Tuesday 11 December 2012

100,000+ views

It took this blog 2 years and 6 months to reach more than 100,000 views. For some this might seem a modest accomplishment, but for me it is a great source of pride. Some of the views most probably are worthless (i.e people randomly stumbling upon the blog and leaving it quickly) but on a Tuesday morning, when this dreamt of Friday seems so far away, I intend to be positive. Even if 1/2 ot these 100,000 views were worth something to someone, I feel I haven't lost my time.

A lot of things have changed since the last time I reviewed the development of Read with Style. I, for a start, have changed tremendously. Unfortunately for all of us I don't have as much time to read as before. I am sad to announce that I entered the depressing, "I wanna kill myself every Monday morning", suicidal world of working full-time. I am in a long-term relationship with my bed and I must tell you it is a difficult one as we don't spend as much time together as I would like to. The result is obvious, both from the amount of posts I write every month and from the monthly views development. Nevertheless, I believe I have become a bit more wise as I no longer walk and read. On the positive side, I no longer break my chin. On the negative, I lose even more time when I could be reading.

Looking back at the books I have read, I notice a few trends. Yes, I continue to read diverse books, jumping easily from George Martin to Milan Kundera. However, I have given a chance to books I never thought I would: World War Z and Dracula


Let's see what has changed from the 10,000 Pageviews and Counting:

Top 5 most viewed reviews (before):
1. The Bronte Paradox - Wuthering Heights VS Jane Eyre - 2,260 views
2. L'Homme Qui Rit by Victor Hugo - 673 views
3. Charles Bukowski's Alter Ego in Post Office - 345 views
4. Life of PI by Yann Martel - 297 views
5. Stephen King - The Dead Zone - 122 views

Top 5 most viewed reviews (now):

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - 7,467 views
2. The Bronte Paradox - Wuthering Heights VS jane Eyre - 7,175 views
3. 13 Reasons Why You Should NOT Read Thirteen Reasons Why - 2,428 views
4. The Beat Generation and Jack Kerouac - 2,132 views
5. Laurent Gounelle Teaches us How to be Happy - 2,069 views.

Quite a substantial turnaround with the ultimate winner before (The Bronte Paradox) pushed down to second place by the sweet story of an autistic child. The controversial 13 Reasons Why with 42 comments (making it the most commented review without competition) takes third place. I believe I was quite harsh in my review of Hannah's 13 reasons to kill herself and I provoked quite a few outbreaks by passionate teenagers. I stand by my point though - one of the worst books I had the displeasure of reading. Fourth place makes me extremely happy, as it goes to one of my favorite books. Fifth place is not surprising - yes, we are constantly looking for ways to feel happy. The only book that doesn't make it to top 5 and makes me sad is Life of Pi (movie to be released next week) because it truly is a different and provoking novel.


Top 5 visitors from countries (before):
1. USA - 2,800 views
2. UK - 1,459 views
3. Bulgaria - 1,422 views
4. Canada - 387 views
5. India - 224 views

Top 5 visitors (now):
1. USA - 30,693 views
2. UK - 13,281 views
3. France - 7,134 views
4. Bulgaria - 6,986 views
5. Canada - 4,474 views

The only apparent difference is France's debut in third place, which of course is quite understandable and expected as in 2011 I started my Master's degree in France (where obviously my fan base is growing:)).


In 10,000 Pageviews and Counting I was extremely proud of the graph showing the progression of monthly views. Today I am not so proud (I am actually a bit disappointed) but I will share it anyways, of course giving my usual excuse: I WORK 70 HOURS A WEEK!


I won't set any goals for next year (except working less, sleeping more and basically being a totally unproductive gal, which of course is not going to happen). As for books, I know I will be reading and reviewing (someone has to tell apart the good books from the mediocre ones) and what you should do is...well read!

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