Hello lovely readers! So I was nominated for The Blogger Recognition Award by the wonderful  Emer at A Little Haze Book Blog and you should definitely go and check out her great blog! I haven’t done a tag in a little while so I thought I’d take this opportunity!

The Rules

1. Thank the blogger/s who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
2. Write a post to show your award.
3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
6. Comment (or pingback) on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

The Story of LifeWithAllTheBooks

So, I decided to start my book blog after kind of rediscovering my love for reading about seven years ago. I loved books so much as a child and read constantly but as I got older and had to deal with lots of exams I just didn’t read as much as I used to. I studied Law for two years straight after leaving school before deciding that it really wasn’t what I want to do with my life. During my time at university I was incredibly stressed and reading so much for my course that reading for enjoyment sort of fell by the wayside. After deciding to leave university I started to pick up books I just wanted to read rather than having to read and since then I’ve tried to fit as many books as possible into my life!

I spent a couple of years working in retail and reading loads and then decided to go back to university to study Costume Design (quite a change, I know) which I love! Then to further complicate things, I became very unwell. I won’t bore you with all the details but my life has changed quite drastically and I now deal with chronic pelvic pain amongst a myriad of other issues. I had to stop my course for about a year and whilst I have now returned to the course part time, my health is still a constant problem. The thing that has kept me going in many ways is escaping into a good book so that is why I started Life With All The Books – to share my reading journey with other likeminded people. A lot of my friends and family aren’t big readers so I am extremely happy to have found a home in the book blogging and bookstagram community!

Advice For New Bloggers

I’m not sure I feel hugely qualified to give advice but I’ll give it a go because starting out can be so scary and intimidating!

1. Try not to get too caught up in worrying about other bloggers/bookstagrammers who seem to get loads of proof copies! It can feel a little overwhelming and I know how nerve-wracking it can be to get in touch with publishers about receiving review copies. I would start with Netgalley and get your blog going for a few months before worrying about contacting publishers. When you do want to, just go for it! It’s always worth an ask if you genuinely care about the book you are requesting – they can only say no! Just be genuine and polite about it.
2. Blog about what you want to, not what you think will be most popular or get the most views. I think blog posts that are written with honesty and care are always more engaging. You will write better about books you actually want to read and care about! And be honest in your reviews but don’t be rude even if you hate the book! I don’t think it’s wrong to write bad reviews because it’s useful for other readers but theres a difference between putting that across and being cruel about the book/author.

I Tag The Lovely Bloggers Below!

Sorry if you’ve already done this tag! And anyone who wants to join in feel free!

• Flying Paperbacks
• Becky’s Book Blog
• A Gingerly Review
• Nut Free Nerd
• The Bibliophagist
• TBR and Beyond
• Curiouser and Curiouser
• Bookshelf Fantasies
• The Wandering Reader
• What Cathy Read Next
• The Bookworm Chronicles
• A Kernel of Nonsense
• Past Midnight
• The Writing Garnet
• Kalina Reads