Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.
To celebrate their one year blogoversity, this week's theme is the top ten reasons why I enjoy being a book blogger/bookish person.
1. My sanity
When I looked back to my very first post ever, I said up front and honestly that I needed this blog for myself. I'm a giver and I deeply care about those I care about. Unfortunately, the person who gets left out most is me. My blog is mine...nobody else's and it is something that I do for ME.
2. A record of daily life
I saw of a review the other day about a woman who found 30 years worth of her grandmother's daily journals in a box in the attic that no one knew existed. How cool would that be if my daily life activities and thoughts fell into the hands of someone generations from now...
3. Friendship
Friendship is something I honestly didn't expect...hard to expect friendship when you begin blogging for the self-centered reasons I did. But, I've have been so blessed to make friends with other ladies across the country and a few outside the U.S...ladies I wouldn't have possibly met otherwise...and certainly not ladies I would have been able to get to know.
4. Gardening, Cooking, Reading
I never realized how some of my other favorite things in life overlapped with reading...until I began blogging...I'm not sure I would have ever taken the plunge last summer canning tomatoes if it hadn't been for all the support and instructions I received from other blogging buddies...we're branching out this year with salsa and pickles :)
5. Intellectual stimulation
I have one of those brains that's better off busy. If my brain is not busy, it will find something to do...like worry. One of the things I've leaned in therapy with my daughters is to know your own personal signals...know the early signs and distract the mind...sometimes all it takes is a little distraction to trick the brain to think about something more productive rather than irrational fears...keeping panic attacks at bay. :)
6. Books, books, and more books
Holy Smokes!! Reading other book bloggers' blog postings about books they've read and recommend has made my Amazon Wishlist big enough to be a contender in the Guinness Book of World Records...but I love it!! Sometimes I love to just read my Wishlist ;)
7. Expanding my Repertoire
As many good books as there are out there, I know there are some I've missed because of my preconceived notions or biases. For example, I thought the premise of Water for Elephants was silly...I read the synopsis many times trying to make myself want to read it. After reading review after review from different perspectives with different opinions and a variety of details, I finally read it. I can't believe I almost missed it.
8. Broadening My Book Experiences
As a teacher I always try to do whatever possible to turn my students onto reading...I have found, however, that shoving it down their throats does not work...My recommendations go over much better when they are thrown in at a prime moment when a student is "ripe" for a specific book. By reading so many book reviews of other bloggers, I've become more familiar with books I might not normally pick up for myself or genres outside my comfort zone.
9. Processing
I've always been a book lover...and I've always been a writer, list maker, journaler...it just never occurred to me to put it all together. After reading, since becoming a book blogger I now think about the book, its themes, the ideas, etc. begin writing a review, and think about it some more. By the time I post my review, list, story, etc. I've really processed it...more probably than I ever did in college...and I have an English degree. : D
10. Travel
I love to travel...but I also love to stay home. The reality of a teacher's life as well is that there isn't usually extra money to travel as extensively as I would like. Through blogging I've been able to share about life in Mississippi as well as learn about life in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, England, New Zealand, etc. Through pictures and blog postings I'm able to become more familiar with other areas of the world besides my home state and region...without ever leaving my backyard.
Cool :)
Great List!! I so relate to the Sanity and how my other likes overlap with my reading. But I'm finding the processing is what keeps me working at my blog.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe with those 'make a blog into a book' services, our blogs could some day fall into the hand of lots of future generations? It could happen!
Awesome. I love the images. It takes a special kind of person to just want to look at their overflowing wishlist doesn't it? I'm right there with you. I also like to sit in front of my shelves and touch all the books I haven't read.
ReplyDeleteHere's my list
I love your list.
ReplyDeleteI am celebrating a year of blogging next month and many of your points I can identify with.
carol
A lot of the reasons that you mention I also identify with, and mainly the fact that if I was not engaging my brain in this way, I would be a ball of worry and fret. I find it's somehow soothing to read and write about a book, and them hop all over the place to visit all my reading buddies. Not to mention that it's such a unique job that it starts conversations! This was a great post. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI just love your list. I share so many of the same reasons for blogging. Long live book blogging!
ReplyDeleteAww, enjoyed reading your post -- and agree with many of the things you mentioned! It's important for me to keep my mind busy to ward off negative thinking/worrying, too, and blogging has certainly been great for that!
ReplyDelete