10 Years of Book Blogging

Ten years ago today, smack dab in the middle of summer, at 17 years old, I hit publish on my very first online book review.

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll know that I’ve recounted my blogging history once or twice. But I can easily say this for the first time: I never thought I would still be doing this thing a whole decade later.

To put it briefly, my book blogging journey started because I had a difficult time remembering books I had just read (thank you to my arch nemesis, the K-12 Accelerated Reader program). I thought writing out my thoughts would help me remember books better or, at the very least, give me a place to go back and refresh my memory.

Did it work? Sort of. Once I actually got into the swing of writing reviews, absolutely. But those first couple of reviews? Yikes.

I went down memory lane earlier this week and read my first review: “Legend” by Marie Lu. Let’s just say, it is amazing what 10 years of writing practice can do for you. Not that I was necessarily a shit writer at 17, but there was definitely a lot of growth to be had.

Speaking of that growth, there is of course a ton of maturing and change that has happened over the last 10 years. In the time since I first started blogging, I graduated high school and college, had a slew of wild jobs including literally getting paid to write book reviews at one point, and lots of people came in and out of my life.

I started blogging with zero intentions to work with publishers and authors, but that’s where this journey took me. I briefly tried BookTube and I loved it so much, but ultimately found that was not where I wanted to dedicate my time. I started a Bookstagram account after college and will have been nurturing that small corner of the internet for 5 years at the end of this month.

Even my reading tastes have changed, which is only natural with getting older. The reviews of 10 years ago were of young adult dystopian, fantasy, and contemporary. The reviews of today are mostly adult contemporary romance and fantasy.

Something really special that also changed was the books and authors have become more diverse. It was nearly nonexistent when I first started blogging to have publishers reach out to diverse reviewers to read diverse books. The publishing industry was a totally different beast, and while there still is a large disparity in the industry, I see the change happening and it makes my heart full. To be Latina and receive opportunities to read books by Latinx authors with Latinx characters will never get old. To be plus size and actually have books with plus size characters will always make me emotional. These things were incomprehensible to me 10 years ago.

While a lot has changed for me as a person who talks about books on the internet, there are some things that have stayed the same. Reading and writing have remained my first loves. I still can’t pick which I love to do more. I still read (and review) YA and I will never feel any shame for that. I’m still loyal to Goodreads no matter how much people try to sway me. And my heart still has a very special spot carved out for “The Fault In Ours Stars.”

I have loved this hobby of mine so much, and I cherish it and the ways it has changed my life. It has brought me incredible friends, great conversations, amazing stories, and an overflowing cup of joy. If you’ve ever interacted in any way with my book blogging journey, whether that be with a comment, a like, or a DM… Thank you. I didn’t expect anyone to care (hell, I didn’t even tell friends and family about my blog that entire first year), and the fact that there are people who do care, will forever be puzzling, but so, so exciting.

Happy 10 years to me. Here’s to many more.