Blogging Highlights of 2015

by Donna Huber

Here we are at the end of 2015. Has it been a good year for you? We have had a great year at Girl Who Reads and it is thanks to you the readers and all the wonderful contributors. Back in February readers voted Girl Who Reads Best Book Review Site in the Indies Unlimited Excellence Awards.

Including today's post, we have published 322 articles this year featuring countless number of books, authors and advice. More than 100 books were reviewed by Claire, Elisabeth, Alison, and me. While book recommendations is the main purpose of Girl Who Reads, we also provide tips and advice on blogging, reviewing, writing, and marketing. See the list of Tips on Thursday articles for help.

Alison, Chris, Ross and Kathleen have provided dozens of articles on writing, music, television and movies, and other pop culture topics.

Chris, who started writing for Girl Who Reads in March, often starts off the new month for us with his column appearing the 1st Friday of every month. If you enjoy his writing, he has an epic fantasy series under the pen name Satis. Check out his Amazon page for details about his books.

Reading with an Eleven-Year Old (March)
Fear and Loathing in Literature (April)
What Was I Writing About (May)
What Do Authors Owe Us? (June)
Music in Stories...Stories in Music (July)
The Importance of a Sound Environment (August)
The Trials and Tribulations of a Struggling Author (September)
How to Publish - My (Less Than Helpful) Experiences (October)
Writing for the Fan(s) (November)
How Not to Turn a Book into a Movie (December)

Alison DeLuca has published a middle grades steam punk series as well as an adult retelling of Snow White. She has also appeared in two anthology. Discover all of Alison's published works on her Amazon page. Be sure to catch Alison's column every 2nd Wednesday of the month.

Oscars and Resolutions (January)
Streaming on Netflix (February)
Despite All Odds: a Review of Red Rising by Pierce Brown (March)
The Meteoric Rise of the Superhero (April)
Happily Ever After (May)
Marvel's Daredevil (June)
Breaking the Love Laws (July)
The Connection Between Kelly Link and Zombies (August)
How to Prep for the Fall Movie Season (September)
It's Under my Bed: Horror and Halloween (October)
Books for Boys (November)
Easy Christmas Cookies and Amazing Books (December)

Ross Kitson, a fantasy author, and Kathleen Barker, author of coming of age romance novels, share the 4th Wednesday of month. Take a look at their published works at Amazon - Ross's page and Kathleen's page.

Nostalgia (Ross - February)
Book vs Movie (Kathleen - March)
Potty Mouth (Ross - April)
Buried Alive (Kathleen - May)
New Who Versus Old Who (Ross - June)
Read, Clean, Write, Repeat (Kathleen - July)
After Games of Thrones: My Televisual Fantasies (Ross - August)
Cornwall and Coal, Mining for Romance in the 18th Century (Kathleen - September)
From Watchman to 300 - My Top 5 Comic Adaptations (Ross - October)
The Pull of YA Fiction (Kathleen - November)
Christmas (?) Music (Ross - December)

By the way, staff reviewer Claire published her debut novel this year under the pen name Scarlet Le Clair. Torn is a contemporary erotic novel involving a love triangle with two brothers. Buy Torn at Amazon.

We would like to say a special THANK YOU to Heather Kirchhoff. She has introduced us to a number of authors this year with her interviews. Heather has decided to Girl Who Reads to focus more on her own writing. It is with great saddens we say good bye to her. Check out her published books on her Amazon page.

Interview with Jon Messenger
Interview with Gwen Selix
Interview with Mark Mackey
Interview with J.J. Brown
Interview with Karyn Pearson
Interview with K. Webster
Interview with Christopher Slayton
Interview with H.R. Lutz
Interview with Charles Gerard Timm

A side note: we will be looking for a new interviewer. If you are interested contact me at donna(at)girl-who-reads.com

In addition to our regular contributors, we had 25 guest authors write feature articles this year.

Why Men Opt Out of the Fiction World (Leonce Gaiter)
Q&A with Melissa Pimentel
Critter Control to the Rescue (Jeannie Kaye)
Surviving Valentine's Day: Pauline Parril's Advice for Married Women (Collette Yvonne)
Chunk, Chunker, Chunkiest (Robert James Dellamano)
Fiction Writing is Not a Marathon, It's an Ironman Race (Rubin Johnson)
Q&A with B.J. Daniels
Meet Author Jay Richards
Interview with Monica Ropal
How I Created a "Book Soundtrack" for My Novel (Lee Wolf)
The Ten Most Memorable Moms in New Fiction (Andrea Lochen)
Five Awesome Books on the Craft of Writing (Susan Paulson Clark)
10 Questions with Siggy Buckley
Interview with Character Charlotte Nightingale (Pam Ferderbar)
Deleted Chapter from The Silver Ships (S.H. Jucha)
Interview with #LAPunkQueen Brenda Perlin
When a Character Shows Up and Asks for Her Story to be Told (Andrew Joyce)
A New Site for Finding Bargain Books (K.D. Emerson)
Social Science Fiction (Robert Eggleton)
You Don't Have to Go Home (Katrina Dierking)
Top Ten Most Useful Things in an Apocalypse (Lissa Bryan)
Why Wonder Woman Must Dies (Katrina Dierking)
Canada and the U.S. are Missing the Boat in the Artic (Roger Herst)
Q&A with Jacob Rubin
Writing with No Rules (Laurent Guillaume)
Irishisms in America (Byddi Lee)

By the way, Byddi Lee will be joining Girl Who Reads as a regular contributor starting in January.

This year we surpassed 1 million views since Girl Who Reads started in 2011. Readership was up with 21 articles being viewed more than 1,000 times each. The top 10 articles garnered more than 1,100 views each and the top post received more than 1,600 views. Interestingly, the most popular articles appeared in July, August, and September with the exception of an announcement for The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness paperback release that appeared in May.

Top 10 Most Viewed Articles in 2015

#10 Books to T Adaptions to Add to Your Read and Watch Lists (Donna Huber)
#9 The Connection Between Kelly Link and Zombies (Alison DeLuca)
#8 The White Thread Read Along: Chapters 19 -24 (Donna Huber)
#7 The Oracle Read Along: Chapters 12-22 (Donna Huber)
#6 The White Thread Read Along: Chapters 13 - 18 (Donna Huber)
#5 Social Science Fiction (Robert Eggleton)
#4 Interview with #LAPunkQueen Brenda Perlin (Donna Huber)
#3 Review: Natives in Exile by Dirk Harman (Elisabeth Scherer)
#2 The White Thread Read Along: Chapters 1 - 6 (Donna Huber)
#1 "Heavy Metal Hotness" ~ Bullet (Special Edition) by Jade C. Jamison (Featured Book)

I declare 2015 a success for Girl Who Reads. Again, I thank all the readers and contributors who have helped to make this site a great place for book reviews and author promotion.

I raise my glass and wish you happy reading in 2016!

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