Morning everyone!

This morning I’m going to be talking about sharing your love of books. I’m guessing if you’ve found my blog there’s a fairly high chance that you’re a fan of books and reading but what do you do to share your love of reading in general. and certain books in particular?

Blogging

Well this is the obvious answer for most people who will be reading this. I’ve only been blogging since the beginning of the year but it’s obviously a fantastic way to talk about books with like-minded people. I love a good blog hop and it’s a fantastic way to discover new recommendations and I’ve certainly picked up some wonderful books that I probably wouldn’t have done without seeing some wonderful reviews on blogs. I particularly enjoy reading some of the more in-depth posts about why people love a particular book or author.

Twitter Chats

I’ve been taking part in the #SundayYA twitter chat for a couple of months now and I really enjoying them, they’re quite fast paced, but there’s always some great thoughts on whatever the topic happens to be for that week. It’s so clear that everyone really is passionate about what they’re talking about and again I’ve found some great recommendations through this. I also took part in my first #UKYAchat on Wednesday and that again was great, it was a special one that was focused book publicity. As I’m visiting with friends at the moment I wasn’t able to make last night’s chat but I’m hoping to be able to frequent them going forwards. If anyone has any other twitter chats to recommend please let me know in the comments!

Facebook Groups

I’m a member of a couple of Facebook groups but I don’t spend as much time in them as I probably could. I really like the idea of them, it’s a slower pace than a twitter chat and so easier to dip in and out of, it’s also there all the time so it’s perhaps easier to participate in if you struggle to make a set time every week, but I’ve not really found one that I really click with. So again if there’s one out there that you love let me know!

YouTube & Instagram

These are two areas that I’m not that involved in. I do have 2 Instagram accounts – 1 personal that is private and has pictures of my friends children etc and another for the blog. I’ve posted a few pictures on there but I’m not particularly prolific on there. I think part of it is I’m a little intimidated with it, there are some amazing accounts out there who are incredibly professional with it, they have wonderful cameras and props, they stage things beautifully and spend time editing their photos before posting and I’m just here more often that not taking a photo on my iPhone, adding one of Instagram filters and maybe having a play with the contrast and brightness in the app. When it comes to YouTube I’ve really just not got into it, I certainly have no desire to create any videos myself, I wouldn’t have the patience for starters, but I don’t watch a lot of videos on it either. I’ll watch the odd music video on it but I don’t really have the time in my daily schedule to sit down and watch a lot of videos, I’d like to find the time to watch one or two a week though so if you have any that you think I need to be watching please let me know

Other things

Two of my favourite ever book love shares have involved physical book swaps. The first was known as The Whomping Willow and it involved 7 of us from across the UK selecting our favourite Harry Potter book (or second if someone got to your favourite first) everybody bought a paperback copy of their novel and wrote a bit at the beginning about why they loved this book in particular. They were then sent around to everyone in order and everyone wrote in comments as they read it so by the time it got back to you, you had 6 other people’s thoughts and favourite bits of the book scribbled in it. I know some people are completely against writing in books but I loved having a physical copy of a book that I loved that was filled with everyone else’s love too. The second was a book based Secret Santa – again this was spread across the UK, everyone was assigned one person in the lead up to Christmas and we sent them copy of our favourite book along with a note about why we loved that book so much. I loved reading about why the book I received was so special to the sender and I’d like to think the person who received mine enjoyed the book and reading why I loved it.

Do you have any recommendations for me? Is there a blog or booktuber I should definitely be following? Are there any other ways you share your love of books with others? Let me know in the comments!