing by Stephen King, a book review on Salt to the Sea, a post/posts on little lessons from On Writing, and a book review on The Handmaid's Tale, along with some other ideas in the making. While I do have all of these ideas, I am not sure when I want to post them, so these may or may not be posted this month.

I also plan on possibly adding a new addition to our "Posting Schedule" tab on the top of our page (desktop users: second tab to the left; mobile users: click the button on the top and select "Posting Schedule). 

Instagram
As some of you probably already know, we are participating in two photo challenges this month, because I couldn't find just one that suited us. We are currently participating in @acciobooksncoffee and @_livelaughread's #livelaughbooksnovember challenge. We are also participating in @readwithmikee and @pagewithaview's #novbookstagram photo challenge.



Goals
Ah...goals, goals, goals! Where would we be without them? (I bet I'd still be okay because I never follow them, haha.) Here are my goals for November:


  1. Use my posting schedule! I really need to get back into using my posting schedule. I think it was a great tool for me in planning and figuring out what to do with posts and all. One day I'll make a post about my posting schedule (or maybe I'll do it this month; who knows?).
  2. Actually work on the blog. A pretty obvious one, it may seem simple and easy, but for me, it's not. But I so badly want to keep up with the blog, so try I shall!
  3. Reach 1,000 followers. Okay, this one's not really my call, but Em wants to reach 1,000 by the end of the month. I am going to try my best to do whatever I can to reach that goal. Besides, I think it'll be pretty simple...we're almost there!

Now I guess I'll have to see how the month of November plays out!

Note: When this post and my November goals were made, we had not yet reached 1,000 followers on Instagram, which is why reaching 1,000 followers is a goal.

Comments

This Month's Popular Posts

Quotes: The Nightingale

I realized that, over a year ago, I wrote a post called "Quotes: Audacity" , and that this post did really well (it's actually Reading is Inevitable's most read post!), and yet I never wrote another post of quotes from a book. I liked writing that post, too. I like sharing quotes I like from books. That's why I started doing it on our bookstagram page . So why did I never write another one of these "quote blog posts"? I don't know. But I intend to write at least another one. And that's why I'm here today. Well, there's that, and then there's also the amazing book that is The Nightingale.  If you've read some of my recent blog posts or have poked around a bit, you would know that exactly a month ago I published my book review on The Nightingale , in which I explained my love for it and why you should read it yourself. And while I actually have another post in the works on that book because it definitely deserves more than on

Quotes: Audacity

As some of you may know by looking at my posts on our social media page (@readingisinevitable on Instagram), I am currently reading Audacity by Melanie Crowder. It is a beautiful book written in free verse, and follows the life of Clara Lemlich, a female Jewish immigrant who came to America in the early 1900s. (For the full summary of the book, click here .) I absolutely love books written in free verse, or any type of poetry, in fact! This book is so lovely that I have decided to dedicate a whole post to some of my favorite quotes or parts! (Note: I am only on page 294, and there are 366 pages, not including the extra content at the end of my local library's copy.)

Book Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Title:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Author:  Benjamin Alire Sáenz Genre: Realistic Fiction, YA Fiction Rating:  5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★ Reviewer:  Julia Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.  But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other — and the power of their friendship — can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

Book Review: The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes

Title: The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes Author:  Anna McPartlin Genre: Realistic Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 Reviewer: Julia I can't believe how amazingly wonderful this book is. I can't believe that I put off reading it for so long. (I've had the book sitting with my other TBR books for at least a year now.) This book is beautiful and so well written, and it snagged at my heart, bringing a few tears to my eyes.