Today is a very special day, for me, and for Book Nook Bits, because today, August 21st, my blog turns two years old!! I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging for two years now; I’ve changed so much since I first decided to start my blog. It was the summer before seventh grade, before COVID, before so much. Now, I start high school in a couple weeks, and I feel like I’m a completely different person.

For this post, I wanted to look at some of my older posts and see how my blogging has changed. I’m also going to reflect on a few things I’ve learned, that I wish I’d known when I started blogging. So, I’m going to get right into the post!

Three things I wish I’d known when I started blogging

There are a lot of things that I’ve learned while blogging, and a lot of things that would have been nice to know when I’d started blogging. So, here are three!

It’s fine to not post for a week, or a couple weeks. Taking breaks are okay.

For a while, I would feel really pressured to post everyday, or every other day. I thought that if I didn’t post regularly enough, or just enough at all, people would stop reading my blog, or would forget about it. Now, I might post three days in a row, then dissapear for a week, or I’ll post seven times one month, then 13 another. Something I’ve had to come to accept is that although spending every bit of my life writing and reading would be amazing, I have other things in my life I do have to spend time on. Especially with school, I have to take time away from blogging, or do less time consuming posts.

To new bloggers, my biggest piece of advice would be to not stress about having a particular schedule. As long as you’re writing what you love, then that’s all that matters, and even if it takes a while, people will find your blog. I had no idea what I was doing when I started, but now

Getting to know other bloggers is amazing, but don’t feel bad if you can’t read every blog, or comment on every post you come across.

There are so many amazing blogs out there, and so many amazing people. I’ve met so many amazing friends through blogging, and have discovered so many incredible blogs. And I still feel so bad that I can only comment on so many; I know that it’s an impossible expectation to make of myself, but I want to be able to support as many people as I can.

You also don’t need to follow back, or comment on someone’s blog just because they commented on yours. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve discovered a ton of bloggers from them commenting on my posts, but don’t feel guilty for not returning everything.

Write what you want to write, not what you think others will want to read.

I know this is probably the sort of thing that you see a lot, but it’s so important. If you try and write what you think your audience will want to read, then your blog won’t feel as genuine. Don’t feel pressure to write certain types of posts, or to not write others. I’ve published all sorts of things here, and while some definitely get more attention than others, this has become a place where I can really post anything, and know that I have a ton of amazing people who have on their own decided to follow me, not because they know me in real life, but because they liked my content.

My first blog posts

My first blog post was an about me post:

I thought that before I started posting about books, I might write a little about myself and why I’ve decided to start this blog.

My name is Aria, and I love reading and writing. I like telling people about the books I read, and I thought that writing reviews would be a good way to share my opinion.

I hope that people will read my blog, and be inspired to read the books that I write about and even write their own reviews. 

I hope that you enjoyed this post and that you continue to keep reading!

It was very short, didn’t really tell that much about me, and shows how different my ideas for my blog were: at first, I was just going to write reviews, and no other kinds of posts. Now, I still do reviews, but I also do lots of other kinds of posts, most bookish, but some more about other things too! After this, I had a short welcome to my blog announcement, and after that, came my very first review, of one of my favorite books: The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt.

I very highly recommend this book. It is one of my favorites, and is really well written.

Wednesday Wars is a novel that covers a lot of different topics. It was written as a young adult novel, but I think that adults will enjoy it and appreciate it just as much. There are many funny parts, but even though it is an overall hilarious book, it also takes place during 1967 and 1968, and the Vietnam War is a big part of the story. Holling Hoodhood, who is the main character of this book is stuck with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, when the Catholic half of the class goes to catechism, and the Jewish half goes to Hebrew school on Wednesday afternoons. Holling is the only Presbyterian in his class, so he stays with Mrs. Baker, an arrangement that neither of them are very happy about.

Overall, Wednesday Wars is an amazing book, and if you like reading historical fiction, or reading at all, you should check it out.

It’s not the most elegant review, and isn’t very descriptive or anything. Honestly, it’s mostly a description of what the book was about, and not much real explanation on what I liked about it.

If you look at these two posts compared to my more recent ones, there are countless differences. Now, my posts are much longer, and I hope are much more interesting to read.

I also share more about my personal life; not really specific details, but still more things than I would have before. The fact that I’m starting high school in a couple weeks, or that I do ballet, I just wouldn’t have said any of that. People are always surprised when I tell them my age, even now that I’m two years older.

I guess I’ve been blogging for a pretty long time: two years is a while, especially the younger you are, but so much of the time I still feel new to the community. I’m fourteen, turning fifteen in a few months, and even though that’s a lot older than the twelve years old I was when I started blogging, I still feel so much younger and less experienced than most other people blogging.

At the same time, I’ve made so many incredible friends, a few my age, some a little older, and some a lot older. I’m so grateful to everyone who has made me feel welcome in the book blogging community: I don’t know what the past two years would have been like, especially with COVID, if I didn’t have this community.

Some amazing people:

There are countless amazing bloggers I’ve met, and even though I in no way have mentioned them all, I want to shout out a few incredible people:

Ailish Sinclair – you were the very first person to follow my blog, and I still don’t know how on earth you found it. I’ve never really talked to you, but you’ve continued to follow along with my blog all this time, and every time I get a notification that you’ve liked one of my posts, it makes me so happy.

Rukky – raving about amazing historical fiction, having conversations through insanely long comments, and overall getting to know the amazing person that you are has been so incredible. You were the first person to welcome me into the blogging community, and put up with my twelve-year-old self’s questions and complete and utter confusion. Thank you for being my first book blogging friend!

Ruby – from buddy reading Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, to talking about amazing middle grade reads, chatting with you is always so fun!! I’m looking forwards to buddy reads and conversations with you in the future; you are an amazing blogger, and amazing person.

Birdie – your sapphic book recommendations are what keep me going – from These Feathered Flames which is already a favorite of mine, to A Lesson in Vengeance which I know will by one of my favorites when I read it, you give the absolute best book recs. And you are such a supportive and kind person; I love talking with you through our seventy different instagram chat threads. how many active accounts can one person even have?!?! You are an amazing friend, an incredible writer, and I’m so lucky to have gotten to know you over the past few months!!

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And, here’s me, with some of my favorite books!

I’ve never really shown my face, here or on my instagram, but I spent a long time on this picture, and really like how it turned out. So, I guess you all get to finally see what I look like. Even with everything that’s changed with me, my life, and the world, I really am still the same person I was on August 21st, 2019: I’m just a kid who loves books, who wants to scream about them to the world. I’m so grateful to everyone who’s stuck with me through this, and to everyone who’s supported me over the last two years!

How long have you been blogging? What’s something you wish you’d known when you first started blogging? Chat with me in the comments below!