Ten years ago when I desultorily started writing blog posts, I had no idea that I'd turn out to be still reading and reviewing a decade later. I didn't even know at the start that this was going to turn out to be a focused book blog. SO MUCH has changed in ten years of book blogging. For example:
- the book blogosphere has exploded with new bloggers
- book review and author scandals come and go and come again....
- the focus on social justice and diversity in our reading is so much stronger and more active
- reading challenges are both broader and less common these days
- professional book review sites are much more in evidence
- other social media avenues, like Booktube and twitter, have garnered some of the original book talk from blogs
- BUT book bloggers are still reading and talking and sharing bookish thoughts!
Can you think of any other startling differences that have happened over your own blogging career?
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| On the phone, er, internet, nobody knows you're a dog |
What has blogging done for me over the decade?
Well, I find that my reading community is fantastically huge. I love all the bloggers I've met, some of whom have become real life friends, and many of whom have become online friends who I follow eagerly. People have disappeared from the reading community, some who are simply tired of blogging and some who have left us altogether - and who we all miss greatly.
Book blogging has enriched my professional life as a librarian. I've made connections, I've deepened the habit of reflection on my reading, and I have a record of those thoughts! I often check in to see what other bloggers are talking about when I am thinking about purchases or about book recommendations. And the book talk about all kinds of issues in the publishing world and the reading community is enlivening and refreshing, and helps me stay on top of the issues I need to know as a professional book person.
Blogging has been a lifeline for me into a vibrant, thoughtful community of readers, a community that I am very grateful to be a part of. While the amount of blogging I've done has varied over the years, I've counted myself in as a book blogger for the past ten years. And I don't really see that changing - I enjoy my blog, and I love sharing my love for books.
Here's to another ten years ahead!
*all photos thanks to the British Library & the Library of Congress flickr streams
