Highlights of 2019

I’ve read a few wrap-up posts lately and seeing people celebrate what they have achieved this year inspired me. I wanted to do one of my own, but as well as looking at what have been strong posts for me, I also wanted to see what they taught me.

This has been a year of growth. A Rambling Reviewer is almost twice the size as it was last year, which makes me so grateful to everyone who takes the time to stop by, especially those who leave me a like or drop a comment. It keeps me blogging to be honest.

I wanted to break this down into different categories in regards to what has done well this year and what lessons each post has taught me about myself as a blogger.

Top book review: Pendragon by James Wilde

A historical fantasy book set before the legend of King Arthur, this was a dark and engaging read. I was surprised by how well it seemed to do as my historical reviews do not tend to get as much traction. This review was a lesson in what happens when Pinterest works as it seems that is where the majority of the traffic came from. A learning curve if nothing else!

Top ‘ramblings’ post: Negative Reviews: Honest Reviewing

I always have doubts when I write a more personal piece. I always think I’m choosing topics that people won’t be interested in and I’m just rambling. I was nervous about posting this one because it felt like people might not react well to it given that I know some people are against negative reviews. This also addressed who I am as a book-reviewer, which felt like an important piece to write. It was encouraging to see it go down well.

Top television/film review: Jamestown, Series 2/ Grimm, Series 6

Technically speaking, my top review in terms of stats was Jamestown, series 1. But as with Pendragon, Pinterest worked to my advantage.

 I thought it would be fairer to only chose posts that had gone live this year as well. At the time of writing, these have had the same number of views. I’ve been doubting lately whether writing television reviews are still engaging and looking at the stats has shown me that book-related content does performing much stronger for me.

I do find them harder to write, especially when it’s a long running series. Looking at the stats and where these two came, it is leaving me uncertain whether I should continue with these or not.

Lessons learnt from 2019:

You never know what is going to work and what isn’t. I was pleasantly surprised my how well a couple of beauty related posts did as that is out of my comfort zone. It’s taught me that not knowing stops me from trying to find a tight niche because I feel like I should have one and instead keep going with what I enjoy.

How about you? What have you learnt this year?

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