I'M BACK + Some (good) Changes + New Design!!!

So first of all, I’M BACK!!!!  After over a month of exams and study, it feels absolutely AMAZING to be back!  Hope you didn’t miss me too much when I was on my hiatus, lol!  THANK YOU to all of you who have stuck by the blog (and to the followers I gained during my break), I really appreciate it, considering my lack of reviews and posts!  I promise I will fill this blog with lots of interesting things for you to read this summer to make up for my absence – I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! <3

On to the (good) changes I will be making on the blog.  During my break, I’ve had some time to look at the blog and pick out its flaws etc and to ‘review’ my reviews (see what I did there!) and I’ve decided to make some changes on the way I write reviews.  Basically, I’ve been trying to read my reviews from someone else’s point of view.  I haven’t done this before and now that I have, it’s really useful.  The reviews I like to read on other blogs are short (obviously not too short!) but informative, sweet, enthusiastic and most of all FUN!  In contrast my reviews are quite long and slightly serious and to be honest, even I got a little bored of reading them.  I think when I started blogging, I had the misconception that reviews would have to be written in a serious, semi-professional way because the word ‘review’ does get you thinking that things have to be critical and serious so I was probably trying to conform to something that doesn’t even exist!  Then, coincidentally, a wonderful post on Mimi’s blog came up which really inspired me to try and develop my own unique ‘voice’ and style.  Thanks for writing that post at a time when I really needed it, Mimi <3 So here are some changes I plan to make:

-         Cut down on the length of my reviews.  For every review I’ve written, I’ve typed up the blurb from the back of the book and then written my own summary in my review which takes up more time and makes my reviews longer so from now on, I will take summaries from Goodreads instead.

-         Inject more personality.  You’re probably thinking: ‘What?’  But I’d love my readers and followers to be able to get to know me - and I DON’T mean in a creepy, stalker-ish way - so this is probably the first step to developing my own style.

-         Express my enthusiasm (when appropriate).  I’m reading back on my reviews and asking myself how on earth I managed to suppress my enthusiasm for some of the books.  I remember how some of the reviews weren’t really much fun to write at all so I’d like to ‘lighten up’ my reviews so that I can enjoy writing them and you can enjoy reading them (hopefully!) i.e. stop trying to control excited outbursts and just let out how I feel!

I’d love for you to stick by and join me on my ‘journey’ to making this blog better.  Of course, if my reviews don’t seem to be improving in your opinion, PLEASE feel free to let me know: I love feedback and I want to make this blog yours as much as it’s mine!  I couldn’t do this without all my readers!  (I probably won't go back and edit my old reviews)

Another change: comments.  The break has also allowed me to discover more blogs and to comment around more so I hope to continue this!   As a sign of my appreciation, I will also return a comment on one of your blog posts whenever you comment on mine.  A few of my favourite blogs do this and I think it will be a great way for me to interact with my readers and fellow bloggers: I love ‘meeting’ new book-loving friends!  So comment away and I’ll pop round to your blog to comment back! 

And if you haven’t noticed: A Reading Daydreamer has a new design!!!  Thanks so much to Jude at In Between Designs for putting it together for me!  You are amazing, Jude: you've really captured what I was looking for :)  And of course, thank you for putting up with all my fussy requirements and giving me such a prettiful (my new word!) blog!  I was starting to get bored of the old one: it was too white and plain and I wanted something soft and daydreamy and nice to look at and I think that this design is EXACTLY that!  It's not completely finished - I still need to reveal my new rating system and the snazzy social icons *squeals with excitement* What do you guys think of it?  I really hope you like it as much as I do, and feel free to leave your comments too, I'd love to hear what you think!

As you can see my sidebar is all jumbled up but I’ll be sorting that very soon as well as re-writing my pages etc. so bear with me!  I also need to catch up on reading and writing reviews so the blog should be more active this weekend :)

Happy reading,
Beverley x