Jude the Bibliovore: Jude Reads Turns 1!

June 23 may be just be an ordinary day for most of us. For me though, it was when I did the unthinkable. 365 days ago today, I sat in front of the computer and typed and typed and typed. After a couple of hours of typing, I clicked the Publish button and BAM! This blog was born! And 365 days after, here it is! And I couldn't have accomplished all this without you!

So for Jude Reads's first anniversary I shall take you on a very nostalgic tour called Jude Reads: Through the Months!

June - July 2013: Within these two months I was able to fully stylize my blog to a design which I thought was perfect. And looking back now I thought it just sucked. Kind of like that feeling you get when you read through your Facebook activity 3 years ago. Anyway, Jude Reads was still Seen Through the Glasses. the first blog name I ever thought of which I thought sounded so good until I realized it was quite a mouthful. I was also able to write six posts throughout these two months. I was getting single digit readers per post. Very encouraging, right?

August - October 2013: I tried to commit myself to writing about one post per week (with school and all) and I did do that for the whole month of August. Although in 8 September, my grandpa passed away. After my 1st-of-September post, I was not able to update the blog for the rest of September. I guess that that month was just too sad for me. I ended up with only a single blog post for September. Although in October, I got into blogging again since October was when the next book of the series I love was released. I was also able to post my first ever book review during this month and attend my first ever Nuffnang event. My readers soared up from single digits to double digits per post. I felt so happy and I really noticed the progress I was making.

November - December 2013: These were the busiest months of my schoolyear. Due to that, I was only able to write three blog posts within these two months. My readership fell drastically. But...

January - March 2014: As New Year approached, I realized that I could do better so I promised to myself to write at least one post per week and thank God, I kept my word. I blogged more actively than ever and I even changed my whole blog completely. Seen Through the Glasses became Judeaism! My readership rose again and by the time of February, I was able to find my very first sponsor! Digits Trading became my very first sponsor and will always have a special place in my heart as being the first partner I have ever worked with. During these months, the book reviews kept coming. I felt like I was at my best.

April - May 2014: As summer vacation approached, I was able to have more time to blog than ever. And with my summer vacation being 4 months long, I have all the time I need to work on my blog and improve it. I continued to keep my word to post at least once a week. But the highlight of these months was my invitation to a product launch by Digits Trading. I got to meet the people from Digits Trading, see a new product get unveiled, and receive awesome freebies. The whole experience was awesome. I realized that blogging was more than just writing stuff for people to read. Blogging also involved socializing and connecting with other people, readers and fellow bloggers alike. I looked back at my blog and I thought my layout was not that friendly at all. It was drab and dull with a plain gray finish that I thought it was time to change my blog once more...

June 2014: Judeaism is now Jude Reads! While working on this change, I really thought things through so that I won't be changing my blog again anytime soon. (Possibly forever!) There is still room for improvement but I can now say that I like my blog the way it is right now, and I'm keeping it like this for a long time. I might add or take away some stuff, but I'm sure I won't change the identity of my blog for a long, long while.

So with 38 posts, 13 book reviews, 2 product reviews and 1 sponsor, Jude Reads turns a year old! And I couldn't thank you enough. Yes YOU! YOU who spends his/her time to read my endless babbles. YOU who has been reading since day one. YOU who just dropped by to check things out. YOU who accidentally clicked the link to this site by mistake (okay, maybe not). YOU are the reason I keep doing this. And with that, my dear readers, I promise to do better with my blog. I happily raise my virtual glass as I say "Cheers to Jude Reads! More fruitful and better years to come!" *cling*

Forever grateful,