Bookideas interview

At the occasion of the last Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I got to meet Jessica @ Bookideas. We decided to do a mutual interview.

Please go to her blog to see my answers to her questions.
Here are her answers:

Screen Shot BookIdeas

 

Jessica, what made you want to start a blog?

Screen Shot BookIdeas

Thank you, Emma, for this fun interview exchange! I’ve really enjoyed getting to know a fellow book lover, and I hope our readers will enjoy getting to know us better, too.
The idea of doing my own blog was born in the summer of 2014 when I was doing a work study program for my Master of Library and Information Science degree. A new friend of mine mentioned that she was looking for something to read, so I told her about a book I was reading, Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant. She hadn’t heard of it, but checked it out from her library and reported back a few days later that she had read it and enjoyed it. She then asked if I had any further recommendations, and I showed her The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, which I had just begun reading. We both thoroughly enjoyed that book as well, and she suggested I start a blog of reading recommendations. After thinking about that for a few days, I realized that I could combine reading recommendations with other book-related topics like how to keep books healthy, and posts relating to book art, a genre I had only just discovered in my classes. And thus, BookIdeas.net was born!

 

What is it about books that is special to you?

Walking into a library or bookstore fills me with peace. My soul is quieted when I see all those volumes on the shelves, but why that happens I don’t know. It’s just part of my nature, I suppose. Books are waiting there for us to explore and enjoy. They don’t judge us. The ones I keep are books I’ve enjoyed, so at home good friends surround me in my personal collection. Not everyone loves to read or loves books, so when I find someone else who shares my enthusiasm, it’s like meeting a long-lost friend. Books also challenge us and help expand our horizons. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by many books that I’ve rashly judged by the cover (or the synopsis on the back), so I like that about them too: they are often full of surprises.

What are some of the unexpected rewards that have come to you as a result of your blog?

It’s been great seeing how many other bibliophiles there are out there! I had no idea there were so many book blogs, and how popular they are. Commenting and liking other posts has been a lot of fun, and I get really excited when I receive a comment on my own blog J It has also helped me develop some tech skills, seeing what others do and discovering how to do similar things, like adding buttons or my Twitter feed. And speaking of Twitter, I would never have started a Twitter account if I had not already begun my blog. I started @bookideasblog in the autumn of 2014 and I love it! I love following other bookish profiles and learning about the latest issues, events and technology in the book/library world.

Is blogging everything you thought it would be?

I had heard about how popular blogs are; and everyone knows those blogging success stories where the person started a blog one day, and the next day the whole world knew about their blog. So I have to admit, I thought I would be reaching a larger audience than I currently am. But I know that the popular book blog sites do a lot of book reviews, and I am not a reviewer, and did not want to add to that number, so perhaps that’s why I don’t have throngs of followers. I also know that one should do frequent posts, and due to my job, I just don’t have the time to blog very often. So, I remind myself that one blogs for the joy of blogging. And I have truly enjoyed it. Seeing my blog page brings me a smile and I’m proud of my accomplishment. One day I hope to be able to post more, but for now, I’m content.

Thank you Emma, for this great experience. All the very best to you and your blog!

Blog: BookIdeas.net

Facebook: BookIdeas Blog

Twitter: @bookideasblog

Instagram: @book_ideas

 
https://wordsandpeace.com/tag/bookideas/
wordsandpeace.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2021-43
151436
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:AFULKU7C47NFWZPKLVETFXYQZGAROM6N
<urn:uuid:b3fda014-28ec-47ed-ae0b-09134e6fa96f>
2021-10-17T00:33:55Z
192.0.78.25
text/html
sha1:QJXBPR2O7LNPMS2I7CMIAKCO4ATM7EF7
<urn:uuid:a5bc3bbb-8795-4b7f-a690-3817ff30ac36>
https://wordsandpeace.com/tag/bookideas/
response
<urn:uuid:e91c79e4-417c-4c93-a57b-3ed45cbd26b4>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-43
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for October 2021
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-74
software: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/