Finding My Voice

I'm a late comer to the world of book blogging. I don't know where I've been that I missed the existence of book blogs. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I am oblivious to most popular and trending things that pop up around me unless a friend or family member throws it in my face. And, since I've not been a huge participant in the blogging world in general  — previously I only followed about five blogs and only had a blog myself to post pictures for my parents — I wasn't really paying attention to the fact that blogging had grown into a huge enterprise. It was January of this year that I stumbled upon my first book blog — Iris on Books. I was researching what translation of Les Misérables I wanted to read and stumbled on a post that detailed her decision for choosing a translation for Anna Karenina. I immediately fell in love with her blog and so began my search for other book blogs to also enjoy. It wasn't long after that I decided I might also enjoy blogging about the books I was reading.

It's been harder than I thought it would be. First of all, I haven't really practiced writing at all since I graduated from college in 2008. Yes, it's only been five years, but I'm finding that, for me at least, writing is a skill that needs to be kept up. I remember being a fairly confident writer with quite a few things to say. Now my brain just kind of feels fuzzy, and my words/thoughts are jumbled and hesitant. Number two, there are some amazing book blogs out there with extremely talented and articulate voices. It's quite intimidating! There have been quite a few times when I have wanted to leave a comment or participate in a challenge but have been afraid for people to link back to me to see who I am, and I'm not sure I'm ready for my weaknesses as a reader and writer to be exposed. Even writing this I am embarrassed at my lack of self-confidence. And lastly, I'm finding that my volume of reading is pitifully inadequate compared to other book bloggers. My goal for the year is 36 books but I'm running into bloggers who read 8-12 books a month! I know that they are probably spending more reading than I am, but I still think I must be a terribly slow reader in comparison. That, coupled with the fact that I still struggle with discovering what I want to say about a book, makes me wonder if I'm even a careful reader.

Despite my frustrations so far, I'm not going to give up. I have clearly become a lazy reader who has been reading for the storyline and forgetting the rest. And I think this is going to be my first goal — to notice more about the books I am reading than just the plot. This means I need to start reading with a pencil and mark passages that stand out to me; maybe even take some notes. A re-reading of Adler's How to Read a Book may be in order (well, I'll have to think more on that one!). I also may start writing about more than just books in order to get me writing more often. And hopefully, before long, I will gain enough confidence to make a comment somewhere.