I just realized this title sounds weird and somehow dirty. But what I have to tell you is neither weird or dirty. This is a small update on why there was no review last week and why there will be less reviews for the remaining months of the year. Also, It is a little apology to the authors and publishers who have trusted me with their work.
Now that the subject of the post is clear (me, me, me!), let me say I’m not going on holiday after I won the lottery (unfortunately!) It turns out my health requires me to slow down on reading and blogging once again. Some wires in my brain have stopped functioning correctly. That is all I understood from my doctor’s speech. Doctors should have their own interpreter!
One of the results is a tiring tiredness (my teacher would hate me for that!) who makes me forget what you just said, what I just said, how to properly attach a leash to a dog or what the hell I was going to do in the kitchen.
As you can guess, issues with memory make writing reviews or posts a tiny bit more difficult!
I cannot bring myself to go on hiatus because it would mean leave the most part of my social life behind, and I would go berserk in a week. Make it three days. Instead, I will take more time to read, meaning my Wednesday posts will become quite boring! Also, reviews might become slightly different and contain less critical content. I will do my best to keep them worth reading, but I have already noticed changes and I wanted to apologize if you feel the quality suffers from this.
I have closed my blog to review requests for now and will stay away from NetGalley (this can only be good for my ratio!)
I will keep commenting as much as possible, but with a smaller time frame, I might miss a few posts. As blogging is now an important part of my life, I felt this post was necessary!
For authors and publishers: I will of course fulfill all of my engagements, I just need a little more time to work. If your book has not been reviewed yet, I apologize for the delay and will do my best to publish very soon!
The now-recurring personal post is over! I wish you all a great week, and plenty of brilliant reads and waffles!
Meggy's Bookish Corner 
Donna, I hope your new slower pace does the trick for you. Take care of yourself! xx
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Thank you Helen! I will see this as a new challenge and come back with more energy! 🙂 xx
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Awww… memory is a fickle beast! I hope all that’s needed is a little re-start for the brain and some rest and we won’t be abandoning you- we all need to hold the horses sometimes…
Take care!
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I need a reboot but unlike the Playstation, I don’t have a restart button! Thank you 🙂
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I am sorry to hear that you are having some issues with your health. I hope things get better soon. All the best with everything, reading, blogging, school. The slower pace will work out fine and I am sure that the publishers and authors will understand. I will look out for your posts as usual.Get better soon.
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Thank you for kind words 🙂 I felt the need to share a little because it has an impact on my blog, but I am sure it’ll be fine and soon over! (Positive thinking, they say!)
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Seriously, don’t worry about whether or not your reviews are as “good” as they usually are (I put that in quotations because I’m sure they’ll still be fine). Focus on your health! Hope everything works out for you 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂 Blogging is what has kept me going recently, so I admit I’m a bit upset about seeing my work suffer from this, but it should only be temporary! I promised to get as much rest as possible, but I hate resting, haha!
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I totally understand! Hope you feel better soon 🙂
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Sorry to read that your not well, I hope things improve for you. 🙂
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Don’t worry, I am well enough to keep annoying you Marshie 😀
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I’m sorry to hear about your struggles. I’ll keep you in my prayers.
In the meantime, get the rest you need and take care of yourself!
Wishing you the best ❤
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Thank you very much 🙂 I will try to be a good girl and rest for once!
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I totally understand Donna! I hope your health gets better.
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Thank you! I’ll do my best to be fully back soon!
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You’re welcome! That’s great to here 🙂
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Aww Donna – I’m so sorry!!
Don’t worry your personality will still shine through in your posts so I wouldn’t worry if the depth of your critique is less!
I’ve heard that blackberries and cherries are good for your memory 🍒
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I love cherries! That makes for the perfect reason to have some 🙂 Thank you so much, I will keep doing my best and hope this new challenge gets overcome fast!
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Take care of yourself, Im sorry to hear of your struggles. Your fans and friends are here for you.
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Thank you 🙂 A slower pace and plenty of sleep might be enough to do the trick.
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Oh no! Definitely taking it a bit slower sounds like a good idea.
Don’t worry about your posts. If in doubt, fill any space with GIFS of Tom Hiddleston. You can be pretty sure that will be a universally well-received move 😉
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I have never been good with a slow pace, this is a challenge! 🙂 Haha, I noticed Tom’s gifs have their little effect, I’ll keep this advice in mind, thank you!
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I’m sorry to hear about your health issues, rest up and focus on getting better X
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Will do! 🙂 Thank you xx
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*Hugs* Just take it easy sweetie. I was actually wondering about your semi-absence last week! I’ve been struggling myself to juggle all the social balls at the same time while also still writing posts. Let alone READ. Haven’t read a single page all weekend! Sometimes, it’s better to take a step back. But not too far indeed, because this community rocks and would be way less awesome without you in it <3.
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I had started forgetting what reading looked like! It did not help Carry On was not the brilliant book I expected! Thank you ❤ I'll slow down and rest, even if I hate it, because the doctor scared me enough to make me try, but I'll stay close enough to stay sane! I need to chat with my favorite sausage! 🙂
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Apart from seeing it on other people’s posts you mean :D. Did you finally find a proper doctor then btw? Awe, is that me?! 😉 ❤
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I haven’t found a doctor yet but I was approved to get help for the medical fees, which enables me to see a private practitioner. Now I need to find one who’s not so busy! ❤
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Baby steps! 🙂
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My feet are too big mouhahahahah
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You know what they say about women with big feet *wink, wink*
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Big feet big…. shoooooes!
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Hahaha, YES! :’)
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Take your time, bestie! We all love you! ❤️ I don’t think your reviews have suffered at all. They’re still the same Donna. 🙂 We always talk about what’s going on with us, so I won’t say much more about it here, but you know I’m here for you with lost of hugs. You’ll have to bring the waffles. 🙂 Ha! I love the title of your post. I was wondering if we would be getting pics of body parts or something crazy. 😂 That is a Jilly approved title. 🙂 And the Tom Hiddleston pic is a must! Nice choice! 😍 Love you 😘
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What would I do without my bestie? 😘 I’m kinda obsessed with how to keep reviewing properly –‘ Love your hugs! Haha, I should have added pics of body parts or even bones! I try not to think too much and go with the first fun title I come up with. This one was written in front of a Grey’s rerun, I did not have to think much xD It makes posts look crazier! Love you too 💛
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I think we’d both be bored and sad without each other. 😘 Hugs My reviewing has suffered lately with all my moving and life drama. I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m a lot slower to review books now even though I’ve been reading like crazy. I just haven’t felt like writing reviews. I have to wait until I get in the mood, and then I write them all at once. Ha! I love Grey’s anatomy. The season premiere is the only episode of TV I’ve watched in weeks. 🙂
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I haven’t seen a change in your reviews, they still convince me 😀 Reading is so easy compared to reviewing, that’s not fair, haha. I stopped watching Grey’s because the medical stuff was freaking me out xD But the French channel kept having reruns so I listen to it.
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Why thank you! I’m so not feeling it anymore when I write them. I have to be in the mood. I love reading. I wish I could just keep reading and say yeah I like it or not. 😂 I love Grey’s. The medical stuff can be a bit nasty at times. 🙂
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Haha, same here. I want to give the rating and let others try for themselves 😀
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I am new to your blog so i guess your new review style won’t bug me at all.
I also am sorry to hear of your illness, Get well soon 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂 I love playing around with review formats, now all I have to do is make sure the content is still good enough!
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We already talked about this together a bit, but all I want to say is, take care of yourself, Donna ❤
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So lucky to have you to chat with 💛 I’m drinking lots of tea and juices, eating my favorite foods and going slower than an old lady 😂
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Hahaha, and don’t forget to cuddle your books and your cute dog. That helps a lot 😛 ❤
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Count on me 😀 Also, I’m making waffles!!!
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YES. Waffles ❤ ❤
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It’s a good idea to slow down and not let the blogging take over your life entirely, and mess with your health. I’ve slowed down a little myself too lately because I was feeling it was too much, becoming too important and taking too much time, and also too stressful to keep up (with two reviews a week and a few posts etc). It’s because you’re a perfectionist but don’t make it too hard on yourself! Take care !
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I find it hard to get the right balance when it comes to blogging. I don’t want to miss posts and I want to participate as much as I can, but it is so time consuming. I constantly need to remind myself it is an outlet that complements my reading, not a full-time job. Also I forget I won’t be graded on my reviews, so there’s no reason to pressure myself to make them perfect! Thank you! I’m enjoying a lot of down time now because uni is starting next week!
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I have underestimated this too, there is a lot more interaction than I thought. I love it but it is time consuming and I only have the evening. I miss half of my usual tv shows because I’m doing two things now. You have to keep in mind that there are bloggers who don’t have to work or study and have a lot more time than us too. I see people who post a review every single day and I can’t get how they pull this off.
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Same! I feel torn between my beloved TV shows and my darling blog, it’s awful. I want those bloggers’ secrets!
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Tale care of yourself ❣
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Will do! 🙂 Hope everything is fine with work!
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Still incredibly busy….my brain is frazzled every day at 5pm!!
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I hope the rhythm slows down at some point! 🙂
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Hope the slower pace helps you out Donna – get better soon x
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Thank you Cleo 🙂
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Sorry to hear this Donna! Do take care of yourself xx
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Thank you! 🙂 xx
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I’m so sorry to hear your health is not good at the moment. It’s always terrible when that happens but I hope you feel better soon, and in the meantime I hope the reduced paced of blogging helps a little as well. It’s great you’re not going on hiatus completely, I’d feel the same blogging is such a huge part of my life now I’m not sure how I’d cope if I went on hiatus for longer than a few days! 🙂
Get better soon Donna! ❤
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Thank you ❤ I know it's impossible for me to stop blogging, so I'm trying to only connect on WP every other day, which is already hard enough. I feel I have made so much progress on many levels thanks to this project that I don't want to give up now. I'm stuffing my face with my favorite food and getting rest, I'll be up and about in no time! ❤
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That’s all right 🙂 and yeah I think blogging must have become such a huge part of everyone’s lives on here so giving it up, even for a little while, can’t be easy!
Ahh that’s got to be the best way to recover right? ❤️
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I think you continue to do a great job and should not worry at all! It’s important that you feel well ❤ we all care about you tons and need to know that you are good 🙂 I hope a slower pace works for you!
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Thank you ❤ I worry too much about not doing things right, silly me! 🙂 You are so sweet, don't make me blush! 🙂 I'm so not okay with the pace, my mother has to take my books away after two hours of reading or the laptop after a couple of hours of work on it, so I get revenge by eating tons of waffles, haha!
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We all worry about not doing things right, but in the end there is no right way. We are all just winging it 😉
Eating waffles sounds like the perfect revenge!
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I hope things improve for you soon
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Thank you!
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Oh! I’m sorry to hear about that! I hope that you start to feel better soon!!
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Thank you! I will make sure to be back to full capacity soon! 🙂
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Donna!!! I hope you’ll feel better! 😦 I didn’t like this post 😦
I think that slowing the pace will help you and you will enjoy the books even more! Don’t worry, the quality was always there and we all appreciate how you always take time to comment the posts, which is not something everyone does. We’ll be here for whatever you need in the blogging world ^^
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You are so sweet! 🙂 Thank you 😘 I feel a bit guilty about slowing down on blogging because I hate missing posts but I have to face the sad truth that there aren’t enough hours in the day to blog, study and take care of myself. I hope to find the right balance to stay active around the blogosphere 🙂 Thank you for your amazing support!
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You don’t need to feel bad at all! Taking care of yourself is a priority and everyone understands 😘😘😘
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*Massive hugs* Hope everything gets better for you soon- of course it’s a good idea to cut back a little (I agree doctor jargon makes no sense)- but I’m just glad you’re not going far and that you’ll still be here! (If you announced a proper hiatus I’d do that thing that little children do and attach myself to your ankles wailing “don’t go!!!!!”)
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*hugs you right baaaack* I can’t leave you. I never will. I’m a weed, you can’t escape *evil laugh* Be careful, I kick kids who attach themselves to me xD
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Hahahaha well I’m glad (I think?!? I’m also a little terrified!!) Hahaha okay on second thoughts I won’t do that 😉 xD
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Take care of yourself! ❤ If that means slowing down and taking a break, then by all means do it. Hope you get better soon!
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Thank you ❤ I am not a big fan of rest, but it was ordered so .. 🙂
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Oh, that sounds both frightening and terribly frustrating. I hope you’re handling the situation the best you can, and that whatever’s going on is easily treatable or manageable. (I’ll also hope you find a doctor who knows how to explain things in laymen’s terms. Doctors who can’t manage that aggravate me to death–and it’s especially important in potentially major situations like this one. Ugh. Don’t mind me, I’m just seething over here on your behalf.)
As everyone else already said, don’t fret about the quality of your reviews or your posting schedule. We’ll all be delighted with whatever you share, whenever you share it. =)
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Doctors are such aliens. I still don’t understand half of what I am told, but I am slowly adjusting to my new schedule. I made a timetable for classes and I’m tired just looking at it, haha. Thank you 🙂 I’m a bit upset about my blogging and reading time reduced to almost nothing. I thought about giving up on sleep but it never works!
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Skipping the sleep would be kind of amazing.
Best of luck with your new schedule; I hope the classes are less exhausting than you anticipate (or that you can drop a class or three if it turns out you’ve overbooked yourself).
I’m impressed and relieved that you’re only a bit upset about the reduction in your book-centric time. My heart’s breaking for you over here.
Keep us posted on how you’re doing, and if there’s anything we can do to help! =)
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Thank you! 🙂 I can’t drop classes unfortunately, and the amount of work is huge, but it’s fun to be back on a scholar schedule. I like the work 🙂 I’m not crying on my bed in fetal position because of the reading time because there’s plenty of reading involved in my studies, even though it’s a different kind. I have been having a blast reading about the art of translation 🙂
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That’s great! I’ll try not to worry about you too much, then. =)
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I’m so sorry to hear about your health. I hope you feel better soon, it sounds like a nightmare! Be okay, Donna, and take it easy ❤ Sending lots of love your way!
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Thank you so much! ❤️ I am slowly learning to live and work with a different schedule 🙂
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It’s always a slow process – I’m still adjusting to the new schedule I’ve had since September – so take your time 🙂
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