Welcome to Buffy’s Corner, where I take a look at what’s coming up this week on the blog! I’m linking up with The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s blog, The Caffeinated Reviewer.
California has had lovely weather lately, but that all ends tomorrow when another storm comes in. Here in the mountains, we may get up to three feet of snow in the next 3-4 days, so we’re preparing to basically stay inside for a while. I can’t really complain, because it’s been such a mild winter in general.
As I mentioned last week, the hubby didn’t get to see the harpy eagles he wanted to on his trip to Colombia, but he saw plenty of birds and monkeys, and I’ll leave a monkey photo down below (as well as the obligatory Badger photo!).
And I want to make a comment about bots hitting up blogs and basically ruining our stats. My stats are meaningless right now, and I know I’m not the only blogger experiencing this. It’s super annoying, and I don’t know if there’s anything to be done about it. Maybe at the blog hosting level it can be reined in, not sure. Does anyone else have crazy blog stats right now? And I mean out of the ordinary, can’t figure out why stats.
Upcoming reads & reviews:
I only posted one review last week, so I’m trying for three this week, in an attempt to catch up! Tomorrow, look for my review of A Forest, Darkly, which was amazing. I’m currently reading Nowhere Burning and hope to finish it today. The mystery is strong in this book, I’m still not sure how the author is going to tie everything together! My review will probably be up Thursday. And after that I’m reading Dollface ad Dead First. Once I get through those, I have four February releases left, which isn’t as bad as I thought!
Other posts this week:
I’m focusing on reviews this week, so other than that, look for Future Fiction on Wednesday. I’ve seen SO many cover reveals in the last two weeks, I’m having trouble deciding what to share!
In case you missed:
My posts from last week:
Eleven Books on My TBR With Pink Covers
Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson – Review 4.5/5 stars
I’m getting high hits a lot, but part of it is explicable (people seem to be checking out my reviews of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, probably due to the anime version coming out). That said, I don’t think that’s the whole story, the numbers seem really inflated and my only guess is bots. I know that ChatGPT sends people to my blog pretty regularly too, so it’s definitely been scraped in the past.
I know there are things that can help, like setting up Cloudflare, and some WordPress plug-ins that self-hosted folks can use… I did install an invisible captcha so I get a lot fewer bot spam comments now, for a start.
It’s nice when you have a clear reason for spikes in stats. Luckily I don’t get many spam comments that actually come through (they get trapped in the spam folder) but I’ll have to do some research on some of those plugins.
Yes, I’ve had a few crazy high traffic days and figured it was bots. I’m also trying to get caught up on reviews!
I hope we both have time to catch up this week!
I’m so happy you loved the Slatter, I really enjoyed it so much. Nowhere Burning – well, it couldn’t be further away from A Forest Darkly if it tried. Looking back on my Catriona Ward reviews what really stood out with my thoughts was that I always find her books compelling and dark. She doesn’t shy away from some hard themes, cults and abuse for example. This was hard hitting in places and it had an unusual ending. A little bit bitter sweet but also I think hopeful. I look forward to both your reviews to see what worked for you.
Lynn 😀
Lynn 😀
I’m about to finish up Nowhere Burning and I’m so curious about the ending!
I am interested in seeing what you think of Dollface, that is one of my wants when it comes out.
36 inches of snow! That is crazy. We had about 8 inches two weeks ago and we are suppose to get another 1 to 3 tonight.
I love winter but I think I am ready for spring or fall, just not summer 🙂
Have a great week, Tammy! Happy Reading!
I agree, I wish it was spring/fall all year round:-) Have a great week!
That monkey picture is so cool! And Badger’s picture is wonderful as well! You guys are getting so much snow this year it seems like! We have been having some beautiful weather. Up into the 70s this week again I think. I think my reviews have been down, and I have 3 books sitting waiting to be reviewed on my desk, just haven’t had time. Here’s hoping you have a good week and the storm doesn’t mess things up for you! I don’t mind snow when it gives us snow days off from school, I get so much extra blogging time that way.
Thanks Lisa! I don’t mind snow as long as I don’t have to go anywhere. I do have to travel at the end of the week, so hopefully I’ll be able to get out of town.
Badger is the best! I like the monkeys too. I hope the snow means you will have a bit more water. We are finally going to warm up this week. I usually have my garden planted by now but not this year.
I’m glad your weather is warming up. We have a couple of fruit trees with flowers on them, but I’m sure the snow is going to ruin them.
Amazing photos! I’m excited for your review of A Forest, Darkly — I’ve been wanting to read more by this author, and this one sounds particularly good. I hear you about the bots. I had a day this week with over 4000 views! That’s insane, no rhyme or reason to it, and you’re right, it makes looking at stats completely pointless. Stay warm this week with all the snow on the way!
Those are crazy stats! It’s so frustrating, right? Thanks Lisa!
I know what you mean with bots Tammy! Two months ago I had 126.000 views in one month! It’s ridiculous! Also these pictures are beautiful.
Wow, that’s nuts! Thanks Sophie:-)
Yes, I had a crazy stats day yesterday!!
Strange Animals sounds good!
I’m glad I’m not the only one!
This week here in Ohio it’s going to be in the 50s. That makes it a 70°F+ jump after the -20° of a couple weeks ago! I feel like it’s time to start getting out the tshirts!
Wow, that’s crazy!
I am curious about Dollface!
Me too, I can’t wait to start it!
I’m looking forward to reading your upcoming reviews!
Whoa, that’s a lot of snow coming for you!! I have not personally had this bot issue. Sometimes I’ll get a day where I get more views than usual, but it’s never more than a few hundred. You’re not the first blogger to mention this lately. Dini has been having an issue with it as well as Becky, Caitlin (Realms of My Mind), & Falling Letters.
Beautiful photos! Bots seem to love my blog too. Sometimes I’ll randomly get 25,000 page views in one day. It’s annoying, but I have no idea what to do about it.
I’m also getting hit by bots – I got more traffic in one day than I usually see in a month. What on earth is going on?
And as much as I’ve been enjoying our 80 degree California weather, I wasn’t mad that my day off was a rainy day. Got to curl up with a book in bed and enjoy being cozy!
I don’t check my stats as a rule but I just looked and they seem normal so I guess my blog doesn’t interest them 😉
I hope you stay safe and warm during the storm
Wishing you a wonderful reading week
Lovely pics, Tammy! And those pics are amazing – I don’t think I’d mind missing out on the harpy eagles if I could capture pics of a mama and her baby, instead:)). As for being hit by bots – I had a single visit last summer and then it all started up again in December. So far this year I’ve been hit 3 times with up to 5,000 views within a 24 hour period and as you say – so much for monitoring my stats! Apparently they’re scraping content. I fervently wish whoever is behind this nonsense is afflicted with anal boils.
Hoping the storm isn’t too severe and you have a pile of marvellous books to tuck into. Have a great week – hopefully bot-free!
Good luck with the weather! Three feet is a fair bit of snow, that’s for sure, much more than we typically get around here. Hopefully it’s the lighter sort instead of the heavy wet stuff, makes shoveling a bit easier. Beautiful photos! I just opened a bag of Columbian coffee beans this morning from Aponte Village in Nariño, Columbia. 🙂
I’m over snow right now so I don’t envy you. We are just now getting rid of the ice/snow from the weekend of the 18th. It was awful and stayed cold for way to long (like single digit cold). I love seeing your husband’s awesome photo and I’m convinced Badger and Zekey would be great friends. I just finished Dollface Sunday and hope to post my review Thursday. Wasn’t sure about it at first but after the first few chapters, it really took off. Have a wonderful week and stay safe!