This week’s topic was chosen by Emily of Doodle’s Book Blog and she wants us to talk about why we started blogging. So here goes…
Late last year I came to the realization that because my kids were older and much more independent I had some extra time on my hands. When I thought about what I wanted to do to fill up that time I immediately decided that I wanted to take up baking. I love eating baked goods and thought having more of them lying around the house to eat up would be awesome! It wasn’t. You know why? Because I can’t bake for the life of me. I burned cookies, I made the flattest cakes you could imagine and it’s so damn messy! I hated cleaning up all the flour and sugar and sprinkles! GAH! It was terrible. Maybe baking isn’t supposed to be that messy and that was just me sucking so bad at it but whatever.
So my dreams of becoming a baker died right quick. I then decided that I would start reading more and once I picked that habit back up I realized I was damn good at sitting there and getting lost in stories! I had forgotten how great it could be to get lost in a new book and explore different genres. There was only one problem; I realized that I hadn’t kept track of all the books I had read before (and while) I was pregnant so I found myself getting halfway through a book only to find out I had already read it! At that point my dad introduced me to Goodreads and I was so excited to finally have a way to keep track. So from there I think my journey to becoming a book blogger is pretty standard. I started reading other peoples reviews on the site and then I started writing my own little mini reviews and then the mini reviews just weren’t enough and I wanted my own outlet to voice all the opinions that I had.
I actually remember that I started following Giselle of Xpresso Reads really early on. I saw that all the books I wanted to read, she had read and I started taking her word on anything that I decided to read. As I started getting more of a TBR list I had seen that she had already read a lot of the ones that I was yearning for and they weren’t even out yet! I wrote her a Goodreads message and asked how this was possible and she told me that she had a blog and explained the ins and outs of it to me and VOILA Alluring Reads was born!
I have come to absolutely love the online book blogging community and while the blog does often feel like a full time job, I wouldn’t trade it for the world! There are so many great people that I have come to talk with on a daily basis and I love how being a part of the community has opened me up to books that I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own.
So that’s my story. What’s yours?!
*I apologize for any typo's/nonsensical parts of this post as it was written in a cough medicine induced haze*
I love your blogging story!...and I was reading in your voice which I realized after I got through the part about baking. :D
ReplyDeleteAnyways, my story isn't as exciting, but I have a few reasons that I will be voicing tomorrow. One of my reasons I'm not proud of, but I didn't realize it was why I started my blog until June/July. It was subconscious, but I'm happier now then I was when I opened Doodle's Book Blog in January and I love what I do so that's all that matters.
On a side note, I'll be sure to include your post in my vlog & a link on YouTube! Hope you're feeling better!
What a very productive and meaningful beginning! As for me, I guess my reasons are a little... vain. I guess it's more self-fulfilling than anything.I started blogging because I felt that my voice was worth hearing; that what I had to say held value. But after months of blogging, I realized that others' were equally important.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us!
Gellie @ A Discombobulated Balladry
Hi Jenni! I totally won't notice the typos (if there are any) because I'm in a cough meds haze myself. Make that cough AND flu meds.
ReplyDeleteAmen to the baking situation. I like to eat the stuff but the cleaning up part is such a pain! >.> Although I can't say I'm disappointed at the outcome, cause if you were off someplace being a master pâtissier Alluring Reads won't exist. :D
Uhhh!! I hope you get better, being sick sucks :( *hugs* The upside is that when I'm sick, I usually tend to read more so I hope you get to read lots and lots of great books :)
ReplyDeleteMy "becomin a blogger" stroy isn't that interesting, pretty much the same as yours. And Giselle does have all the books that I want to read LOL!! She's great and so are you :)
As for the baking part, I don't consider myself a great baker, but I love to bake and usually the outcome is pretty good, although I have burnt my fair share of cakes and brownies. But yep, I love love love to bake! That's probably one of the reasons I'm studying Food Technology and Marketing at Uni and I'm so excited that we get to finally use these labs for cooking and analysis next semester ;)
Hope you get better soon!!
Great post hon!! Sorry you have a cold. I suck and never did my vlog last week. I didn't even think to write a post since I couldn't record. I love baking and am actually pretty good at it. I like to bake and then eat my yummy treats while reading lol!! I started following Giselle early on too. She has been a big inspiration and huge support for me. I had no clue what I was doing when I first started. I just wanted to get my thoughts out of my head about books that I read. I soon learned how awesome the community is and love it. I am so glad that I decided to do it.
ReplyDeleteFeel better, Jenni! <3
ReplyDeleteI love hearing how people started blogging. You know what? I love baked goods as well but I'm not a very good baker! :(
My blogging story isn't as interesting. I finished high school. Had to wait 8 months to start uni. So I was bored and decided to have a blog! Giselle's blog was on the first blogs I followed too. I remember stalking her blog and never really commenting because I was so scared of her! :P
Great post, love! And yes, Giselle was one of the initial bloggers to inspire me to start my own book review blog <3 I remember writing her a similar message and she replied so quickly! I met you about a month later, and it's all history from there ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo glad we started this crazy journey - and even more glad I met YOU! <3
Aww I'm so glad I helped give birth to Alluring Reads! I remember hunting down our very first Goodreads convos when we got to be friends it's so weird to see how we talked before we even knew each other and before your blog!
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a story to be honest. Through Goodreads I remember hearing about blogging and I was like WTF does that mean? So I checked out a few blogs and honestly at first I didn't get the point. I was like, so Goodreads, but not? Anyways, I figured I'd try it out and see what the fuss is all about. People seemed to be really IN the book scene when they had a blog and I wanted to be with the cool people!
I suck at baking too. But I make epic PB cookies!!
That is such an awesome story, Jenni! You are not alone in your baking disasters - the mess puts me in a bad mood and then everything just goes to crap!
ReplyDeleteI used to blog years ago about being an expat, and had a bit of fun doing it, so when I saw people on GR talking about book blogs I thought I'd have a stab at it. No one told me it would be so much fun though!
Jenni, I hope you're going to feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your book blogging journey. It's awesome that your dad introduced you to Goodreads!
I joined Goodreads in late 2011 and then as I connected with people like Giselle at Xpresso Reads, starting a book blog just seemed to be the next natural step :)
I hope you are feeling better soon. I was sick for ages last month because I ended up getting a secondary bacterial infection on top of my cold, which ended up giving me fricking pinkeye!
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, hopefully that doesn't happen to you!
I love your story about beginning your blog. I love baking, but I hate cleaning up afterwards. I even got my boyfriend to help me make gingersnaps on Saturday, which was a lot of fun (now that he listens to me about when they're done).
I love goodreads and I'm glad it helped get you into blogging!
I used to bake a lot before I blogged. I'm really good at it, but hate cleaning up and the cookies were making me fat! I've always loved to read, but never even knew about blogs. I'm so happy I started blogging. And I'm happy YOU started blogging!
ReplyDeleteAwww, poor Jenni! :(
ReplyDeleteGet well soon! This is what happens when you have kids. GERMS ERRYWHERE.
No wonder you and Giselle are so close. She fathered your blog!
Ha, you're right - this does sometimes feel like a full-time job! A very rewarding job, though. :) My journey began with Goodreads too. I had no idea book-blogging was even a thing until I spoke to a few bloggers on Goodreads. I'm really glad I fell into it though as it's been a blast so far. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Jenni!
I was up at 1:30 this morning reading this ... it worked that you didn't have a video today! Sorry you're not feeling well, but it's nice you could still contribute your story. It's always nice to see why bloggers started blogging. :)
ReplyDeleteWow! Everyone is getting sick lately, I hope you feel better soon! :D
ReplyDeleteI had actually signed up for Goodreads but then didn't use it a lot because I didn't know what to actually do on there. Afterwards, I won a giveaway on the YA Scavenger Hunt. I have to admit, after that, I just looked for giveaways and came across many blogs that inspired me to create my own. And now here I am! :D I still can't believe I followed you for a couple months before realizing you were from Edmonton, haha.
Get better soon, Jenni! :D
I'm sorry your baking dream didn't work out! Lol. You and I have a pretty similar story (in some ways). I'd go through phases where I'd read, read, read and then I'd have to break for things like work, school etc. In the beginning I think I read Hex Hall books 1 & 2 twice because I forgot I had already read them once. Goodreads has been a lifesaver! Besides Twitter, I seriously think I'm on Goodreads more than any other social sites like Facebook. I can spend hours perusing other's read/tbr list trying to find more books I want to read.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning I didn't actually know about bloggers/reviewers. I had always assumed that regular buyers were the ones posting on Amazon and B&N etc. Amy @ Book Loving Mom was my "Giselle". She had started a few months prior and gave me the 411. My one year is coming up in January, and all though there has been some ups and downs I wouldn't trade my past year of blogging for anything.
Thanks for sharing a little more about yourself with us. Rest up!
I did not know that Giselle was the first blogger you ever interacted with. That's really awesome! I'm glad you two remained really great friends. My story is not as interesting as yours, but I am certainly glad to be a part of this community. Your blog is wonderful, and it has become one of my favorite go-to blogs because I love your voice and opinions on books. Yeah, we don't always agree, but that's okay because I know your opinions are always going to be entertaining no matter what.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is a lot of hard work, but it's incredibly rewarding sometimes. I'm glad it worked out for you because I think baking would have drove you nuts eventually. LOL.