I’m a bit embarrassed – ok, A LOT embarrassed – that I have been completely slacking with updating this blog. This is the longest stretch of time that I haven’t updated or posted and I’m kind of beating myself up about it.

No one told me that wedding planning would quite literally suck away all of my free time. Actually, now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure I was warned I just refused to believe it. The truth is…planning a wedding entirely yourself is no joke. Don’t get me wrong, I have thoroughly loved every single minute of the planning and it’s turned into an unexpected creative outlet, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss coming home after work and reading on the couch for HOURS at a time with zero worries about the wording and design of our wedding weekend stationary. Like I said, I’m soaking up every minute of wedding planning because I’m only a fiance for two more months and I’ll never have this moment again – but I DO miss my bookish life.

Now, wedding planning aside, I want to talk a minute about the crazy world of bookstagram. I started my bookstagram account last summer as a way to “supplement” The Bookmarker blog, or so I thought. Let me just tell you, the world of bookstagram is actually insane. Perhaps I caused all of these feelings by putting unnecessary pressure on myself but I needed a freaking break. Back in October I decided I needed to detox from my bookstagram account. The amount of pressure to find the right lighting and props to take photos, to post at the right time of day to maximize traffic to your posts, cultivate authentic engagement so that you’d gain followers while still interacting and coming across as “real”, was all truly too much for me. If you’re a bookstagrammer and love doing it then that’s amazing and I am so glad – this is all just my opinion based upon my own experience. I found that I was spending entirely way too much time staging photos, thinking of engaging captions, and trying to follow as many people as I could that it was actually creating absolutely unnecessary stress; plus – it was taking time away from doing what I actually love, reading and writing for fun.

With all of this being said, I’m still running around like a mad woman planning my wedding but I’ve made the decision that I am going to continue The Bookmarker blog without the added stress of my bookstagram account. Maybe one day I’ll return to that space but for now, this is what I truly love doing; writing and reviewing books on my own platform, on my own time, designed exactly how I want.

All is well in my world and 2020 is off to a great but busy start! I am disappointed that I haven’t read as much as past years, but again, you only plan a wedding once so I’m fully embracing this season of my life and I know that I will be back to reading 1-2 books a week in no time!

Stay tuned for continued posts about all things books and of course, my thought-out book reviews.

XO