Let’s Talk is a meme hosted by Melissa at I Swim For Oceans.
It’s guided discussion on anything and everything to do with books and more!
Please drop by I Swim for Oceans to find other participants in Let’s Talk!

This week’s topic:

What made you start book blogging? How long have you been doing it, and what keeps you going?

I started to get into YA books in 2009 when I read Twilight after graduating from a Literature degree that burned all love of reading out of my system for a whole year. I found a book review blog that kept referencing its popularity on Goodreads, so in 2010 I joined (under a different name) to start reviewing books. Now that I was out of school and reading again I wanted to keep critically thinking about what I was reading and discuss it with other like-minded people, especially since my husband, though also a big reader, does not really share the same taste as I do.

In 2011/2012 some bad shit went down on Goodreads that targeted some very close friends of mine, so I quit and re-joined under an anonymous name in an attempt to keep my privacy and avoid author dramas, but to be able to remain anonymous if anything did ever happen. I’d been thinking of setting up my own book blog, so after much (MUCH MUCH) thought I set up the The Moonlight Library with the idea of ‘branding’ the whole endeavour, then slowly joined Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr et al as Nemo. I wanted to keep being the same reviewer I was before but I had several new rules: I wouldn’t bother to review 1 star books because they were DNFs ad not worth my critical thinking time, if I finished a book it always got 2 stars, and I was allowing myself to respond more emotionally to books as and therefore instilling the blog with my own personality. The idea was that people would read the blog because they would get to know me, my tastes and standards, and they wanted MY opinion specifically as a reviewer. I think it has worked nicely.

Although my current persona isn’t as popular as my previous one on Goodreads, I have made a name for myself with books sent to me by publishers, authors, and other bloggers. I have more followers, much less negative reviews, I’ve had my own spammer, and I have been able to completely avoid any author dramas by staying under the radar yet staying completely honest.

I don’t really know what keeps me going. I love doing it, I love putting my opinion out there and I’d do it even if no one reads it. I love books and I love talking about books and thinking about books, and the blog is a huge part of my life. I don’t know what I’d do if I stopped.

About Nemo

A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.

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6 thoughts on “Let’s Talk: Starting the Blog”

Kate @ whYAnot

November 30th, 2013 at12:14am

I like that your true to the rules you set out for yourself – and that you love what you’re doing. A lot of people get blogger burn out but if you’re doing it for reasons that you understand and you’re enjoying it then I think you win. Great post!

Nemo
December 2nd, 2013 at2:17pm
Thank you so much Kate! Sometimes I don’t stick by my own rules, but that’s because this blog isn’t a job, it’s a hobby!

Anya

December 1st, 2013 at4:54am

I feel so weird for saying this, but I decided first that I wanted to blog, then tried to figure out what I could blog about >.>. I realized that reading is the ONLY thing that I’ve done consistently throughout my life, so it was the thing I was most likely to keep doing, haha!

Nemo
December 2nd, 2013 at2:18pm
Wow, that’s so interesting! I think everyone I’ve met so far had no problems deciding to start a book blog. Thanks you for saying so, it reminds me that we all come from different places and have different attitudes!