Hello readers! This month is my 5th anniversary of blogging. I started my blog back in August 2020. I was honestly so nervous because I don’t think I have the best writing skills.
I wanted somewhere to share my thoughts about books and I never imagined I would still be going so strong after 5 years. I haven’t always been consistent, but I do come back every time.
I made so many friends in my first year and unfortunately, most of those people have quit or disappeared. I really hope that newer bloggers don’t lose their motivation.
In February of 2021, I brought my blog to WordPress from WIX. It was a little bit lonely over there. And the site was a lot harder to use.
For my first blogiversary, I posted my One Year Blogiversary Post and a tag I created with Leafpages, who is no longer active.
It’s so funny that I originally made my thumbnails and even my logo in paint! I didn’t know about Canva until I came here. It took me so long to craft a giraffe in paint.
Before being a bookish blogger, I didn’t read a lot of the newest books. I did watch bookish content on YouTube, and I even used to make it as well. But, I would rarely ever read a new release.
One thing I love about the book blogging community is how diverse the reading tastes are. While many of us read popular books in our favorite genres, I’ve found that book bloggers also highlight lesser-known authors I might never have discovered otherwise.
They seem to be more accepting of someone like me who reads pretty broadly across genres. If I post a Tiktok about middle grade books, none of my followers will watch it.
The book blogging community got me into cozy mystery books, which I had never considered reading before. I am actually thinking of picking up that really popular one this next month, the Dream Harbor series by Laurie Gilmore.
I also created a bookmark for that post, and it’s been downloaded nearly 100 times! I’m glad that anyone would download a bookmark with my blog’s name on it.
Since starting my blog, I’ve read 477 books and 133,874 pages.
I hit 300 followers this year. I’ve posted over 700 times and gained 25,000 views.
2nd Blogiversary post & 3rd blogiversary post
As I said in both of those blogiversary posts, I just really appreciate everyone who likes, views, or comments on my posts. Even when I don’t read a single thing, you guys still interact with my posts.
My life changed a lot these past two years and I really tried to open up more and share my life. I don’t want to share too much because this is still about books. But, I figure if you are here consistently, you might care a little bit about my daily life.
Last year, I separated from my husband, took over parenting my step-daughter solo, started college, had my blog content stolen (twice), I got COVID (twice), my daughter started traditional school AND middle school, and she experienced a school shooting threat.
I made 3 posts about my blog content being stolen. The authors I met on TikTok educated me on what a DMCA takedown was because I had never even heard of that.
Unfortunately, indie authors are stolen from a lot. PLEASE do not illegally download indie author books!
A few months after everything happened, I saw his site was back up. He was stealing from bigger sites like Forbes, so I emailed Forbes and got his site taken down again. That may have been petty, but I don’t even care. 😂
I never really talked about this because I don’t know if he is reading and I don’t want him to get angry at me. But, I was going through financial abuse. I didn’t even realize it until I was separated from him.
It wasn’t the whole time, but in the last two years or so I wasn’t ever allowed to have money or spend anything on myself without asking permission.
I was slowly isolated from friends over the 10 years. I don’t actually have any friends in real life.
This year, I am doing really well. I have come back to my old self. I’ve lost 40 pounds and even started exercising. I have the energy again to take care of myself and spend more time on the things I love doing.
I have a 3.63 GPA in college, which I have been working super hard on.
When I started college in 2019, I didn’t really want to do it. I only did it because my husband wanted me to. I was going for Library Science because I didn’t know what else to pick.
This time, I had been planning going back to college for a while. I was thinking about going for tax preparation because I have done my own taxes my entire adulthood. I also do my mom’s and brother-in-laws, too.
I started last year in accounting and have recently switched to forensic accounting. After getting my bachelor’s degree, I want to get a masters in forensic psychology because I want to help victims of financial abuse and crimes.
I took a vacation for the first time as an adult to Ohio. I mean, I live in Indiana, so it isn’t that far. But, my husband wouldn’t let me go to see the Christmas Story house. I wanted to go since 2018 and I finally got to do it!
I am not going to lie, I nearly cried while standing in that house.
I am studying to get my driver’s license! I had my permit when I was 20, but I never got a license. I just get so anxious when driving, but I was thinking about it, and I want to be able to teach my daughter to drive.
It’s been a long journey to get where I am, but I have no intent of looking back. I am still the primary caretaker of my step-daughter. Her dad helps a little more now, but the primary responsibility is still mine.
Just know I appreciate everyone who takes the time to be here. It’s the one platform I have stayed on since everything has been going on. It’s the only platform I still feel safe on.
Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or just found my blog this year, I’d love to hear from you!
Happy blogging and bookish adventures! 📚🦒✨
This post was created by Allison Wolfe for www.allithebookgiraffe.com and is not permitted to be posted anywhere else.
Where to find me: https://linktr.ee/Allithebookgiraffe
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Alli the Book Giraffe 
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