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I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now, and I’ve decided I’m no longer going to produce weekly content on this blog.

It’s entirely no one’s fault but my own, because I have set this expectation on myself that I would post a review a week (it used to be two reviews a week when I first started!).

I tried co-blogging some years ago to keep up weekly content, but that didn’t work out for reasons beyond my (and my co-blogger’s) control.

2022 marks an entire decade of content on the Moonlight Library. It’s the longest hobby I have ever consistently done. It’s longer than my marriage. I truly believe reading and blogging about books is a lifestyle choice, not just a hobby. I even reviewed books under a different name before launching the Moonlight Library for privacy reasons, so that means I’ve been blogging about books for 12 years.

I have deliberately cut right back on reviewing ARCs. I still feel the pressure to review at least current books, ones that have been published in the last year or so. That means that the majority of the books I have bought since I started blogging (I have over 600 physical books on my TBR) are now what I consider to be ‘out of date’ or back catalogue. I want to tackle more of these.

I also want to read non-fiction. The only non-fiction I have read since I started blogging has been celebrity memoirs, which I love, but there are more non-fiction books I want to read, and not review, because the Moonlight Library is a YA book blog. I love reading, and I love learning, so reading non-fiction fits perfectly. Did you know that non-fiction actually outsells fiction?

I want to re-read books. I want to re-read books I’ve already reviewed. I’ve re-read books I read before I started blogging specifically for a review, but I don’t think I’ve ever re-read a book I already reviewed in the last ten years. That’s really sad!

Saying I want time to read what I want to read sounds really dumb, because no one is directing this blog except me. I don’t make money from it, I’ve invested thousands of dollars in to it over the decade I’ve been reviewing, and I should be doing exactly what I want to do with it.

And true, I did start it so that I could take more time to read, but that was ten years ago: before I got married, before my husband became disabled, before I changed jobs, before I went back to University, before I nearly died.

If this were my full-time day job, I would have no problem producing content. But it’s not my day job. It’s a hobby. I would hope that after 10 years of consistent reviews (even in 2017 I posted a review a month) my readers trust that I’m going to keep doing it.

I’m ten years older now than when I started book blogging. I still love YA, it’s still basically the only place I go to in the bookshop or the library. But I have grown up. I’m no longer a young adult. I’m middle-aged. That’s a scary freaking thought. I also I have other hobbies. I went back to University during a pandemic. I paint. I play video games. These hobbies are not the same ‘I must do it or I will die’ as book blogging, but they still take time away from reading. My time is incredibly limited and I want to expand my other hobbies.

I have renewed this domain for another three years, so the content is not going anywhere. I’m just not going to be posting as often.

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme created by Tynga’s Reviews and hosted by Reading Reality.
It’s all about sharing the books we’ve picked up for the week, whether they are bought, borrowed, gifted, galleys, physical or virtual.
Share your shelves and remember to visit Reading Reality to find more great books!

Purchased

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

The Wicked Deep meets House of Salt and Sorrows in this new standalone YA fantasy set in a snow-cloaked kingdom where witches are burned, and two enchantresses secretly compete for the heart of a prince, only to discover that they might be falling for each other.

It’s Karnawał season in the snow-cloaked Kingdom of Lechija, and from now until midnight when the church bells ring an end to Devil’s Tuesday time will be marked with wintry balls and glittery disguises, cavalcades of nightly torch-lit “kuligi” sleigh-parties.

Unbeknownst to the oblivious merrymakers, two monsters join the fun, descending upon the royal city of Warszów in the guise of two innocent girls. Newfound friends and polar opposites, Zosia and Marynka seem destined to have a friendship that’s stronger even than magic. But that’s put to the test when they realize they both have their sights set on Lechija’s pure-hearted prince. A pure heart contains immeasurable power and Marynka plans to bring the prince’s back to her grandmother in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.

When neither will sacrifice their ambitions for the other, the festivities spiral into a wild contest with both girls vying to keep the hapless prince out of the other’s wicked grasp. But this isn’t some remote forest village, where a hint of stray magic might go unnoticed, Warszów is the icy capital of a kingdom that enjoys watching monsters burn, and if Zosia and Marynka’s innocent disguises continue to slip, their escalating rivalry might cost them not just the love they might have for each other, but both their lives.

I’ve listened to the audiobook and it was pretty phenomenal, and the main reason I wanted to buy a copy of this book to keep on my shelf is to support the author, who is Australian. I don’t do it with every audiobook I listen to, but this was something really special. Thank you!

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling new YA fantasy about a teen girl with mythic abilities who must defend her world against restless spirits of the dead.

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as twisted spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She’d rather deal with the dead than the living, who point and whisper about the odd girl who was once possessed by a violent spirit.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia fights back by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a high saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being now whispering in her head. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her in body and soul. But death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has a chance of stopping it. Yet the age of vespertines has passed, their knowledge and training lost with time.

As Artemisia investigates a mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, an ancient evil is stirring. Can an untrained girl, tormented by the burden of containing the revenant’s devouring power, have any hope of defeating it?

So I don’t like zombie books but I don’t mind books about the undead: there’s a line there, and it’s to do with cannibalism, maybe. I’m not quite sure. Anyway, fighting the spirits of the dead sounds like a whole lot of fun and this magic sounds like a pretty interesting system, so I’m here for this book!

Jane Eyre / The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by the Bronte Sisters

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is the quintessential romantic novel, a love story regarded as one of the greatest in the English language. Her sister Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a worthy companion though, a restless tale of romantic denial that grips the reader’s attention in this beautiful, double foiled, deluxe edition.

I already have the Wuthering Heights version of this book, so when I saw the other books in matching covers I had to snap them up, it’s destiny!

Pride & Prejudice / Emma by Jane Austen

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

One of the most famous lines in literature is celebrated here in this deluxe edition, coinciding with Jane Austen’s 200th anniversary year. Emma is a wonderful companion to the precision of Pride and Prejudice, offering a book both to enjoy and admire.

I had to get the matching Jane Austen cover as well, oh dear! It was on sale, so I didn’t spend too much money on it.

What books did you get this week?
Share the love in the comments below!

Monthly Wrap Up

Book Stuff

Number of books read: 4
Finished a series: Yes: The King of Koraha (The Archives of the Invisible Sword #3) by Maria V Snyder
Started a series: Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
New to me authors: Suzanne Young
Favourite book: The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

Book Reviews:

[3 Dec] Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young ★★★★★
[10 Dec] The King of Koraha by Maria V. Snyder ★★★★
[17 Dec] Girls with Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young ★★★★★
[24 Dec] The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson ★★★★
[31 Dec] The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska ★★★★★

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4 thoughts on “Announcement, STS and December Wrap Up”

Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
January 2nd, 2022 at12:02am
I’m in my 12th year of book blogging so I understand how tiring it can be. All you can do is all you can do. Be true to your needs.

Wishing you a great reading week
1. Nemo
  January 2nd, 2022 at6:18pm
  Thank you! Now I’ve just gotta stick to it!
Eilonwy
January 2nd, 2022 at12:52am
Happy 2022 Nemo!

I enjoy reading your reviews, but I know how exhausting writing them can be. I can’t even keep up with my reviews on Goodreads, never mind feeling obligated to keep fresh content going up on a blog. You’ve got to do what’s right for you. I’ll just be happy when I do see the Moonlight Library come up in my email.

Cheers!
1. Nemo
  January 2nd, 2022 at6:23pm
  Thanks for understanding, I just need to find a better balance for new hobbies. There’s not enough time!
  
  I always get a smile when I see you pop up in my comments.