Hi all--happy last day of April and hope you are looking forward to May! I know my friends who are seniors in high school have one thing on their minds: G R A D U A T I O N! (You all are SO close. Finish strong!) For me, this is the last full month of my freshman year of college, and I'll be home for summer soon. 6 weeks will fly by! (or at least I hope it does lol). Anyway, today we're talking about how I, as a member of the bookish community, do not align with 3 major trends of the community, in hopes that I still have a place here afterwards (please don't exile me). Let's do it!
#1: I do not keep up with new releases.
Sometimes I think this is what keeps me from growing my friendships here in the community because I don't read the thing that absolutely everyone is reading at the time they're reading it. For example, you'd never know this if I wasn't about to tell you, but at the time of writing this post I just spent 30 minutes trying to figure out what the newest release even is LOL. My first thought was On the Come Up by Angie Thomas, but that came out in February! I'm lost for words at my own lack of contemporary book knowledge.
But in all seriousness, I'd like to put it out into the world that you shouldn't have to keep up with new releases or even popular authors if that's not your thing to be a book blogger. As you can see, I am the living breathing epitome of this, and I'm sure a lot of other readers are as well. I read what I like when I get a chance to, and that's just it. Yeah, maybe I do miss out on being apart of the hype sometimes when a new book is coming out, and yes it is indeed fun and exciting to be apart of. But A) I'm a busy college student and B) I can't justify dishing out nearly $30 a month on books, nor does my dorm room have space to accomodate them.
In summation, do read your own titles in your own way at your own pace, bookstagrammers!
#2: I am not capable of finishing a book in one sitting/pulling an all-nighter to finish a book.
I've seen people push back against this idea before, but I also still see people saying they can do it. By all means, whichever side of the fence you're on is completely fine. If a book has you so engrossed you can't put it down and finally rear your head when you turn the last page to realize there's sun in your eyes, good for you. I'm glad you had a book that captivated you like that, because they can be hard to come by.
But if you're anything like me, after a few chapters, your attention span starts waning, and other items on your to do list start poking at you to come take care of them. I think the last time I got close to finishing a book in one sitting was The Young Elites by Marie Lu, because that plot was the wildest rollercoaster I have ever been on in the world of dystopian YA so far. But yeah, in summary, one-sitters/all-nighters = not for me.
#3: I do not get ARCs regularly from publishers.*
(For those who don't know, "ARC" stands for "advanced reader copy")
Okay okay, I do have to put a little asterisks on this one. As you all know, I do get eARCS of books sent to me from Verona Booksellers, and collaborate with them and Bryant Loney for honest reviews and author interviews when he releases new books. And in no way am I saying I am not grateful for these people giving me this opportunity. In fact, I'd love to do it more often.
The thing I'm getting at here is that it feels like in the bookish community, being the recipient of ARCs from publishers is the be-all-end-all goal. If you get ARCs, you are a successful blogger and you deserve praise and recognition. The problem is, there are plenty of AMAZING readers and bloggers that do not receive ARCs and still deserve space in the community.
If you all were on YouTube when it was still gaining traction back in 2012-2013, you'd know that at one point in YouTube history you had to be a partner with YouTube to have a channel banner. Well fast forward to 2019, except instead of YouTube and channel banners, it's bookstagram and ARCs. Same concept, different time.
In the space that I have created here on my blog and on my Instagram, I want to put out a small PSA that ARCs do not have to be the be-all-end-all goal for book bloggers. Verona Booksellers stumbled upon me and took a chance on me, and I am grateful for the opportunity, but I wasn't losing sleep at night or feeling discouraged about my space because I wasn't being sought out by publishers. Does it feel nice? Of course it does! And I cannot say enough that I am so thankful for it. But at the end of the day, I do this because I enjoy it, and as long as I enjoy it, I will be here on my lil' blog writing words that I hope resonate with someone out there.
And there you have it!
In the wake of mentioning that there are amazing bloggers out there who deserve recognition, I want to dedicate the space of my outro to a few of my favorite bookstagrammers. Thank you all so much for interacting with me, and keep reading. Until Friday!
Check these people out!
Cheshta AKA Bookbeliever! IG | Blog (So kind and does awesome reviews!)
Rysi AKA Stargazer_and_bookreader! IG (Such an amazing feed!)
Djenne AKA dienneg.reads! IG | Blog (Queen. I love her posts!)
Brenna AKA Brenna.elmore! IG | Blog (She's currently trying to get published! Go support her!)
Paige AKA Paigereadsthings! IG | Blog (SWEETEST woman ever. Please go support her)
