{"id":41791,"date":"2023-12-31T06:30:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T17:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=41791"},"modified":"2023-12-28T14:31:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T01:31:46","slug":"the-10-most-read-posts-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/12\/31\/the-10-most-read-posts-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Most-Read Posts of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Right here on <em>&#8230;Anything Really<\/em>, that is. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n<p>The reason I&#8217;m posting it on New Year&#8217;s Eve is not only because it seems&#8212;you know&#8212;<em>fitting<\/em>, but because tomorrow is my<a href=\"http:\/\/supernaturalunderground.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Supernatural Underground<\/a> post day, so I&#8217;ll be kicking off the New Year there.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-8750\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Supelogo-150x147.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Supelogo-150x147.jpg 150w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Supelogo.jpg 196w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This, then, must count as my farewell to the old. As always, I shall largely post the 10 in chronological order, but also group by theme where appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>So without further ado, here are the 10 posts that all of you were most into, in 2023:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_41799\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41799\" class=\"wp-image-41799 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Moana_Gif_1.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"192\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-41799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Voyaging on&#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-20854\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Daughter-of-Blood-Tile-109x300.jpg\" alt=\"The-Chaos-Gate-The-Wall-Of-Night-Book-Four\" width=\"90\" height=\"248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Daughter-of-Blood-Tile-109x300.jpg 109w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Daughter-of-Blood-Tile-54x150.jpg 54w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 90px) 100vw, 90px\" \/>Theme One: The Wall Of Night #4 Updates<\/h3>\n<p>As with last year, once I began my review, it swiftly became apparent that the one subject you are vitally interested in is progress updates for <a href=\"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/wallofnight.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Wall of Night<\/a> #4, with three &#8220;most-read: spots going to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">April 27 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/04\/27\/real-news-a-wall-4-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Real News: A Wall #4 Update<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">August 14 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/08\/14\/its-revision-update-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">It&#8217;s Revision Update Time<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">December 21 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/12\/21\/looking-ahead-aka-what-may-help-get-an-earlier-publication-date-for-wall-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Looking Ahead: AKA What May Help Get An Earlier Publication Date for WALL #4<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Theme Two: Posts Closely Related To The Wall Of Night Series<\/h3>\n<p>I <em>believe<\/em> grouping the two posts from the reprised Q&amp;A Thursdays series (featuring reader questions on <a href=\"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/daughterofblood.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Daughter of Blood<\/em><\/a>), with a post on Styling Characters in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/heirofnight.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Heir of Night<\/a><\/em>, and the first report back on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/haarth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Group Haarth&#8217;s<\/a> Wall of Night series read-along, is appropriate. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">March 30 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/03\/30\/qa-thursdays-11-jennys-question\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Q&amp;A Thursdays Reprised #11: Jenny&#8217;s Question on Inspiration and Keeping Going<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">June 15 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/06\/15\/qa-thursdays-13-ashleys-question\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Q&amp;A Thursdays Reprised #13: Ashley&#8217;s Question on the Christchurch Earthquakes &amp; Their Influence<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">June 16 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/06\/26\/styling-characters-in-the-heir-of-night\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Styling Characters in <em>The Heir of Night<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">December 11 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/12\/11\/the-great-wall-of-night-series-read-along-part-1-complete\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Great &#8220;Wall Of Night&#8221; Series Read-Along: Part 1 Complete<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_41024\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41024\" class=\"wp-image-41024 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Fantasy_HelenLoweBooks_image_1-300x241.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Fantasy_HelenLoweBooks_image_1-300x241.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Fantasy_HelenLoweBooks_image_1-150x120.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Fantasy_HelenLoweBooks_image_1.jpeg 502w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-41024\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Wall of Night series (US covers)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-40652\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Curse-of-Shadows-100x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Curse-of-Shadows-100x150.jpg 100w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Curse-of-Shadows-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Curse-of-Shadows.jpg 317w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/>Theme Three: &#8220;What I&#8217;m Reading&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Two <a href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/category\/what-im-reading\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What I&#8217;m Reading<\/a> posts found particular favour this year:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">July 31 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/07\/31\/what-im-reading-curse-of-shadows-amassia-2-by-ak-wilder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Curse of Shadows&#8221; by AK Wilder<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">November 6 &#8212; <a style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/11\/06\/what-im-reading-the-axemans-carnival-by-catherine-chidgey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Axeman&#8217;s Carnival&#8221; by Catherine Chidgey<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While these are book reviews by any other name, because I only post on books I&#8217;ve enjoyed I don&#8217;t consider myself a reviewer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-41665\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Axemans-Carnival_Europa-96x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"96\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Axemans-Carnival_Europa-96x150.jpg 96w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Axemans-Carnival_Europa-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Axemans-Carnival_Europa.jpg 492w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/>Nor is this a review site: it&#8217;s an author blog with occasional forays into books-wot-I&#8217;ve-read. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Last But Never Least<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">October 23 &#8212;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/10\/23\/its-labour-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"> It&#8217;s Labour Day&#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In which I shared photos and a few insights into a short Northland holiday following a two-month writing retreat in Auckland, itself discussed in more detail <a href=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2023\/10\/16\/a-writing-time-in\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a> (included because it was just pipped at place #11.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_41571\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41571\" class=\"wp-image-41571 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2023-10-11-Coopers-beach-2_small-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2023-10-11-Coopers-beach-2_small-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2023-10-11-Coopers-beach-2_small-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2023-10-11-Coopers-beach-2_small-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2023-10-11-Coopers-beach-2_small-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2023-10-11-Coopers-beach-2_small.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-41571\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cooper&#8217;s Beach, Te Tai Tokerau (Northland)<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>And that&#8217;s it for 2023. Never doubt that I wish each and every one of you the very best for 2024, which comes with my hope that the year will deliver on that wish many times over.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40760\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40760\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-40760\" src=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Pohutakawa-flowers_small-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Pohutakawa-flowers_small-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Pohutakawa-flowers_small-112x150.jpg 112w, https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Pohutakawa-flowers_small.jpg 443w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40760\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Happy New Year for 2024<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Right here on &#8230;Anything Really, that is. \ud83d\ude00 The reason I&#8217;m posting it on New Year&#8217;s Eve is not only because it seems&#8212;you know&#8212;fitting, but because tomorrow is my Supernatural Underground post day, so I&#8217;ll be kicking off the New Year there. This, then, must count as my farewell to the old. As always, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bestof-on-anythingreally","category-most-read-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41791"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41813,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41791\/revisions\/41813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}