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Published On: May 22, 2020Categories: Guest PostsTags: 11 Comments

Welcome to The Bibliosmile Project, a series here on Novels & Waffles that aims to spotlight how books (+ the bookish community), has brought smiles, happiness, and positivity into our lives. Through an ongoing series of guest posts, different readers will share their stories of bookish happiness and spread some much-needed positivity, sunshine, and smiles with us all. Hopefully, reading about how books have brought a smile to their faces, it will bring one to yours as well. 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].

S. J.’s Bibliosmile Story

Hullo, world! I’m S. J. (or Sophia, whichever way you like), a bibliomaniac writing life blogger at S. J. Barnard. I stumbled upon this wonderful project from another book blog. My greatest appreciation for Kat, who is letting me do my very first guest post! (Plus, Kat lives in Japan, which is my home country. Why would I not stalk her?) I’m extremely excited to be able to contribute to this project. 

I knew immediately what I wanted to write about, which was the different types of bookish communities I’ve been a part of. Books have always been a part of my life, but my love for them wouldn’t have grown so much unless I was a part of these four bookish communities…

1. The Library 

I was traditionally homeschooled from grade two, and the library was two minutes away from my home. Literally. So, for the first eight years (during grades 1-8), I thought we had a personal library. The worst punishment I received was the “Library Ban” where I was banned from going to the library for an x amount of time, be that a week or a month. Dun, dun, duh-dan! 

Anyhow. 

Although I now live a little farther away from the library (and since the quarantine, the library has closed!!!) it is still a vital part of my life. I love the warm feeling I have whenever I see rows upon rows stuffed with books and my librarian friends. I’ve been in and out of teen book clubs and literary magazine publishing clubs, where I got to meet other teenagers in the neighbourhood who are just as passionate about books as I am. 

When things were really tough for me, my friends from the library really helped me out. I don’t think there’s anywhere else I could find people who understood my passions and dreams about books as well as the community from the library. I can proudly say that the library is my second home. :)

2. Book Blogs 

Since I was traditionally homeschooled, I was really bad at technology. (I didn’t know that the internet existed until I was fourteen!) Yes, I was that kind of homeschooler…Hopefully, I’m improving now. 

I think the first book blogs I read were Jane Maree’s (through Story Embers) and Charis Rae. From then on, I discovered that there were many, many teenage bloggers out there who cared about books and writing. More than the Second Breakfast. (Or maybe we have books for breakfast.) Every time I discover a new book/writing blog, I am so excited! I love reading book reviews and book rants. (We must give Character X a cup of hot chocolate!)

The book blog community is so fun to dive into. The bloggers I’ve encountered are really friendly and engaging, even if they have a large platform. I’ve learnt so many things from them. And although I don’t write book reviews too often, I love the idea of it and might start veering into that direction more in the future…

3. Bibliobattle 

Ha, ha, we have finally arrived at Bibliobattle! Courtesy of my Japanese heritage, I got to discover this book-review game. It’s basically done in three easy steps: 

  1. Share the book you brought for five minutes
  2. Have an open discussion with the judges and/or participants for three minutes
  3. Have the panel of judges decide on a champion book–the book they want to read the most

And that’s basically the gist of it. There might be a theme (Books for Fall, etc.) and there’s even a national championship! It’s the ultimate sport for bookworms. Even if it’s not that formal, you can do it for fun at book clubs and sleepovers, too. 

I first found out about Bibliobattle on the NHK radio. Ever since, I wanted to introduce Bibliobattle to the library here. Half a year later, a girl from Japan who’s on the Bibliobattle committee came to teach us how to play the game. It was a little scary at first, but once you start talking about your favourite book–well, five minutes is really short! 

I still keep in touch with her and I love doing Bibliobattle. Although I don’t get to do it so often, it is one of my favourite bookish community!

4. Bookstagram

Okay, so I might sound like a broken record, but technology and I do not go way back. Until quite recently, I was extremely suspicious of social media from what I’ve heard. (“It’s addictive and depressing because everything is filtered!”, etc., etc.) 

However. After starting bookstagramming recently, I feel like that’s not the case. I don’t own a lot of books, so most of my bookstagram photos are library books (and thankfully, the barcodes are on the back). But even so, I think it’s a great way to connect with other people who reads a lot, cheer on new writers as we celebrate their book release, and get updates from the authors you love. 

It’s true that you have to be careful it doesn’t take up all of your time. I try to set phone limits, which means if I’m not careful, all of the apps on my phone shuts down except for essentials (like alarms). You might feel depressed if you start comparing with other bookstagrammers. But I think that’s case point for blogging, or writing, or any other activity we might do. 

For me specifically, it’s nice to find aesthetic pictures of books at the end of the day (or the start of the day). It makes me smile when people have stacks of #TBR (to be read) books. 

And I think it’s just that. Books make us smile. Through books, we have doors to new places, new people, new ideas, that’s not just limited to what’s on the paper. We can appreciate the different worlds we find when we open the pages. I love these bookish communities because they make me smile–and make the world a much brighter place. 

Thank you Kat for having me and for everyone reading this!

S. J.’s Blog S. J.’s Goodreads S. J.’s Pinterest S. J.’s Instagram

Do you love these bookish communities?

Do you have a favourite bookish community that makes you smile?

What are some other bookish communities that S.J didn’t mention that you love? Please let us know in the comments below!

11 Comments

  1. Dedra @ A Book Wanderer May 23, 2020 at 8:08 am - Reply

    I’ve never heard of Bibliobattle! A game for book lovers??!! I wanna play. :)

  2. Charis @ Charis Rae May 24, 2020 at 1:00 am - Reply

    I love this so much! I’ll definitely have to check out that book game site, hehe. :D For me personally, I’ve encountered so much positivity and encouragement in the bookish communities as well, and I’m so grateful for that!

    • Kat @ Novels & Waffles May 25, 2020 at 5:35 am - Reply

      I agree – it’s so refreshing to read why people love this community! And I also have encountered so much positivity here! Thanks for your lovely comment, Charis!

  3. Faith @ Pages Left Unread May 24, 2020 at 2:59 am - Reply

    I haven’t been to the library in a while (even before coronavirus) but I miss looking around and the shelves and picking up books that hold my interest 😭 Also, I’ve never heard of Bilbiobattle but I’ll be definitely be checking it out! It looks so fun.

    • Kat @ Novels & Waffles May 25, 2020 at 5:36 am - Reply

      Ahhhh libraries, I miss them too *sobs* But yeah, I had never heard of Bibliobattle before, but I agree, it sounds so fun!

  4. Malka @ Paper Procrastinators May 26, 2020 at 3:45 am - Reply

    This was such a cute post! There are so many bookish communities that I love!

    Of course, my first love was my library! I befriended all the librarians, and was a part of their children and teen book clubs for many years. Even though I’m only able to pop in every once in a while to pick up books now that I’m in college, going to the library still brings a smile to my face!

    And I actually got introduced to the online bookish community through Booktube! Even now I love watching some of my favorite booktubers when I want to watch something and relax. After discovering booktube I took a peek at book blogging, but I didn’t really feel like a part of the community until I started a book blog of my own and started interacting with other blogs!

    • Kat @ Novels & Waffles May 26, 2020 at 10:32 am - Reply

      Thanks so much for sharing, Malka! I was the same as you – I frequently visited my local library when I was in Middle and High School. I distinctly remember one summer that I made my parents drive me to the library every day. I think they got pretty sick of it by the end of that summer vacation, but I loved it! I never befriended the librarians though because I’m SHY with a capital S haha

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