#BookBlogWriMo Day 1: History of Your Blog

Woohoo! It is day one of BookBlogWriMo! I am really excited to be participating in this so here we go with day one!

Today's topic? The History of Your Blog: Tell us how you got started! When did you start your blog? Why? What have been some of your trials and tribulations? How many pigs did you have to sacrifice to get people to see your Facebook posts?

So how did I get started book blogging? Well to start I have always been a reader. For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed books. I was always reading growing up, always had a book with me, and that continues to this day. I don't go anywhere without a book. I am reading every spare second I have. If you would have asked me what my dream job was when I was younger I would have said something that makes it so I can just sit and read all day.

Then in 2012 my husband and I moved to another country. My husband had a job that gave him a work visa, but I was only here on a family reunification visa (so not authorized to work). I did search and apply for jobs in my field, but most of them required more language skills than I have.  It was slow going so I just read more and more each day. I finally had time to just read as much as I wanted and books are very addicting to me. Sure I could do other things, but books...books just suck me in. I can't help it, I love reading. My husband would come home and ask about my day and I would tell him about the great or not so great books I read. One day he commented how I should start a book blog and post reviews since I am reading so much. At this time I had another blog that I was working on and updating about our new adventures since moving so I was just kind of like eh. One more thing I would have to do.

So this thought of making a book blog to posts my reviews kind of percolated for a while. The more I read the more I found I wanted to write up reviews. I still wasn't sure I wanted a blog to update, but I liked the idea of having what I thought written out. That way I could go back later and remember what I had thought of a particular book. Some books I had read a few years ago I remembered reading but not how much I enjoyed the story. The more I read the more I realized it would be hard to keep everything straight without making some notes. So I started writing short reviews on Goodreads. Nothing fancy, just a little snippet.

Then came the day when I finally gave in and started my blog. I had read Inevitable by Angela Graham and loved it. It ends with a cliffhanger and I had been following her on Facebook eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. She posted one day that if you are a book blogger and want a copy of book two to review just leave a message and she will send it over. I couldn't believe it. If I just made up a blog I could read book 2 before it came out? Well sign me up! That was the beginning. That gave me the nudge I needed to start really writing down my thoughts on what I was reading. I immediately went and made up my blog and it has been over a year and I am still loving it.

My first post was Sept 2, 2013 and it's been great. I love finding new authors and helping promote their books. I never knew there was such a large book world and there are a lot of amazing books out there. I was never one for social media, but now I love it. I really only use it for book related things, following authors and such. I feel like I am still just learning since I am not the best at interacting with people on the computer, but it has been fun. As long as I keep enjoying it I shall keep posting.