The Blogger Recognition Award

I was nominated by Kimberly at My Bookish Bliss. Her blog is one I follow, and I enjoy reading the content she provides. Please check out My Bookish Bliss when you get the opportunity. (The advice she provides in the linked post above is on point!)

The Rules:

Thank the blogger/s who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Write a post to show your award.
Give a brief story of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
Select up to 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
Comment (or pingback) on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

HOW MY BLOG STARTeD

I started my blog last year in June. It’s nearly been a year but there is still so much to learn. I started my blog because I started reading fiction again after a long break from reading anything. I was scarred from all the textbooks I had to read. To my surprise, there seemed to have been an explosion of diversity not only in characters but also in authors. More is still needed, but trust me when I say that it was pretty much nonexistent for me when I was growing up. There were also bloggers that called for diversity in reviewers too. And then one thing led to another, and I thought I could add to increasing diversity while getting to talk about books. I’ve had a blast since then. The bookish community has been awesome.

ADViCE TO NEW BLOGGERS

One of the best pieces of advice comes from from a fellow blogger (Leelyn at SometimesLeelynReads) who I reached out to when I decided to to start a blog: “[write] your reviews the way that works best for you.” This has entailed a lot of different things for me. You can use other bloggers as inspiration. You can use another blogger’s rating system (don’t forget to attribute it to them). You can create your own rating system. You can go based on your feelings. Mainly, there isn’t a right or wrong way. This piece of advice has largely kept me going when I haven’t been sure of what to write. Not only am I a mood reader, but I’m also a mood blogger! The format of my posts may change depending on the book because the book inspired a different kind of post. Guess what? That’s okay! DO YOU!!

Be kind to yourself. It’s okay if you didn’t get a post done by a specific time. It’s okay if you didn’t finish a reading a book in time. AND IT’S OKAY TO NOT FINISH READING A BOOK. DNF IT IF YOU NEED TO. I still sometimes feel guilty about this, but as many bloggers have put it, life is too short to spend time reading a book you don’t enjoy; there are so many better books out there you could be reading instead. Blogging should be a fun experience and putting undue pressure on yourself can lead to anxiety and even burnout. Take breaks when you need it. If you didn’t read a book by a deadline you set for yourself, adjust the deadline. There’s time tomorrow to post it. And if tomorrow doesn’t work out, there’s the day after too. Take care of yourself first.