Stefanie tagged me on the 5 Reasons Why I Blog meme and at this point I’ve seen it going on around the blogosphere and many of you have answered with such thoughtful answers that I don’t know if I can do this justice. I think I’ll be repeating a lot but here it goes.

Some of the first blogs I read were blogs written by illustrators and/or graphic designers. I really enjoyed the way they seemed to infuse creativity in not just their work but their lives. I wanted to do something like that and then it just sort of clicked, I would blog about how books have enriched my life and so my blog started in June 2004. I quickly realized that there was already a growing book blog community and I knew I’d found my place. Some of my first blog must-reads were the wonderful blogs by Stefanie, Susan, and Patricia.

When I started this blog I didn’t think I’d keep it up for such a long time. Really the list of the hobbies I’ve had over the years is crazy. I can’t seem to stick with one but blogging about books is fantastic. Sure, there are times when I think I’ve said it all with regards to books but then a new book is discovered, a bookstore find must be talked about, etc. You know how it goes. So really there is always something to say about books and that keeps me going.

I like to journal. I know I’ve shown you pictures of my journals, I even make journals, and blogging is just another extension of keeping a diary. I’ve journaled about my books before but now it’s so much nicer because I actually get to hear what you have thought of the same books.

It’s a lot of fun. I enjoy doing the memes, taking part in the challenges (even if I don’t finish them) and adding new authors and books to my TBR list. If I ever felt that blogging was becoming a chore then I’d give it up.

Finally, I do it for the community. I get to talk about books with blog friends from all over the world. What’s not to love about that. I dream of one day getting us all together for a big book fest. We could read poetry to one another, go on a bookstore field trip and end the fest with a book swap. You’d come right?

Thank you for the tag Stefanie! If you haven’t done this one yet then consider yourself tagged.

Happy weekend all!

July was a good reading month. I didn’t read as many books as last month but they were all enjoyable books that I would definitely recommend.Want to see what I finished reading this month? Take a look:

Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner
The Sonnet Lover by Carol Goodman (my review)
Murder in Chinatown by Victoria Thompson (my review)
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (my review)
Playing with the Moon by Eliza Graham (my review)
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

I wanted to write something about The Virgin of Small Plains and Hotel Du Lac but I just didn’t get around to it. Sad especially as Hotel Du Lac was fantastic. And, I think it’s actually my biggest reading accomplishment so far this year as I finally read an Anita Brookner book. For some reason I’ve collected a couple of her books and have been meaning to read them for years but well you know how that goes.

With regards to my challenge reads, well, I’m so behind it’s not even funny. I still have books in progress for the Southern Reading Challenge, the Mystery Reading challenge and Don Quixote. However, I have not even started the Armchair Traveler challenge. That is not good. Oh well, let’s see what August brings.