Litblog Roundup 51

It’s the end of 2016. Everyone says “good riddance!” but before we kick this year into the bin of history, let’s do a roundup of it.

For the year-end edition of the Litblog Roundup, it’s tempting to create a list of reading lists : the best books of the year, what people were reading this year, etc. but Largehearted Boy has already done that for you.

Instead, I thought it would be fun to write a roundup of the litblog roundup itself, in the spirit of year-end introspection. Which of this years roundups were the most popular? What were you, the readers, following among the many links I share with each post? What the hell happened in 2016, anyway?

The Graveyard of Dead Blogs

The number 1 most popular litblog roundup post of 2016 was a list of a list of 651 literary blogs that appear to be defunct . Could it be that people are searching for new material from these websites and stumbling on this list instead? Is the the equivalent of rubbernecking on the information superhighway? (I think that term is corny: information superhighway. As a metaphor, it is too hungry.)

Back in February, when I posted that list, I did so with some words of encouragement that might bear repeating.

For the readers out there: take a look at this list, see if anything strikes your fancy, and go post a comment to get a conversation started. For the writers of these blogs: take heart, keep blogging. We read you.

There Are No Categories

Back in April, the second most popular Litblog Roundup post was something of an experiment. Rather than the usual roundup of conversation topics, that list was broken into literary categories like “criticism”, “poems”, and “conversation” was only one of the categories. It seems you readers liked it that way.

Quality Rantsmanship

I love a good rant. To me, a good rant is something special, or a higher quality than a mere tirade or a tantrum. A good rant expresses anger or frustration or bewilderment, but it does so in a way that is enjoyable somehow. Perhaps its the profusion of profundity mixed with profanity, or maybe it’s just cathartic to see somebody else losing it. Whatever it is, I’ve always been impressed by good, old-fashioned ranting when it’s done properly.

It seems that some of you, dear readers, might share some of that affinity with me. The third most popular Litblog Roundup of 2016 was probably the most ranting of them all. I even illustrated it with a photo of one of those troll dolls with the bad hair. In it, I threw some snark at hipster boutique stores, words that I hate, and trolls themselves.

It seems fitting to end the year talking about rants and trolls, considering the year it’s been. Here’s to a new year, with less to rant about. Peace!