Wow, wow, wow! I feel like I literally just celebrated my first blogiversary. Yet here I am, celebrating my second blogiversary. How time flies when you’re having fun. I have had, and am still having, so much fun in this book blog/book Twitter community, which was my start. Since then I joined Instagram sometime between year one and two of reigniting my reading passion. And though I don’t post a ton there, I’ve enjoyed those interactions, too. Thank you, everyone, for following along!
Like last year, I decided to do another question and answer session. It’s a fun way to interact with the book community. And it makes me put on my thinking cap. Thank you to all who submitted questions! Now, on to the questions, which I separated into two categories: blogging and reading.
Blogging
What has surprised you the most about running your blog? (Ariana Jane @ The Book Nook)
I had a similar question last year and my answer hasn’t really changed. The time commitment remains the most surprising aspect about running my blog. I more or less have a groove going now, albeit somewhat chaotic at times. But I post more often now than I did in the past, mainly to stay “relevant” and try to stay up to date with what I can. I wrote my first discussion post last month and the time commitment to do that was surprising, too.
What do you get out of writing? There are loads of ways to share your love of books and geek out with other readers, so why did you choose to write/blog? (Michael @ My Comic Relief)
One of the big reasons I chose writing (blogging) as a way to share my love of books is because I don’t want my face all over the internet. I’m not afraid my fellow readers will do anything awful. I’m afraid of what the rest of the internet will do. Laws are lax as f*ck when it comes to the internet and your privacy. I don’t want to be a victim of having my image stolen for creating spoof accounts or used as a stock image for who knows what. I just don’t.
Now that that’s out of the way… I’ve always enjoyed writing. I have vague memories of writing short stories as a kid, though I don’t know if any survived the ravage of time. I kept diaries as a kid. As a teen I role played as an elf on a fantasy forum. (It was Dae Luin, which actually still exists! Wow!) And by role play I mean I wrote literal pages of plot, posted it, and waited for the reply of the other person. (Sadly, I think those documents are gone due to a computer crash.) And, as I recently re-discovered, I even started my own HP fan fic at one point, Sorting Hat song and all.
All this to say that I feel comfortable writing. This is my preferred way to communicate. I have a difficult time formulating thoughts on the fly verbally. Writing helps me organize my opinions and rehearse and verify them. I also opted for writing revews because I wanted to improve my synthesis skills. And I hoped exercising that particular thought muscle would help with the writing side of my science job.
What is one piece of advice you have for anyone that may wanna start a book reviewing? (Lacy @ A Ravenclaw Library)
In my opinion, book reviews are the bread and butter of a book blog. (Though not all book blogs want to focus on reviews.) That is, if you want your role/goal in the bookish community to be that of a book reviewer. However, over time I’ve realized that book reviews might not necessarily bring the most eyeballs to your content for a variety of reasons. Your blog readers may not have read the book, so they don’t want to develop preconceptions. Or they aren’t interested in said book. So if you want to build a book review/bookish community on your blog, I think it’s also important to participate in one or two weekly book-related memes. In general readers can relate easier to broader topics.
Also, if community and interaction are important to you, blog hop and show that you appreciate others’ content. Chances are they’ll visit your blog, too. And, somewhat related, I wrote a whole post about how to find your bookish community, which conveys some of these thoughts.
Reading
If you had one story to gift to someone special, which one would you choose? (Carolin @ Solo Travel Story)
This is a really hard question, Carolin! And it really depends on the reader’s preferences. Since it’s only one story, I have to go with a standalone. One book that really stuck with me was HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Laura Sebastian. It’s hauntingly beautiful and, to me, is the epitome of a feminist retelling of western legend. It’s a book to share with someone who wants to escape present day and let the figurative wind take them back in time.
Top 3 favorite authors? (Hannah @ Get Reading Homie)
Historically I’ve had a difficult time picking favorites for broad topics, such as music artists or books. But as I keep on swimming through the bookish community, I keep on reading. I definitely have a favorite top author at the moment. But second place has plenty of opportunity to shift around once I ever get around to her backlist books. Even third place is a little shaky.
- Olivie Blake
- Sarah J. Maas
- S.T. Gibson/Hannah Whitten
What books did you almost DNF – or actually DNF – only to pick them back up later and end up loving them? (Rebecca @ Indie Book Spotlight)
Well, honestly, I’ve never done this! I have DNF several books over the past couple of years. But I’ve never gone back to read the few that I still do want to finish. I suppose if forced to pick it would be THE SUBTLE KNIFE by Philip Pullman. I started it a couple of times over the past 6 months before I finally told myself I have to finish it. And I was having a hard time sitting down to read it, so I borrowed the library audiobook via Libby and am loving it. I’m over 50% through it now. Sometimes you just need a change of medium to keep that momentum!
What are some books from your childhood you still love? (Briana @ Pages Unbound)
This is very stereotypical millennial of me, but I don’t care. I still love the Harry Potter series. I know that’s sort of a dirty word now because of the author’s views. But it doesn’t change the fact I enjoyed this series a lot.
I actually still love a lot of books from my childhood. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is another great series. And I’m sure I’d still love Nancy Drew if I decided to ever pick up any of those books for a reread. I also really love Monica Furlong’s JUNIPER and WISE CHILD (I never read the third book). Oh, and Angelina Ballerina was so adorable.
What are some of your favourite books you’ve discovered through blogging? (Ashlee @ Books Are 42)
Since I’m on several platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and blog), the discoveries on each blend together. So I’ll approach this question as an “all of the above.” (This doesn’t include discoveries from my own NetGalley browsing.) There are plenty of books I’ve discovered through blogging that I haven’t read yet, so I won’t include those here. (I think we all have that issue!) But discoveries via these aforementioned platforms that became favorites include:
- THE ATLAS SIX by Olivie Blake: Despite reading some middling reviews, I ended up loving this.
- TO BLEED A CRYSTAL BLOOM by Sarah A. Parker: I believe this was more of an Instagram find.
- HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Laura Sebastian: Shout out to Sam @ Will Read For Booze for the introduction to this book!
- THE DARK QUEENS by Shelley Puhak: I found out about this one from Krysta @ Pages Unbound.
- THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN by Shauna Lawless: Thanks to Nick at Out of This World SFF for putting this book on my radar.
Thank you all for joining another blogiversary Q&A session! I hope you all found this at least somewhat entertaining!
Happy blogiversary!
Thank you!
Happy blogoversary!! Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is still a favorite of mine (actually the whole series) too😁 I’m glad I discovered your blog, and I hope your next year is a good one!
Thanks, Tammy! I’m glad I discovered your blog, too! 🙂
Happy blogiversary to you! It was such fun reading through your answers to these fantastic questions. Here’s to many more years of wonderful book blogging 🙂
Thanks, Stephanie! Cheers to many more years of book blogging! 🙂
Happy Blogoversary. I really enjoyed reading these questions and your answers.
Thanks, Janette!
Happy blogiversary!
Thanks!
Happy blogiversary!! 🎉
Thanks, Chris!
Happy blogiversary!
Thank you!
Happy Blog Birthday, Celeste! This was such a fun post idea, too. I really appreciate how you framed your approach to writing. I feel a lot of that myself! I have blogging friends who have shifted to podcasting or running YouTube channels and I…I don’t know. I don’t think I could do that. I like the time, the organization, and the playing around with ideas I can do with writing that I couldn’t do talking on the fly (though I love talking (and would even characterize myself as hyper-verbal XD)). Plus, there’s just something, hmm, something…magical about seeing a bunch of ideas come together in a piece :). I love it. I love your site and your writing, too! Here’s to another year of great content and loads of fun!
Thanks, Michael! 🙂 I also like the time we have to organize content when using writing versus some video or audio format. I would probably drive myself crazy trying to perfect a video or podcast because I know I would mess up and would need to re-record everything. That’s a lot of work!
Congratulations on this wonderful milestone! Here’s to many more! 🙂
Thank you, Lashaan! 🙂
Happy blogiversary! It was fun reading your answers! I agree, book reviews are the bread and butter for most book blogs – it’s also a good way to get inspired for tags, discussions, etc.
Thank you! 🙂