What Makes a Book Blogger?

Away from blogging, reading and writing, I have few other hobbies. I'd much rather stay at home and read a book than join a club - and I spend so much time procrastinating I seem to fill the hours in a day. Although, I absolutely love to bake; even though I always seem to burn or cut myself, or cover the floor in the ingredients that should be in the mixing bowl. In the kitchen, I'm a danger to myself and those around me, but there's something about eating spoonfuls of melted chocolate and being covered in flour that I quite enjoy. When thinking about a blog post, I couldn't help but resist the chance to combine my hobby of blogging and cooking together - and, quite literally, make a book blogger.

 

Recipe

 

50g sense of adventure

50g need to stop our world turning into a dystopia

50g patience for those long-awaited book-releases

75g swoon for those romance novels

75g inability to avoid walking into Waterstones

75g of promising just one more page

100g belief that boys in books actually exist

100g sense of friendship

150g emotional-wreck

150g creativity

200g realisation that a love-triangle will never end the way you wanted

200g escapism

200g perseverance when denied a book

250g need for a five-star read

250g nerves for when meeting your favourite authors

300g love of fictional-heroines

300g reaction for when someone announces they don't like reading

350g excitement

400g procrastination

400g excitement for book-to-film adaptations.

450g inner-critique

450g imagination

500g love of books!

500g favourite reading-snack
 

3 tablespoons of fangirl

 

 

You will also need:

 

Numerous bookshelves filled with colourful spines.

Incapability of choosing just one favourite book.

Memory filled with book-quotes that you can blame on John Green.

A lack of social-life(that you won't miss for moment).

Tissues - lots of them.

 

After:

 

Leave overnight in your local bookstore.

Take out in the morning.

WARNING: Don't drag them out unless they want to leave.

 

***

This was just a short-and-sweet post to wrap-up quite a stressful week. To sum it up in a few sentences, I planned a project called the BBC School Report at my school, which has taken a few months to do, and involved a visit to  a radio-station, an author coming to my school, and doing an interview for the BBC. This all concluded with an appearance on TV - which I wasn't expecting, giving me an indescribable shock when I suddenly appeared.

 

Result:

 

 

A community of book bloggers! Drawing by Amber from The Mile Long Bookshelf!  

So, that's what I feel makes a book-blogger.

What would you add to this recipe?

EDIT: August 2014

Spelling corrected





Being a Blogger: Why do I blog?

After the reaction to my last, 'Being a Blogger' post, I've decided to do a few of these features, the next one I have planned is all about writing reviews, and I may also do a bookshelf tour, as I now have quite a large collection. I have seen posts about why people blog on a few blogs recently, including Queen of Contemporary. This time though, I really wanted to write about why I blog.

 

When I have a huge pile of ARCs, a list of blog posts to write, and absolutely no emails waiting for me when I get home, I always seem to ask myself this question. Right now, with so much revision that I have to put before reading, I always seem to be behind on my reading challenge, and the one thing I do for relaxation ends up being a chore. As I need to finish books to write the reviews, or I need to rush through them so I can reach my yearly-goal, I wonder should I just go back to reading for fun? Why should I put this much stress on myself? Shouldn't I just give it up until exams are over? Shouldn't I forget about it and focus on the schoolwork, as I lot of people have been suggesting? Maybe. But, I don't want to. I blog because blogging gives me things to get excited about, look forward to; people to talk and moan to(Mine and Hawwa's conversations about our impending GCSEs are very uplifting) and also I've achieved so many things because of this blog and I don't want to see these come to an end.

I'm really not sure why actually I blog. I think it's a mixture of different things - such as getting to write about whatever I want to and feeling comfortable to do so, making friends and talking to authors, and reading comments I never thought I would receive. The fact remains that this is my escapism, it's that one thing away from school, revision and all of the things that come with being a teenager in our society, and blogging means I can be myself - and nothing but that. I can freak-out over books, make jokes, and I can have my say as I now I won't be judged for that. Being a blogger has made me much more confident, talkative and passionate about reading, writing and books. Just by writing and getting good feedback, and being as creative as possible to try and think up good ideas, has really helped me come out of hiding. I was extremely shy before blogging, and blogging still makes me feel like I can actually do something.

Writing has also been something I have wanted to do - I can remember writing my first poems and feeling like they were amazing, only to look back at them now and feel my cheeks flaming-red just at the memory. Getting to write and have people actually read it is incredible. I adore writing - it's the one thing I just can't get enough of. It's like a really good book, once you're hooked, that's it. Until the final page. It's been my hobby for a huge number of years now, and through blogging, I've been able to do it a lot more. I never had a reason to write before, and hardly wrote, but now, I write everyday. Blogging is also addictive. You can't escape the hold it has on your life - and I'm not sure I want to. There's something about being a blogger that makes you feel extremely proud, and I blog because of all the opportunities you get. This year, I'm hoping to go YALC, and that's all down to my blog. 

The blogging community has been somewhat of a school for me, I've just learnt so much. I've learnt, firstly and probably most importantly, what a blog is, as I had no idea before I started this blog. I also never thought much - if at all - about how a book found it's way onto the shelves in a shop - just accepted it. Now, I know, and understand all of the hard work, and also the publishing-world, with ARCs, press-releases and reviews. I hadn't ever written a review before blogging, the first time I wrote one was for the second post on this blog, and I didn't know what happened exactly to have your review on the front of a book. I enjoy learning, and improving my writing, as reading other blogs makes me want to be better. Not in a competitive way, but because I want to be on the same level . Being part of this community fits in well here as I've never had better friends than other book bloggers.

 

I think I could sum up this whole blog post in one sentence.

 

I blog because I can't imagine myself doing anything else.

 

 

So, why do YOU blog?

Tell me in the comments!

Being a Blogger: Why do we hide?

Blogging is not a game of Hide 'N' Seek - as I don't want anybody that I know to find me. I like to blog knowing that none of my school friends are reading my posts, leaving comments and following my blog's Twitter account, where I spend most of my time talking about books, and their adaptations. Only a few of my closest friends know that I run a blog - as I like sharing some of the good things that have happened with them - and even less know the name, so hardly anyone is actually able to find it. Apart from that, there's my Year Nine English teacher. I think. This got me thinking. Why do we bloggers hide? Is it because we are fearful of what others will think if they find out we blog about books? As that mocking is still there. Is it because we are worried about getting awful comments? Is it because we act differently when we are online, we have more confidence to share our views and likes/dislikes without the judgement of those that know us? These are just a few of the things that are very true for me. Should what somebody else thinks matter, though? Shouldn't we feel comfortable to share our blog, and hope that the people we see would support us? Sadly, this isn't the case for a lot of us.

 

We are not the only people who like to hide - are we?
Picture from the Telegraph.

 

I find the prospect of having anyone from school reading my blog extremely daunting. It's a scary thought, especially as I have discussed some personal-issues such as bullying on this blog. I was a completely different person in school when I began writing this blog: unconfident, quiet, nervous. I was just beginning to 'come out of my shell' but would have never been able to do some of the things I volunteer to do now(like teach a lesson). With the freedom to say what I want, and write about my interests, knowing that the pressure to 'fit-in' wasn't - and still isn't - there, as with school it is, I've been able to become the type of person I want to be. If people from school were reading this blog, I wouldn't feel like I could be myself. I'd have to be careful about what I say so, I don't come across as 'weird' to them. I hide behind a screen as I like being able to live a Hannah Montana life - just without the fashionable clothing, adoring fans and bright-lights. Which I don't mind not having!

 

One of the main reasons I don't make Youtube videos and set up a channel like Amber and Lucy have done, is because I'm worried about getting laughed at. I know some people would be happy for me, and would love the fact I'm running this blog in my own corner of the internet, but others wouldn't be. I'm sure people wouldn't be outright horrible to me - but, I'm not sure they would be supportive either. The few people I've told, they have been harsh at times, insulting the things I have done because of this blog. Some have also outright said they, "Don't care" and ignored me when I've started to speak about books and blogger. The fact that I may get not-so-nice comments, and then I could end up annoying people to the point where I have nobody to talk to, makes me want to keep this blog hidden. I'm not saying, by far, I haven't showed somebody my blog and have had a positive reaction. There have been some great reactions, some people have been proud but, I'd rather not risk it.

 

I know I can't hide forever. There's going to be a time where I'm going to need to share this blog, or I will want to start posting videos, or doing a job that involves books everyday. For now though, with the stresses of GCSEs and school, I think I just need somewhere to post about the things that I like to enjoy, and also discuss opinions that I wouldn't speak about to friends. I care a lot about what people think about me, and that's one of the main reasons I hide.

 

I want to know, as I blogger, why you hide. You may not - and if you don't, tell me why you like sharing your blog. I know a lot of bloggers that hide because they need that escapism from school - where there's teenage girls who just don't get-along.

 

Why do you hide? Why don't you hide?

Tell me in the comments!

When Reading Becomes a Chore...

Reading is such a huge part of my life: it's the one thing that allows me to escape to fictional-world, make friends that lead exciting lives, and learn about what could come in the future. It makes me much more aware of what I should be doing to prevent a future like the setting of Breathe by Sarah Crossan happening, and also allows me to be part of this incredible community where loving to read and celebrating books is what matters. The only problem is, when you're a book reviewer, it can feel like reading is a chore, and this is one of the aspects I try to avoid as much as possible. I, of course, don't want the hobby I love to become something I have to force myself to do because the publication is only a few days away.

 

Opening a book becomes a chore for me when I receive a book from a publisher, realising it's not what I normally enjoy, and would suddenly rather be reading another book that I know I will love, which is waiting for me. I'm currently in this position. Patrick Ness' new novel 'More Than This' is waiting to be read, I've only managed to read the first-page because I've been so busy, and I'm stuck trying to finish all of the ARC's I've got in time for 2014.The important thing is to enjoy reading, for me, as I never want to purposefully rush a book and try to read it as fast as I can. Personally, I could never manage over fifty books in a year due to the fact I'm the type of reader that loves to just take every page, every paragraph and every sentence in, as well as understanding every piece of information. If I ever notice I'm starting to read quicker than usual, in an attempt to put it down, write a review, and never pick it up again, I begin to wonder since when did reading become something I had to do. I'm never more excited than when I get a book-shaped package, and love receiving books to review though!

 

Because I want to read everywhere.

 

To stop reading becoming a homework that is completely un-related to school, which, after all of my revision lately I definitely don't want to happen, I seem to get into the habit of reading a book I'm not enjoying much, and one I have been wanting to read, and have heard amazing things about at the same time. This isn't something I normally notice, I'll admit, until it comes to talking to someone who asks me what I'm currently reading, and start listing them! One of the worst things to happen is to get yourself into a reading slump but, I will have around two weeks(normally the holidays - which are one week away!) where I read a huge amount, and then will not pick up a book for another week. I wish they wouldn't happen, but If I don't want to read, I don't read. It's simple. I think this is a point that needs to be made as book bloggers turn those pages more times than most others so, if you read two books and then think, ' I need to read this one for that review to go up next week' STOP. I started going through a phase of doing this and my thoughts were elsewhere.

 

I doubt I will ever give all of the review-copies I receive a five-star rating; as I'm not going to love them all, and not every book is going to be my idea of brilliant. When I request an ARC, or get an email about the next month's books, I almost read the synopsis and choose one's I think I will like. This doesn't mean I just stay within the safe boundaries of one genre, as I adore finding a new type of book I like and having it surprise me, but instead if there's one I feel like I should get for the reason that I can, I make sure I don't ask for it. I want to write positive reviews and only give constructive criticism if I need to; so why start I book knowing that I may not like it in the first place? You've got to be in a certain 'mood' to read different genres. If you're going through exams and need a book to make you laugh, I suggest you pick up a copy of 'Geek Girl' not 'The Fault in Our Stars.' These are the small choices that make my love for books just grow.

 

Do you ever feel like reading becomes a chore? What do you do to make sure this doesn't happen? Tell me in the comments!