Why Blog About Books?

Or, Why I’ll Be a Terrible Book Blogger

By Holly

Some confessions: I didn’t even know that so many book blogs existed until just a couple months ago. I have, thus far, proven terrible at keeping up with a Goodreads account. I have an aversion to giving number ratings to books, because usually the way I feel about a good book is far too complex to summarize in a simple number. And, I am not nearly hip enough to keep up with reading books that are just barely published, let alone not even released yet. (When I started checking out book blogs, I kept seeing the term ARC everywhere, and I first thought that must be some e-book format until I finally realized what it meant). Also, I have no interest in limiting my reading to one particular genre, or in spending too much time trying to get a hold of what’s hot in books. I love paperbackswap.com, and I also want to express my heartfelt appreciation for whoever came up with the system where you can request library books when you’re at home in your PJs and pick them up when they are available. In short, I am probably not a trendy enough reader to be a blogger.

However, I do think this book blog is the best idea that Amanda and I have had since we decided (or I decided for us) to go kayaking on the fjords in New Zealand. I love to read. I really love to write. I have thought about blogging a zillion times since blogging became a thing, but the kind of blogs I like to read are not the kind of things I would like to write, so I keep finding myself stuck in this loop in which I want to write but I don’t know what I can write about regularly and consistently and, most important, interestingly.

Enter books.

Amanda has some book blogger friends, and, if I have not mentioned already, her reading is analogous to the running of Kenyans from the Kelejin region. She is crazy speedy, and always looking for more good books. She’s also insightful and willing to share her recommendations, even when sometimes it takes me years to make it through them. On a recent visit, Amanda was telling me about her book blogger buddies and how there are book expos and free copies (that ARC thing, again) and lots of opportunities to connect with other people on the subject of good books. I was hooked from the get-go.

Writing about books with my sister is perfect – she is much better than me about knowing what’s out there and what’s good and she will surely figure out a way to get us to book expos and events. For me, writing about books is an opportunity to write about just about anything – because really, no matter what I’m dwelling on, I can link it to the book I’m currently reading. That link might be the subject matter, because I often look for books related to places I’ve been or things I want to learn, or it might be the fact that I lost myself in a particular novel because the character’s troubles helped put some situation of my own in perspective.

So, with this book blog, I’ve got a new reason to read more, and read more discerningly. I get to write, and I have some measure of accountability (I mean to my sister. Don’t worry – I’m not counting on a flock of readers, since, as I have self-deprecatingly titled this post, I will be a terrible book blogger). And, the most fun part is setting this up with my sister, aka my BFF, giving us plenty to talk about and to crack up about and enough communication to tide us over between visits.