As of today, I have been blogging for seven years. Seven. Years. I know it’s a cliché at this point, but when I first started this blog back in 2010 (in May… except I stopped after one post and didn’t pick it up again until September) I didn’t think I’d make it this far. Fortunately, I quickly discovered that book blogging is a hobby that I really freakin’ love. I love collecting my thoughts on books in one place, I love the book blogging community, I love getting excited about future releases, and I love looking back on old posts and feeling nostalgic.
Over the years, I’ve met some amazing people. Some of them have quit blogging and disappeared from the internet, some have been on hiatus for a while but still keep in contact, and others are really good friends. I’ve met too many people to mention them all here, but just know that you’re all appreciated and I love speaking with you all, whether it’s every day or every couple of months.
I’ve also read a great number of books and discovered so many new favourites thanks to this community. I wouldn’t have had half as much fun if it was just me blogging by myself, and I certainly wouldn’t have discovered a lot of the books that I’ve read, or bought, or am currently hyped to read. Of course, there’s been some blogging drama every now and then. There were a couple of scandals that I remember affecting the blogging community in a massive way, such as The Story Siren plagiarism scandal, and the time that an author stalked a reviewer for simply posting their thoughts, but for the most part a lot of the “drama” goes over my head. I kind of like it that way.
But just because I’ve been doing this thing for seven years now, don’t think I’m a pro at everything that comes with blogging. I’m still absolutely rubbish at commenting, for example. I go through phases in which I comment every day, and then I don’t do any for months. I’m also really bad at reading ARCs on time, more this year than ever before. I need to improve in so many areas, but I think I’m doing alright for myself as a whole.
To celebrate my seven years of blogging, and to share my love with the community, I am doing a couple of giveaways.
Wow, congrats on 7 years ! I’m about to come up on 6 and it’s good to see others have been doing it longer and continue to do it. Also, yeah, I remember that Story Siren scandal, it was the first time I realized the YA community had drama. I went to BEA Bloggers that year and I think someone brought it up on stage and she walked out or something. It was a mess.
CONGRATS ON SEVEN YEARS! It seems like such massive number.
Time passes TOO QUICKLY I swear. I’m pretty sure I’ve been blogging for around 7 years too, but I’ve changed blogs a few times and it still doesn’t feel like that long. I’m just going to go have an existential crisis now haha
Err, Amber… I’ve got a problem. I entered the giveaway through my Mum’s twitter account! Oops… What can I do!?
Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah was my favorite book from the year I started blogging.
Congrats on seven years, that is amazing! 🙂 The book blogging community has changed a lot over that time. I feel like we’ve seen so many people come and go but it’s nice to have some constants 😉
I think one of the books that actually inspired me to start blogging, and is still one of my faves, is The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett (who I actually met last week!) I really wanted to write a review of it, so I shared it on Goodreads, but then I wanted my own space to talk about books.
Congratulations, Amber! I had no idea you’d been blogging that long. I mean, I knew you were a long-standing part of the community, but seven years just blows my mind! I’m very glad to have ‘met’ you, and I hope we’ll even get to meet in person one day!
I only started (co)blogging at the very end of last year, and my favorite book of the year was A Gathering of Shadows. I also really loved Radio Silence, which I read right around the time I wrote my first post.
Seven years! Such a long time! Congratulations 🙂