It’s been a year full of uncertainty and fear, and in my own little way, I want to share a bit of light with the world. Thus, The Bibliosmile Project was born. My aim for this project is to spotlight how books (+ the bookish community) have brought smiles, happiness, and positivity into our lives. Through an ongoing series of guest posts, different readers will share their stories of bookish happiness that will hopefully spread some much-needed positivity, joy, and bring a smile to your face. You can read more about this series in my introduction and catch up on previous guest posts here.
If you’re interested in writing a guest post as part of The Bibliosmile Project, then please contact me at my email, [email protected].
Caro’s BIBLIOSMILE STORY
Hello fellow bookworms, I’m Caro and blog over at bookcheshirecat where I’m talking about my favorite books and occasionally my writing adventures 📚 I’m honored to be here today and share my Bibliosmile story with you. Thank you Kat for having me! 🥰
Today I wanted to tell you about the reasons why I’m even here – writing this guest post – as 5 years ago I hadn’t even discovered the bookish community yet. It’s so strange to think about now, as book blogging has become incredibly important and dear to my heart. I don’t know how I could go without reading and blogging about it, as it has become a coping mechanism and outlet for me. For the majority of my high school years, I wasn’t reading as much as I wanted to after being a voracious reader as a kid. I also didn’t have many people to talk about books with in real life. Then in 2016 everything changed. After graduation, I found myself with months of free time and a determination to get back to my passion for reading. Here is how I rediscovered my love for reading. Spoiler Alert: It was one of the best decisions I made and brought me so many connections, so much joy, and growth 🥺
3 Things that Made Me Rediscover My Love for Reading
1. Discovering the Bookish Community
Back in high school, I would chat with my one bookish IRL friend, but I was blown away when I saw that there was a whole bookish community online, brimming with like-minded people who also loved to talk about books. After graduating, I discovered Booktube, book blogs, and began to use Goodreads to track my reading for the very first time. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t discovered this amazing corner of the internet before, as it was so comforting to know I could share my love for reading with others. Watching Booktube videos and reading book blogs also reignited my passion for reading consistently like I did when I was younger. I saw all these amazing content creators who were shouting about their favorites and it motivated me to finally engage with my beloved hobby again. Ever since 2016 I have found so many lovely people in the community, who I can share my love for reading with and that I’m grateful for ❤ If you need recommendations here is this year’s Book Blogger Awards Recommendation post with my faves! (though I keep finding new amazing blogs all the time 🥰)
2. Starting My Own Blog
This is related to my first point, as I knew I wanted to also create bookish content alongside consuming it. Back in the day, I was thinking of writing exclusively book reviews, but I quickly got excited about Book Tags, Bookish Memes, Wrapups, and Recommendation posts as well. I wrote my heart out for about one year on Tumblr, before I finally made the leap to WordPress in October 2017, as I wanted to interact with more people, which wasn’t possible on my previous platform. It was one of the best decisions I ever made!! The blogging community was so welcoming to me and I immediately felt at home. In the three years since, my blog has grown a lot in terms of design and content. Writing posts, blog-hopping, and chatting with all my fellow bloggers in the comments brings me so much genuine joy 💕 My blog has become my happy place and keeps me motivated to not only talk about books but also read them.
3. Getting Involved in Readathons and Reading Challenges
I love doing a lot of Readathons and Reading Challenges, as they are another way I kept my motivation to read consistently. I don’t participate in as many Readathons as I did a couple of years back, but I still pick my favorites as the excitement of fulfilling reading challenges, engaging with people on social media, and generally having fun reading is a great way for me to keep my love for reading alive ❤
More About Caro
Caro is a student by day and self-declared Fantasy Lover and Readathon Champion by night. On her blog, you can find ramblings about her favorite books as well as bear witness to her writing adventures ❤
Caro’s Blog ・ Caro’s Twitter・ Caro’s Goodreads
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How did you discover the bookish community?
How have books brought joy into your life?
This week has been SOMETHING ELSE, so feel free to share some positive vibes in the comments I think we can all agree we need it.
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its always wonderful to see others spreading joy and happiness!! yes i’m a sentimental sap but this post bought a smile to my face!! ive always loved reading ever since i was a little child, and now since i made myself a blog, i adore spreading the love, and sharing it with other wonderful people!! 💖💖
Ahhh yess to every single of these points!! Blogging and the very existence of this community has made me fall even deeper in love with reading 🥰 Thank you to Caro for this wonderful post and Kat for hosting this feature!! ❤️
Hey, Abby! I’m so happy to hear that being part of the book community has been such a positive experience for you! I feel exactly the same way :)
Thank you so much for having me, Kat! ❤ It was so lovely to be sharing my story and start 2021 with some positive reflections 🥰
Thank YOU Caro for sharing your story! I loved reading it :) It helped remind me why I love reading (and this community) so much! Like you said, it was a great way to start 2021!
Wow, I’ve been struggling with reading lately and I really needed this post! It can be so easy to get caught up sometimes and forget the reasons I love reading in the first place. I’m doing it because it brings me joy!! Reading this reminded me of that 🥰
Hey, Abi! I’m so glad to hear that this post was helpful to you and that it helped you remember why you love reading. That’s exactly why I started the Bibliosmile Project in the first place – to spark joy and to share it. It makes me so so happy to hear that these posts are having a positive impact! Anyways, thanks for the lovely comment and I hope you have a lovely day :)
I can definitely relate to this post! I’m lucky that I have IRL friends that I can talk to about books, but there’s something about having a whole community to discuss the topic you love that feels different! Plus, being active through blogging and watching booktube and just generally being a part of the online bookish community is what keeps me excited to read so consistently. And of course, my TBR wouldn’t be nearly as big, diverse, or as interesting if not for all the wonderful recommendations I get from interreacting with other readers online!
I totally agree, Malka! Being a part of the bookish community makes reading so much more exciting and fun! (It also kind of puts more pressure on it too…but that’s a whole different can of worms haha)
Aww I resonated so much with this post! Same here, I never knew about this bookish community on the Internet for a long time as a reader, but discovering it was one of the greatest things ever! Ahh making a blog IS incredible, being able to sort of contribute and boost reading has been such a joy! Caro: this was so sweet, and thank you Kat for the wonderful feature! 💕
Hey, Cherelle! I’m so glad to hear that this post resonated with you! I was the same way – I had no idea that the bookish community existed, but deciding to start a blog and be a part of it has been such a a great experience for me! It’s great to know that you feel the same way! Anyways, thank you for this lovely comment, it means a lot! 💛
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