Hey y’all! One year ago today I post my very first blog post! When I started this journey, I had just started back reading. In January 2017 I hadn’t read any books. Then in February 2017 I read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling and I found Booktube and it was like a dam broke! I could not get enough of reading. It totally rekindled my love of reading and I haven’t turned back since. As I was faithfully watching Booktube I found out that there is a mass community not only for reading but sharing your reviews. I originally thought that I would start a Booktube channel, but that didn’t seem like something I would do because I am more of a behind the camera kind of person. So then I stumbled on the bookish blogging community and I’m so glad I did. This seemed like the perfect medium for me to talk about books since I was surrounded by non-readers.
My first post was Welcome to Amaysn Reads and in my opinion it was terrible and let’s not even get started on my first book review (The Invention of Hugo Cabaret). I chose the name Amaysn Reads because it’s a play on my last name and my son’s nickname (Mays). Its pronounced “amazing” if you didn’t catch that. LOL. Anyway, I have a few goals that I want to do over the next year for my followers and myself to keep me motivated and in love with what I am doing:
- Post at least 3 times a week. While I have enjoyed Post A Day May, I know that I cannot realistically keep up this pace at the moment. But 3 times a week is something that I know I can do.
- I want to interact with different bloggers more and maybe even do a few collabs with other bloggers. I really want to make sure that I am becoming a part of the community. I am slowly putting myself out there more and I am enjoying interacting with other bloggers.
- I want to make sure that I still go back to the original reason that I started this blog and review more middle grade and young adult books with parental warnings. I originally started reading these genres because I wanted to have books to give to my son that he would love. Turns out we have totally different reading taste, but that’s for another post. But I really want to be a resource for parents and teachers that are looking for books that they can give to reluctant readers and add to their home and in-school libraries.
Lastly, I want to thank all of my followers old and new. When I started I didn’t think anyone would care but at least I had an outlet for my book opinions. This experience has opened me up socially and made me step out of my comfort zone which at 32 I was snuggled in. Here’s to another year of blogging about my most favorite hobby!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @amaysn1
Instagram: @tashalikesbooks
Goodreads: AmaysnReads
Much Love and Thank you for your support,
Tasha
