So, why do I blog about books?
I thought I'd share the skinny with you, on why I started blogging about the books that I love reading so much.
Reading has always been an escape for me and it's been a wonderful, fantastic adventure too. I've met many a swoon-worthy handsome guy, traversed through some amazing dimensions, fell in love with many a character, and dreamed many dreams within the pages of all the books that I've read and I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. Books have been the best thing to happen to me, in more ways than one they may have saved my life. They gave me reason to believe in something, encouraged me to never give up until I've acquired what I wanted, and helped me to discover some things about myself that I never really knew existed. But, I think the most important thing to me, is that they helped to save one of the most amazing and precious friendship's that I could have ever been blessed with.
Before, when I was diving into my books and reading everything that I could get my hands on, I never thought about blogging about what I was reading. It wasn't until I was browsing through Goodreads that I came across a review written by a book blogger and I followed the link back to her blog. I can't remember who that blogger is at the moment, but I can remember how it felt to be awoken to a whole new world that revolved around the book community and thought how amazing it would be if I actually started one of my own book blogs. So, I thought about it for a while and kept it in the back of my mind, then about a week and a half or so later I decided that I wanted to create my own blog where I could talk about the books that I love and why I love reading them.
I've always been a bit of a book-geek, like that anyway. As long as I've known how to read, I've always loved having my nose stuck in a book. I would read pretty much anything that I could get my hands on from Hank the Cow Dog to the Baby-Sitter's Club, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High, Christopher Pike, and so many other's it was unreal. I used to practically live in our local public library every single summer and would check out the maximum number of books allotted to a patron and read through them quick like flash and then go back and check out another batch of them. It wasn't until the summer I turned 15 and I discovered V.C. Andrews and pretty much EVERYTHING changed for me about the way I love to read books and why I love to read them.
In a Throw Back Thursday post, I talked about why I loved V.C. Andrews as much as I do and why her books and the stories that she told (herself) inspired me in so many ways that it was unreal. I had so much fun blogging about that and expressing my love for her beautiful haunting talent that I wish so many more readers could get to know in the same intimate way that I did. I don't feel as if it's an over-statement at all for me to say that her books literally changed the way that I read forever! For me, to say that these books changed the way that I look at life, gave me a new perspective on controversial subject matter, dared me to step out of my comfort zone and redefine my whole way of thinking, and changed the way that I read books forever would be a true statement.
More than anything I love to read about cast of multi-faceted, brave, spirited, passionate, and strong-willed characters that allowed me to feel with them, instead of just for them. I honestly don't feel as if there are near enough of them in young adult literature and I wish there were. I would love more than anything for more young adult author's to write them, so that I could immerse myself into their world and fall in love with them. I wish they would be unafraid to write more about reality, instead of sheltering from the harsh realities of the world around and trying to shelter from the ashes and the pain. I want more healthy relationships written into this wonderful world of YA fiction, even if they do start out unhealthy, I would love for them to end up healthy by the end and for the use of love triangles to be a little less than as prevalent as they are.
Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful YA authors out there who write strong, kick-ass, phenomenal female heroines, but it would be nice to see a little bit more. Don't be afraid of the controversial, embrace it the same way that V.C. Andrews did and throw caution to the wind and just write it, be proud of it, and share it with the world. I love visiting many worlds and meeting new strong spirited characters that authors like Robin LaFevers, Sarah J. Maas, Suzanne Collins, Heather Demetrios, Kendall Kulper, Leigh Bardugo, etc. This is pretty much why I love blogging about books and why I started blogging in the first place, because without this blog I don't think I would have been introduced to these authors or would have taken a chance on their books, if it hadn't been for the book blogging and the booktube community.
I love how encouraging and kind, all of my fellow bloggers and booktuber's have been. They are pretty much amazing and the community is full of discussions, such a passion for books that it's unreal and completely off the charts awesome, and the social media connections make it a lot of fun to discuss books and recommend books and just meet new people and get to know them. Plus, books and the love of books are healing in so many more ways than one, just ask my bestie Molli @ Book Whimsy, who is now at the top of my favorite list of amazingly talented and beautiful authors that I love more than anything.
In short, I love to blog about the books that I read, because it opens up so many doors for me. It has created so many amazing friendships, mended them, and encouraged me in a lot of ways to keep on going even when it feels like the whole world is about to bottom out on you. It's one of the best decisions that I've ever made with my life, even though it sometimes feels like it's a bit of burden, I take my breaks when I feel like I need them and then I regroup and post some pretty good things. :)
That's why I love to read and blog about books, why do you? Let me know in the comments below, I am curious. :)
