I know I say this a lot but I cannot quite believe that my little blog has been running for three years now! My anniversary was last Saturday according to WordPress & It’s really funny to think I started this blog three years ago with literally no experience or real idea what I was doing, but thanks to the wonderful support I received from my fellow book lovers I’ve managed to grow it into something that I love, a safe space where I can talk about anything and get to interact with some amazing people. For my anniversary post I asked people on twitter if they would like to ask me a question & I got some great ones to answer! I’ve linked to their twitters so be sure to check them out.

@BookBugWorld – What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I love this question! But it’s also so hard to narrow down to just one. I think I would have to say getting to interact with all my wonderful bookish friends. I love how my blog is a safe space where I can geek out about books that I’ve loved, or talk about ones I’ve disliked without any judgement.

@Kerrimcbooknerd – Where is your favourite place to read and why?

I can pretty much read anywhere tbh but my favourite places are in bed or curled up on a big chair with a blanket over me! Basically anywhere I can get comfy.

@ReadsMikaela – If you had to recommend a book to someone that doesn’t like reading which would convert them into an avid reader, what would it be?

This is such a good question! I’ve actually converted a few non-readers by giving them books similar to their tastes in TV, do they watch fantasy/crime etc, but if I could only pick one that I think the most people would enjoy? Maybe The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, I think it has life lessons that everyone will relate too, the writing style’s a little quirky but it’s quite a fast read and I honestly felt like I was being given a huge massive hug whilst reading it… who could turn that down?

@BiblioNerdRflxn – Why did you start blogging?

I actually first found book blogs through a book subscription service I had signed up for & I loved the idea! It took a good few years for me to work up the nerve to start one of my own though. I think I started it because I had started reading a lot more books and just wanted to share my experiences with like minded people, I wanted someone to gush over how much I loved a book with, or someone to rant about one that I’d hated, none of my family or friends are massive readers, so blogging just seemed like the perfect way to meet new book lovers.

@Stephen1308 – What book would you recommend to absolutely everyone?

Oh this is so hard! One that I’ve found myself recommending a lot lately is We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal, I remember being completely swept away by the story as well as Hafsah’s lush writing style. I’ve convinced a few friends to read it & they have loved it as well.

@ReadtoRamble – Who is your auto-buy author and why? What book would you recommend starting with from them?

Ok so this one is easy! Silvia Moreno-Garcia mainly because she writes books in SO many genres and they’re all amazing. She is one of the few cross-genre authors who’s work I have loved, and not only that but she actually made me read and enjoy a horror which is no easy feat. As for which book, that depends what you enjoy:

Fantasy – Gods of Jade and Shadow / Certain Dark Things

Romance/ Regency – The Beautiful Ones

Horror – Mexican Gothic

Thriller/Noir – Velvet Was The Night

@buddysummerart – Is there anything you’ve learnt about yourself through blogging?

I’ve learnt that I have a love of exclamation marks, and use the word definitely way too much! But I’ve also learnt that I like to be prepared, I normally have blog posts scheduled for a month, if not a few weeks in advance & also that I’m not an overly critical reader. I know that sounds strange coming from a blogger, but it doesn’t take a lot for me to enjoy a book, if it has interesting characters, a good plot, maybe a few plot twists? Then I’m happy.

@BMWillows – What are some of your favourite tropes and character archetypes to read about?

Gah! Is there a trope I don’t like? Ha well maybe love triangles if not written well. But seriously I am a huge lover of tropes in books as long as they are well written and not just thrown in for the sake of it. Some of my favourites are, Only one bed, enemies to lovers, found families, grumpy mentor wide eyed mentee… I could go on and on and on but I’ll leave it there. As for character archetypes, as you can see from the above I love a good mentor/mentee relationship, I’m always a fan of rebellion so a if a book has a rebel style character it’s almost an instant pick up. I also love books with a good Joker style character, someone who can bring a little levity to the plot.

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions! I had a lot of fun answering them even if some were hard. I’m just so incredibly happy to still enjoy reading and blogging and hope it continues. For anyone new to blogging here are a few words of wisdom I wish I’d have known when I first started:

1. Make your blog your own! Feel free to look at other blogs for inspiration, but create and post what makes you happy and what you enjoy writing. I can guarantee there will be people out there who want to read what you write.
2. Don’t get into it simply for ARC’s. I mean, feel free too but be prepared for a long wait while you build a viewership. It took me over 2 years of blogging to received a physical ARC and even now they are few and far between.
3. Don’t get bogged down in the numbers. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 followers or 1000 what matters is that YOU enjoy what you are doing, it took me a good long while to build my followers up and even three years in I’ve just reached 1500. I know some people with double, triple that, and while at first I did everything I could to raise that number, I felt a lot better when I just let people find me naturally.
4. Find bookish friends/groups for support. Honestly, I don’t say this enough but Dave at The Write Reads was an actual godsend to me when I first started blogging. He doesn’t care how many followers you have, just that you enjoy reading, and through him and the group I met some amazing people and also read some brilliant books.
5. Basically what I’m trying to say is you do you. Do/create/write what makes you happy. Don’t feel like you need to constantly review newer releases or ARC’s, make your posts look how you want them to look, but just remember that as long as you’re enjoying it, you’re doing something right.

Blogging friends I’ve made over the past three years who you should definitely be following!

For any newbies out there looking to find some amazing and supportive bloggers, or simply for anyone looking for some new blogs to follow who post consistent and terrific content, check out the list of bloggers below.

Susan – Blog / Twitter

Stephen – Blog / Twitter

Ellie – Blog / Twitter

Dini – Blog / Twitter

Kerri – Blog / Twitter

Leah – Blog / Twitter

Sammie – Blog / Twitter

Jodie – Blog / Twitter