How I got into reviewing and blogging Feature - week 1

Hey

I decided that on The Book Corner we were lacking behind in feature posts, so as the blog has been going 10 months now I thought it was about time for it to hold a feature!

Over the next few weeks every Tuesday a different blogger has contributed to The Book Corner in sharing how they got into blogging, what it means to them and things a long those lines. So as it is my blog I thought I should really begin the feature, so here goes!

How I got into blogging

I have always enjoyed reading, I come from a family of readers who always had book cases around the house, when I visited grand parents as a child, it was pretty much the same story. They were lucky enough to live in a big house that had a whole room dedicated to books - yep that's right they has a library! I didn't take too much notice as a child because a lot of the books were way beyond my reading skills at the time. But now looking back I am extremely jealous! I would LOVE to have a library in my house!

I have been lucky enough to be able to pass my love of reading on, being a primary school teacher I feel that I have to ability to help engage children in reading and allow them to realise that reading is not a chore and that people read for pleasure. Nowadays it is very hard to get children to read for pleasure as there is so much technology available to them, who wants to sit in and read a book when their mates are on their playstation? By sharing stories at school and always having a novel on my desk I hope that some of my passion will rub off on them!

So how did I get into blogging? Well I realised that I was reading a lot just over a year ago and I was beginning to place some of my book reviews on amazon, it wasn't long that I realised that people were reading my reviews stating that they thought they were helpful. I joined twitter and stumbled across @midnightstar3 (Laura) I began to follow her and read her blog. I then realised there were people like me who loved to read and placed their reviews on their own page. I entered a competition that she was running and won, this was the first book that I received through a giveaway. I began to DM her and asked how she managed to get her blog running. She was very helpful and explained how she had joined the blogging community, she hadn't been part of it very long either but shared with me all she knew. 

From that moment on I began my own blog - something I had never done before and this was my biggest challenge! I am not very computer savy and it took me a while to create my blog in the first place, but felt a huge sense of achievement once it was complete. Over the last 10 months I have updated it and got better at the computer side of things, I have learnt a lot!

As I began writing reviews I got emails from publishers and authors offering me their books to review, something I never dreamed that would happen. I have even had the opportunity to attend events and signings which again I couldn't believe. 

What is the best thing about blogging?

I would have to say the best thing about blogging is the community I have become part of through twitter, I have made some good friends through twitter and it is so nice to share such an enthusiasm with them about books. Everyone is lovely, they are always willing to help if they can and support you. 

I also love the fact that people actually care about your opinion on a book. It is so nice when people contact you to say they enjoyed the review you wrote, and publishers and authors thanking you for taking the time to review. 

I love blogging about books and writing reviews. Lately I have had a bad health condition and I have been unable to go to work, all I can say is thank god for books! Without them I would have gone crazy, I have been able to be taken to a world of imagination and escape from life for a few hours a day. This actually has fueled my love of reading even more, I am not sure I will have time for work now! When I do go back I am going to have to set a time for reading to make sure I still am able to continue reading the amount I am now. 

You can find me on Twitter @sam_smith73
Please follow this blog or on blogloving

Right so that's it!  Next week its over to Catriona at fabulousbookfiend