Three years ago tomorrow, I started the The Oddness of Moving Things. It is really hard to believe I have actually stuck with it this long. I’ve never given a serious thought of quitting, but I have given serious thought of just disappearing for months on end. So much has happened in my life over the past three years and this is one of the big constants which is nice.
To see my very first post about why I started The Oddness of Moving Things click here. The reasons I’ve kept it around aren’t quite the same, but I think this blog has done a great job in keeping me sane and helping me retain even more of my reading knowledge than I used. In addition I’ve ‘met’ some amazing people around the world and been encouraged to read outside of my comfort zone (trashy romance [oh yes] and classics [meh, mostly]). This email is a little less celebratory as my life is hectic and my job requires a bit more attention these days (yay for growing up right?!). So I’ve kept my Top Ten lists and called it a day!
Top Ten Viewed Books of the Past Year
There were quite a few shockers this year. I wasn’t at all surprised at the top two books, but after that I was a little surprised. Numbers three, four, and ten were all Advanced Reader Copies from publishers; numbers five and eight really moved me when I read them and I’m glad people are reading my thoughts on them; numbers six and seven are directly related to my involvement at my local library; and most shockingly numbers one, five, eight and nine are on the list for the second year running. The only thing that this top ten list doesn’t show are the numerous Young Adult books I read, other than that it’s a pretty good representation of my reading over the past year (even though some posts are older).
- A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin – originally posted 1 Feb 2012
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot – originally posted 5 Jul 2012
- The Absolutist – John Boyne – originally posted 3 Jul 2012
- Israel/Palestine and the Queer International – Sarah Schulman – originally posted 8 Oct 2012
- Bastard Out of Carolina – Dorothy Allison – originally posted 11 Jul 2011
- Farm City – Novella Carpenter – originally posted 31 May 2012
- Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake – originally posted 25 May 2012
- Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro – originally posted 14 Jan 2012
- Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie – originally posted 28 Mar 2012
- The Suitors – Cécile David-Weill – originally published 15 Feb 2013
Top Ten Tags
These are the most used tags since I started The Oddness of Moving Things. No major surprises again, however the entire last half of the list has shuffled around, but I feel it is a better reflection of what I read in general compared to last year’s list. It also shows how much I must miss England as both English and England have jumped into the top 10.
Top Five Commented on Posts and Top Five Commenters
This section was a little bit more surprising than the other sections. I was shocked to see the two Dickens’ books, but I guess when you have a visceral response to a book people like to discuss it! In contrast I was very happy to see 1Q84 and Pride and Prejudice on the list, two of my favorites from this year and from all time, obviously.
The top five commenters aren’t a surprise at all! They’re who I interact most with, minus a couple of notables, but I guess they just lurked a lot this year. If you’re not one of those five below and you don’t already follow them, go check them out they talk about some amazing things! TBM has just published her first novel, A Woman Lost, which I can’t wait to read and review; Heather is having a great Year of Reading Whatever the F*ck She Wants and is always up for some witty banter on Twitter; Danielle is slowly making her way to Project Runway (whether she admits it or not, I’m rooting for it!); Rebecca is travelling and exploring libraries around the US and documenting them with the 365 project; And Rob whose been trucking along reading and living life.
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Other than that, all I have to say is thank you! Everyone who visits, comments and interacts with this blog and me has made it a fantastic three years and I’m looking forward to the future!
Congrats on three years! I love reading your blog and am glad you have kept at it! 🙂
Thanks!
Congrats! I just had an accidental sabbatical, but it felt good to post again today. I’m looking forward to reading more too. 🙂
Thanks! Sometimes you do just have to take a sabbatical no warning. That first year I did it I disappeared for two months and read 20 or so books and didn’t even care 😀
Well done, 3 years and still going strong. Bonne Continuation!
Merci!
Congratulations, here’s to the next three!
Haahaa, Thanks! I’m not so sure about the next three I pretty much take it say by day, but we’ll see 😀
What a great recap, congrats on celebrating 3 years of blogging! I have been blogging for a year and agree that it helps keep me sane in my otherwise chaotic life. I just wish I had more time to write about these ideas floating around in my head!
Thanks! And that is the worst. You get the most ideas when you’re the busiest!
Congratulations! That’s a very nice selection of books in your most viewed posts list.
Thanks! And it was a good list and a broad cross section of what I read. I realized last year’s Top 10 had more YA and so this years wouldn’t necessarily.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! 3 years is a long time and that is amazing! Here’s to 3 (or 30!) more years!
Also, thanks for the shout out! 🙂
Haahaa thanks! And you’re very welcome!
Congratulations Geoff. Here’s to many more years to come 🙂
Thanks!
Congrats on your three-year anniversary! I enjoy reading your blog so much. I’m very glad we connected online.
Thanks! Me too, you make blogging and internet-ing so much more fun!
What an achievement Geoff. I shall raise a glass to your next three years in anticipation.
Thanks!
Thanks for the mention! I’ve been pretty MIA lately (SOOO busy at work and on the computer all day, I haven’t felt like getting online when I get home). I’m in the middle of Great Expectations. (I know I had to read it in 8th grade, but other than very few bits, I don’t recall the story at all – I must not have read the whole thing).
OH and CONGRATS on 3 years 😀
You’re very welcome. It’s funny how that works, I’m re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird and have very little recollection of it from high school.
Goodness me, how did I miss this post. I feel so ashamed. I know I’m late to the party, but congrats! I’m really happy to see that Dickens made the list not once but twice. I love him. I thought after my project of reading ten books by him last year would ruin him forever for me. I was wrong. And Great Expectations is my fave. Did I mention I love Dickens?
And thanks for much for mentioning my novel. I’m honored to be one of your top commenters. I love popping in here to see what you’re reading. And I love that you keep me up to date on things in Boston. I miss it. not the humidity though. Yuck!
Haaahaa not like you had anything big going on like releasing a novel or anything. (Loved that you worked Dickens in, even if I don’t enjoy him. But the Austen reference made me smile :-D)
Have you ever listed your top five reasons why you don’t like Dickens. I wonder if my top five reasons why I do like him would be similar. And I love Austen. When I finish Madame Bovary (not sure how I feel about that one yet) I’ll read Mansfield park
Well my major schtick with Dickens is that he needs an editor! I’m sure it just comes from writing in a periodical and filling time and space, but there’s just so much and it dredges on and on. He knows how to write endings and beginnings exceedingly well, but the middles are just filler (and not even necessary filler). I surprisingly enjoyed Madame Bovary, I read it because I got a pub-quiz question wrong and had to know the answer was true!
Mansfield Park is probably my favorite of Austen’s works! Dear, dear Fanny Price – so controversial and yet so amazing 😀
Now see I love his filler. His descriptions make me feel like I’m wandering through the streets of London during the Industrial age. And i think Great Expectations is the perfectly plotted book. But I do see your point. I don’t like when other authors get carried away with their words. But I love it when he does.
Will let you know soon what I think of Bovary and Mansfield.
What a nice post! I’m sorry I didn’t get to it earlier, but happy belated blog birthday 🙂 I love the shout outs to your most frequent commentors. It’s always nice to give some recognition to the bloggers we love and I’m going to enjoy checking out their blogs.
Thanks! And you should definitely check them out, they’re all writing about such great things and projects.