Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Day 4

My favourite sort of question, today – it’s all about community!

How do you stay connected to community?

This is book blogging is all about for me. I didn’t see it coming when I joined the blogosphere back in 2007, but it was the most welcome sort of side effect. I’ve met literally dozens of people IRL through blogging, and have even stayed in the houses of three different book bloggers… which sounds bad, put like that, but obviously isn’t(!).

How do I stay connected? I try to read and comment on lots of blogs, though I know I’m not doing as well as I’d like in recent, busy months; I try to offset that by running or participating in as many community-minded blog activities as possible. So, over the years I’ve joined in reading weeks for Margery Sharp, Graham Greene, Henry Green, Margaret Kennedy, Anita Brookner, Muriel Spark, Shirley Jackson, Virago Modern Classics, Persephone Books, and Australian literature, and I’m looking forward to Ali’s about Mary Hocking in April. And probably more I’ve forgotten about.

Then there’s the 1924 Club and the 1938 Club, and hopefully lots more events of a similar nature. Not to mention my favourite series here: My Life in Books. It’s where I pair up bloggers and get them to talk about books they’ve loved through their lives – and then try to assess the other, based on those choices! There have been 5 series now, with 70 or so bloggers and blog readers, though I’ve only got around to adding the first four series to that link page.

And, of course, I’ve been lucky enough to feature across the blogosphere in various other interviews and whatnot…

• Triple Choice Tuesday at Reading Matters
• Normblog profile
• Lost in the Stacks at A Work in Progress

And possibly more that I’ve forgotten about… (and always delighted to appear, hint hint!)

Blogging has also led to Tea or Books?, Shiny New Books, Vulpes Libris… and working at OUP. So, all in all, community and blogging are more or less synonymous for me. Come say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram :)