diff --git a/src/views/core.clj b/src/views/core.clj
index 3fcfc3f..07983f0 100644
--- a/src/views/core.clj
+++ b/src/views/core.clj
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   (:require
     [views.protocols :refer [IView id data relevant?]]
     [plumbing.core :refer [swap-pair!]]
-    [clojure.tools.logging :refer [info debug error]]
+    [clojure.tools.logging :refer [info debug error trace]]
     [environ.core :refer [env]]))
 
 ;; The view-system data structure has this shape:
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
 
 (defn- subscribe-view!
   [view-system view-sig subscriber-key]
+  (trace "subscribing to view" view-sig subscriber-key)
   (-> view-system
       (update-in [:subscribed subscriber-key] (fnil conj #{}) view-sig)
       (update-in [:subscribers view-sig] (fnil conj #{}) subscriber-key)))
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@
               (catch Exception e
                 (error "error subscribing:" namespace view-id parameters
                        "e:" e "msg:" (.getMessage e))))))
-        (debug "subscription not authorized" view-sig subscriber-key context)))))
+        (trace "subscription not authorized" view-sig subscriber-key context)))))
 
 (defn- remove-from-subscribers
   [view-system view-sig subscriber-key]
@@ -151,6 +152,7 @@
    identified by subscriber-key. Additional context info can be passed in,
    which will be passed to the view-system's namespace-fn (if provided)."
   [{:keys [namespace view-id parameters] :as view-sig} subscriber-key context]
+  (trace "unsubscribing from view" view-sig subscriber-key)
   (swap! view-system
          (fn [vs]
            (let [namespace (get-namespace view-sig subscriber-key context)
@@ -164,6 +166,7 @@
   "Removes all of a subscriber's (identified by subscriber-key) current
    view subscriptions."
   [subscriber-key]
+  (trace "unsubscribing from all views" subscriber-key)
   (swap! view-system
          (fn [vs]
            (let [view-sigs (get-in vs [:subscribed subscriber-key])
@@ -183,7 +186,7 @@
             (error "refresh-queue full, dropping refresh request for" view-sig))
           (do
             (when (collect-stats?) (swap! statistics update-in [:deduplicated] inc))
-            (debug "already queued for refresh" view-sig))))
+            (trace "already queued for refresh" view-sig))))
       (catch Exception e (error "error determining if view is relevant, view-id:"
                                 view-id "e:" e)))))
 
@@ -209,7 +212,7 @@
    queued up in the view-system."
   ([hints]
    (when (seq hints)
-     (debug "refresh hints:" hints)
+     (trace "refresh hints:" hints)
      (mapv #(refresh-view! hints %) (subscribed-views)))
    (swap! view-system assoc :last-update (System/currentTimeMillis)))
   ([]
@@ -231,7 +234,8 @@
   (fn []
     (try
       (when-let [{:keys [namespace view-id parameters] :as view-sig} (.poll ^ArrayBlockingQueue refresh-queue 60 TimeUnit/SECONDS)]
-        (when (collect-stats?) (swap! statistics update-in [:refreshes] inc))
+        (trace "worker running refresh for" view-sig)
+        (if (collect-stats?) (swap! statistics update-in [:refreshes] inc))
         (try
           (let [view  (get-in @view-system [:views view-id])
                 vdata (data view namespace parameters)
@@ -246,7 +250,7 @@
       (catch InterruptedException e))
     (if-not (:stop-workers? @view-system)
       (recur)
-      (debug "exiting worker thread"))))
+      (trace "exiting worker thread"))))
 
 (defn refresh-watcher-thread
   "Returns a refresh watcher thread function. A 'refresh watcher' continually attempts
@@ -265,12 +269,13 @@
           (error "exception in views e:" e "msg:" (.getMessage e))))
       (if-not (:stop-refresh-watcher? @view-system)
         (recur)
-        (debug "exiting refresh watcher thread")))))
+        (trace "exiting refresh watcher thread")))))
 
 (defn start-update-watcher!
   "Starts threads for the views refresh watcher and worker threads that handle
    view refresh requests."
   [min-refresh-interval threads]
+  (trace "starting refresh watcher at" min-refresh-interval "ms interval and" threads "workers")
   (if (and (:refresh-watcher @view-system)
            (:workers @view-system))
     (error "cannot start new watcher and worker threads until existing threads are stopped")
@@ -290,6 +295,7 @@
 (defn stop-update-watcher!
   "Stops threads for the views refresh watcher and worker threads."
   []
+  (trace "stopping refresh watcher and workers")
   (swap! view-system assoc
          :stop-refresh-watcher? true
          :stop-workers? true)
@@ -323,6 +329,7 @@
   "Starts a logger thread that will enable collection of view statistics
    which the logger will periodically write out to the log."
   [log-interval]
+  (trace "starting logger. logging at" log-interval "secs intervals")
   (if (:logger @statistics)
     (error "cannot start new logger thread until existing thread is stopped")
     (let [logger (Thread. ^Runnable (logger-thread log-interval))]
@@ -335,6 +342,7 @@
 (defn stop-logger!
   "Stops the logger thread."
   []
+  (trace "stopping logger")
   (swap! statistics assoc :stop? true)
   (if-let [^Thread logger (:logger @statistics)]
     (.interrupt logger))
@@ -350,6 +358,7 @@
    watcher and dispatched to the workers resulting in view updates being sent out
    for the relevant views/subscribers."
   [hints]
+  (trace "queueing hints" hints)
   (swap! view-system update-in [:hints]
          (fn [existing-hints]
            (reduce conj (or existing-hints #{}) hints))))
@@ -415,6 +424,7 @@
    the call to init!."
   [views send-fn & [options]]
   (let [options (merge default-options options)]
+    (trace "initializing views system using options:" options)
     (reset! view-system
             {:views        (into {} (get-views-map views))
              :send-fn      send-fn
@@ -431,6 +441,7 @@
   "Shuts the view system down, terminating all worker threads and clearing
    all view subscriptions and data."
   []
+  (trace "shutting down views sytem")
   (stop-update-watcher!)
   (if (:logging? @view-system)
     (stop-logger!))