Only a few months away from my one year blogging anniversary, I thought it would be a good time to do this topic. Seriously though?! I can’t believe i’ve been blogging for almost a year! It feels like just yesterday I made the decision to finally do this. But through these last 10 months I’ve learned so much. One of the things I’ve learned – blogging is stressful! And most of that pressure is put on ourselves by us. Yes, you heard me, we are our own worst enemy. So it’s helpful to take a step back and look at the reasons why we do this crazy thing to ourselves. I will be getting into a much more mushy and lengthy discussion about all of this on my anniversary but until then, here are my top 5 reasons why I blog!
Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme where I explore different topics. If you are interested in participating I would love to have you! Here is a list of my Upcoming Topics in November – please remember to ping back a specific post of mine so I get a notification and I will add you to the participants list!
BOOK REVIEWS!
I know that book reviews aren’t the most popular with some book bloggers. They either hate writing them or they’re their least viewed post, but reviews are the #1 reason why I started the blog. Quite a few years ago, when I was only choosing books based on the synopsis, I found that I was always choosing books that weren’t for me. They would sound good but then I wouldn’t like them. So I started to look into books more before I made a purchase, and reviews became necessary. I paid attention to why someone liked a book and why they didn’t, and those reviews helped me SO much in finding the types of books I really enjoyed. So I decided to start this blog in hopes that my reviews could help just one person find their next great read. If I helped only one person, then I would be happy.
THE CHANCE TO FANGIRL!
Let’s be honest here, most of us just wanted a place to fangirl over all the books we love so much! Some of you may be lucky enough to have friends in real life who are also obsessed with books, but I don’t really have anyone around me who loves them as much as I do. So I turned to my space on the internet to blab about all the books, worlds and characters I love so much! And you all COMPLETELY understand me when I freak about fictional characters (Rhysand) and worlds (Hogwarts) because you want a piece of them too! (literally)
A SPACE AND PLACE JUST FOR ME
As I’ve mentioned a million times before, I’m a wife, mother of 2, and a business owner. I’m an insanely busy person and spend 99.99999% of my time doing things for other people. I used to play roller derby and that was my time for me but, after an injury, I had to quit, so I was left with nothing for myself again. I decided to take my lifelong passion for reading and turn it into my blog. This is the one place (besides books) that I can escape all the daily needs and pressures and focus on the positivity and pages. I get to be this excessive fangirling bookworm with all of you and it makes my heart happy!
THE COMMUNITY AND FRIENDS!
This was an unexpected one, but a welcome surprise! After only blogging for a few weeks, I quickly realized that the community was going to be one of my favourite parts! I love getting lost in conversations about books with all of you and consider quite a few of you friends. I love following your lives and passions through your blogs, love your updates and humour on twitter – all of it! Like the book Eliza And Her Monsters, her online friends were just as real as the friends she could see in person. Every single day I look forward to talking with all of you!
THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH PUBLISHERS
Obviously, this one wasn’t immediate, but it was something that I worked towards and something that I’m most proud of. Ever since I was a kid I would pay attention to who was publishing books. Not sure why. Even as an adult I would cruise the aisles of a book store and search the spines for publishers logos. Now, being able to partner with the publishers that I’ve admired all my life and provide reviews for them is so special to me. I can’t even put this into words. Yes, I get a book out of it which is obviously amazing, but “working with them” is more special to me than the book itself. I’m still kicking myself for not going to school to go into publishing because it’s interested me since I was a child but, shoulda coulda woulda!
TOP 5 TUESDAY PARTICIPANTS:
- Dreamy Reads
- Rhea – Bookchanted
- Vanessa – The Bookish Deer
- Paige – The Girl With All The Books
- Bernadette – Spine Cracker
- Birdie Bookworm
- Rachael – Beach Bookworm
- Sophie – Beware Of The Reader
- Joe – J.W. Martin
- Alyssa – A Reader’s Journey
- Rebecca – My Life As A Sports Fangirl
- Erin – A Red Head’s Rambling
- Kyera – Kyera’s Library
- Nia – Shades Of Paper
- Literary Lattes
- Rose – Stuck In Fiction
- Jillian – Jillian The Bookish Butterfly
This list could have been SO long! There are so many things that I love about blogging! I never stick to anything all that long – especially when it requires THIS MUCH WORK! You all know what I’m talking about! But it’s so worth it in the end 🙂 How about you? What are the reasons you blog?
Until next time, happy reading!
Seeing these posts today makes me think more and more of things you learn because of blogging, haha. PLANNING. That’s the big one for me.
I agree with all your reasons though!
Having a community where you fit in no matter what helps so much. Especially if “real life” gets hard. You always have a place to fall back to and pretty much forget everything else. Something that I’d add in mine is getting in touch with books I otherwise would never hear about or get in touch with. Bookstagram, bookblogs and everything else has made my TBR go through the roof but I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have read half the books I have if I hadn’t started my blog. :p
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Planning had been a huge thing for me as well!! It’s made me kind of obsess over lists and writing down ideas!
Omg the TBR is overwhelming now! You’re so right! There are so many books I probably would have passed on if it wasn’t for bloggers and YouTubers spreading their thoughts and love!
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Yup! That’s why I’m investing all my creativity in a bullet journal now, haha. I’m hoping it’ll help me even more in planning everything and staying on top of things.
IT IS! I’ve never in my life bought as many books as I did since I started my blog. That alone. Not to mention my wishlist. Or the sudden addiction to subscription boxes and bookish goodies.. :’D
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Lol bullet journals are such an addiction in itself!! 😂
Oh god. The wish lists……. and subscription boxes……. I need to win the lottery to get all this stuff! What subscription box is your favourite? It’s been a while since I’ve gotten one and I was hoping to pick one up in the new year 🙂 I’ve tried Owlcrate and liked it a lot but it never seemed to have books I was interested in
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Apparently! Yesterday I started messing around with my old neglected bullet journal to figure out the spreads that work for me, haha. “But I wasn’t going to work on my bullet journal yesterday”, oops. Addictive indeed!
I’ll be having a party once my car loan’s paid off. Warned my boyfriend too. Car loan paid off equals me getting every subscription box out there for one month, haha.
So far I’ve gotten FairyLoot, which I have a monthly subscription for. Haven’t read all the books I received yet, but they all sound right up my alley. Got OwlCrate for the first time this month and liked it as well, although I have to say that I like FairyLoot better. Less shipping costs also since they ship from the UK.
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Hahahahaha the addiction of the bullet journal strikes! And you definitely need to splurge after your car payments are over! That’s a huge accomplishment!
Ive heard that fairy loot is the best from pretty much everyone so I think that’s the one I’ll try next. Problem is that’s the most expensive one since I live in Canada. Oh well. I know I’ll like it so it’s not like it’s wasting money 🙂
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Strikes and strikes hard!
Indeed! That’s what I said! [Pretty sure my boyfriend will go nuts but. not. my. problem, haha.]
Shipping costs can be such a pain!! I feel you! Definitely think they’ve been worth it lately though. Last month’s had two books and this month there’s supposed to be an ARC in it as well; and a book sleeve. [insert drooling]
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Omg a book sleeve AND and arc!! Wish I would have gotten to this box sooner! 😆
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Haha, you should keep an eye on their Instagram / FB / whatever! That way you’ll know in time when to just go ahead and jump in for one :p
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Thanks for the tip!
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This is a really lovely tag! And I actually love book reviews, they‘re the posts I enjoy most about my own blog & other people‘s blogs. I discovered so many new books through blogging, that’s obviously a huge plus, too. And of course, getting in touch with other book-obsessed people and publishers, sometimes even authors – that’s the most amazing thing 😍
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Agreed! Reviews are my favourite thing to write and read!!
I still squeal like a little girl when authors respond on twitter!
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I‘m glad to hear that someone thinks so, too! 😊
I know!!!! Twitter is such an amazing platform to get in touch with authors, I still can’t believe it, when they actually reply to something I wrote 😳
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Oh good. So I’m not the only one who freaks out when authors reply?!?! 😂
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Definitely not!!! I’m still not over that one time Maggie Stiefvater retweeted one of my tweets, so 😂
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Oh ya I wouldn’t be over that either! That’s amazing!
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aww this is great! i totally agree with you! the own space and all the friends here are the best for me though! thanks so much for sharing! 🤗
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I can totally relate! A lot of my friends aren’t really fond of reading books and it’s so hard to not express myself, specially when my feels go through the roof. I’ve been writing book reviews for a book club for some time now.
I decided to start my blog to have my very own space and to just express myself freely. I also want to make friends with people who loves to read books like me. Posts like this motivate me to do better. Thank you for sharing! I would also love to participate in Top 5 Tuesdays! 🙂
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That’s so cool that you write reviews for a book club! Is it online or in person?
I would love it if you participated! Just remember to link to a specific post of mine and NOT just my main site link. That way I will get a notification that you participated and I can add you to the participants list 🙂
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It’s an online book club 🙂
Yayyy! Okay, thanks. I will 😊
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I loved all your answers and can relate to a lot of things here. The blogging community and friends I’ve made in such a short time are my favorite part of book blogging. I also love having a place where I can be a total nerd about something and find just as much enthusiasm and excitement from others!
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Couldn’t agree more!! Being accepted for being a total book nerd is the best feeling! 🙂😂
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Totally agree about the fantastic community. I have zero self confidence but the positive comments were such a lovely surprise and inspired me to keep going. I am such a book worm and meeting people who are just as enthusiastic is the best thing about blogging for me.
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I’m with you on the zero self confidence thing! But you’re right – positive feedback and interactions made me feel like I was doing something right! 🙂
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Exactly, a few kind words mean so much.
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Hey Shanah, I can totally relate to all your answers. The community is just wonderful. I could never have asked for a more wonderful family. And also blogs are a great place to fangirl.
Ps. I saw your tweet. I hope you are feelng well now.
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Yes! I am feeling better today! I think I just overworked myself this weekend and needed to catch up on some rest 🙂 thanks!!
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I didn’t realise you were a business owner! How the hell do you find time to fit in everything!?
Completely agree with you about the community. Everyone is so lovely! 🙂
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Actually….. I own 2…… 😂 we have a bait and tackle store and we also run a soft plastic manufacturing company. It sounds bigger than it is. But it’s growing fast and it’s getting to the point where we may need to hire help soon. Right now it’s just me and my husband and it’s a lot to handle sometimes. Both businesses are run from our house (that sounds weird but they’re separate) and the property beside our house. Since I technically work from home it’s easy to take a couple minutes to blog and read when I can find the time. Also, because it’s so crazy, I MAKE time to do these things to get my head out of work. My life is crazy lol
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You must be so busy… like ALL the time! But it’s better than being bored I guess haha. Plus your kids will be super proud and grateful when they grow up and realise how hard you both worked! 🙂
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Yup. Busy literally all the time! When it’s not busy it feels wrong 😂
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It’s never too late! Maybe one day you can be a freelancer working with a publisher for more than just free books. I don’t know if that’s a thing that exists, but why not?!
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Ha! That would be nice! I don’t know if such a thing exists either
I’ve been quoted on Twitter by a publisher a few times. Strangely enough it’s a publisher that’s never responded to an ARC request…. maybe they won’t except me because I’m doing it on my own anyway? 😂
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Great post! I love reviewing books and connecting with other bloggers, but I agree that it’s great to have a personal space to do something for ones’s self. I think it’s amazing that you did roller derby. How exciting!
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It was exciting! And I miss it so much!
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I can’t believe you haven’t been around for a year! I feel like you’ve always been around! 🙂
I always check out reviews of a book before I buy them. Maybe I don’t read an entire review, just to watch out for spoilers, but I definitely check out a rating and skim to see the overall feeling. It’s helped me a lot too, especially when I figure out who’s taste is a lot like mine.
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It feels like I’ve been around since forever!! 😂
I do the same. I always read a few reviews to see if its a book I will like. I haven’t spoiled myself (yet) by doing this and I’ve been able to find a lot of books I enjoy instead of just crossing my fingers I’ll like it!
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It definitely helps to have a feel first.
Synopses’s can be very misleading. (I didn’t even realize Synopses’s was a word until it didn’t have a red squiggly line under it!)
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Omg you and I are of the same brain today! The only reason why I left the word was because there was no line
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HAHA!!!!
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Fantastic reasons! I talk about my blog sometimes and my mom always asks me if I’m referring to my real friends or my online ones. I don’t see why they can’t be both?
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Exactly! They’re definitely both!
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“The chance to fangirl” is so accurate hahaha
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Oh I love your reasons to blog here, Shanah – also this is a lovely post, it’s so great to remind ourselves of these things, sometimes ❤ blogging is something that's mine as well, my happy (and kind of stressful at times, but that's because I'm too much of a perfectionnist) place for sure and I love it. I'm so glad to have made SO many friends thanks to blogging as well, and to have SO many people to fangirl with ❤ ❤
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The perfectionist in me struggles too! But the benefits outweigh my crazy 😂
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I love your reasons so much, they really sum up blogging for me! Also wow to the amount of people joining in this week!
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I know! It shocks me every time!!!!
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We do have a lot of the same reasons for blogging. How great!! Congrats on coming up on your year!! That’s a huge accomplishment 🙂
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Thanks! I never thought it would make it this far 🙂
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I loved all your reasons and gave me some ideas if we do another post like this in the future. I feel the same way about book reviews, I look forward to checking out reviews of books I’ve read or plan on reading so I can add to the conversation.
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I’m dumb. My blog post didn’t get published because I attempted to write things while writing a paper, forgetting about the blog thing, and having it publish on me (I’ve got them set to auto-publish late in the day, and I forgot completely to actually FINISH this one.). I’ll try and get it up tomorrow XD Whoops. So sorry.
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No worries! Don’t worry about getting it up today – you’re busy!! I just thought I would let you know because I would want to know if a post published before I wanted it to. It’s happened a few times now and luckily I had people yelling at me to let me know!
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Fantastic reasons! 🙂
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I’m with you about everything! And I know reviews are not (paradox!) the most popular but I love writing them too Shanah. And fangirling! Definitely fangirling!
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this is great. It made me re-think about why I am here.
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