Precious things: My kids and some of my toppling TBR piles!

I started writing this blog six months ago today – and what a fun experience it’s been, not only because I’ve enjoyed forming my thoughts into some sort of coherent (I hope ) whole, but also because it has introduced me to a vibrant, welcoming and encouraging book blogging community. I put off starting a blog for a long time exactly because I feared being caught up in another community – not because I hate community but because I feared spreading myself too thinly. Well, I probably am spread a bit too thinly across all my interests and enthusiasms but I don’t regret starting blogging for one minute. And for that I thank you lovely bloggers who have taken the time to read and comment on my blog and, where I’ve needed it, to offer help and guidance. Thankyou!

Like most bloggers – I think – I am interested in who comes to my blog and what they come for. My most popular post by far (and “by far”, I mean so “by far” that there’s not another post within cooee) is my post on the film Coco Avant Chanel. The post is about the “biopic” but the searches that lead to it all seem to be for Coco Chanel herself. I’m truly gobsmacked. And moreso because this post has not one comment on it. Curious, as well as gobsmacking.

My second most popular post, if you can call it a post, is, not surprisingly “Who am I?”. My third, though, intrigues me again. It is not one of my Australian posts (my Winton post comes in fourth) but my post on the Indonesian book This earth of mankind by Pramoeyda Ananta Toer. All I can think is that he continues to be studied internationally and hence the slow but constant hits on it. I’m not going to bore you by listing all my top ten posts and analysing them, but they are an eclectic lot and include posts on:

• the indigenous poet Kath Walker (aka Oodgeroo Noonuccal),
• the Aktimate speakers I bought for my iPod,
• the Sydney Blue Gum, and
• the one on Jane Austen that mentions The Times newspaper of 1785. I have no idea why people are searching for  “The Times 1785” but they are, and they get my post. I wonder if they are happy when they get there? I’ll never know cos they never tell me…

And that, I suppose, is the rub. We know more or less what those who comment think but what about all the others? Who are they? Did they find our posts useful? Ah, sweet mystery of life ….