Five Year Blogging Aniversary + Q&A

Where has the time gone? I cannot believe that Kristin Kraves Books is five years old! I have learned so much over these last few years. I now know my reading tastes in a way I never have before, I have a better understanding of things like SEO and HTML, I have started a bookstagram account and learned a little bit about taking and editing photos, and I have even started a YouTube channel and know how to edit videos and create thumbnails. I had no idea when I started this blog five years ago what it would turn into and how much I would love it! Thank you for all of your support over these years. Your comments and reading my fellow bloggers’ posts keep me going!

bookishqueenreads: Do you still like the wordpress platform?

This is an interesting question! WordPress has definitely changed over the years and I have had to relearn things, but I cannot see myself on any other platform. There are just so many tools that I find handy and I love the WordPress Reader for following fellow bloggers.

thesassylibraryfox3: Your favourite food?

Hands down, my favourite food is my mom’s mashed potatoes. She adds goat cheese to them and they are delicious! I also have a huge sweet tooth, especially when it comes to pastries. I will never turn down a good danish!

In terms of restaurants, I am a sushi person. My favourite restaurant in the entire world is a sushi place.

thesassylibraryfox3: Your fave bookish animal?

Nana from The Travelling Cat Chronicles is by far my favourite bookish animal! He is a cat who has a perspective and it is hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure. Hiro Arikawa managed to perfectly capture the attitude of a cat and I adored it!

 Jordyn Reads: What would you say brings you the most followers? Is it just time, reviews, different content?

I have been contemplating this question and I came to conclusion that it isn’t one type of post or content. It is not even promoting my blog on social media or SEO! What brings me the most followers is interacting with fellow bloggers. Part of why I started this blog is to meet other book lovers, so reading other bloggers’ reviews and recommendations is part of what keeps me going. I think commenting and making connections is important for so many reasons, especially if you want to grow but more so if you want to feel motivated to keep doing this!

Jordyn Reads: What is your FAVORITE part of blogging?

I love this questions because there is so much about blogging that I adore! As I said, my favourite thing is meeting and interacting with other book lovers. I also love being able to write out all my feelings about books in a longer format. I am on other platforms (I have a bookstagram account and a booktube channel), but blogging has a special place in my heart. I love that I am not limited in what I can do here!

Hopewell’s Public Library of Life: What is your all-time most popular post?

This was a fun question because it is not something I have ever looked into! I was surprised by the results! I thought I would share my three most popular posts with you.

#1 Alternatives to Goodreads

This post is by far the most popular post on my blog. I think it is telling that so many people are looking for alternatives to Goodreads. I have discovered a few new ones since then and have updates on the ones I did talk about, so I really should update this post!

#2 Books Without Romance

Apparently a lot of people are looking for books without romance!

#3 What Makes a Good “Coming of Age” Story?

I was surprised to see this post in the top three! I wonder if a lot of students have come across this post. I was looking at the stats and it appears as though it is included as part of an online course, which is interesting.

Kat Impossible: What is your most favorite post you’ve worked on and why?

There are so many that I have loved over the years! I always have the most fun putting together recommendation lists or coming up with creative ideas. Most recently, my favourite has been the post where I put together my TBR based solely on reading first lines. It was fun to read the first line of all of the physical books on my TBR and it got me excited about books I thought I had lost interest in!

Kat Impossible: If you could pick a topic besides books to blog about for the most part, which topic would you pick?

Ohhh this is an interesting question to think about! Something I have really been getting into is skincare. I have always been into makeup, but skincare has been my passion recently. I don’t know that I am knowledgeable enough to blog about it, but it would be fun!

Kat Impossible: What do you feel you’ve learned about blogging in the past 5 years?

This is such a loaded question because I have learned so many things! I think my writing has improved over the years, I have a better grasp of HTML and SEO, I have a better understanding of my reading taste, and I feel as though I am more socially aware. I also learned where my passion lies! I just think that this blog has forced me to understand myself better, which has been such a surprise and not something I could have predicted when I wrote that first post five years ago.

Whimsically Meghan: My question is how do you stay motivated to keep blogging? What brings you inspiration?

Honestly, it is the community. Knowing that there are other readers out there that might read my post and pick up a book based on my recommendation brings me so much joy. I truly thought when I first started this blog that I would be speaking into the void and that has not been the case. I also just love writing and this blog is the only writing that I am doing right now! I also just love gushing about books and I still think that this is the best platform to do that on!

Misty’s Book Space:  What are your hobbies outside of reading?

Even though my photography and videos are also centered around books and reading, I would say that those are two of my biggest hobbies. A lot of time goes into taking photos and filming videos. Then editing them is another story!

I have been getting into building these minature houses! I am currently working on this library, but it is taking me ages. It is so tedious but is a good time. I love working on these while listening to an audiobook.

I also love swimming (I was a certified lifeguard) and playing tennis, but it has been a minute since I made time for those hobbies.

Misty’s Book Space: What is your favorite book so far this year?

You would think this would be a difficult question for me to answer, but I didn’t even have to think about it! Pachinko is my favourite book of the year so far, and it will be a hard book to dethrown.

The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog: Have you found yourself to be more critical than you were when you began blogging or are you now less critical? 

I definitely have become more critical, especially recently! I have finally embraced annotating my books and I cannot believe how much that has affected how I take in a story. I want to be able to give you more thorough reviews, and I think that this has been a game changer for me in being able to do that. I am also bombarded with book recommendations every single day, and I think I am now more critical in terms of choosing what to read or which books to feature on my blog!

That is it! Thank you to everyone who asked me a question. Be sure to check out their blogs because I follow and love them all! Thanks again to anyone who has supported me over these last five years!

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