My Time on Books & Writing Amino

Blog theme- Books

Hello! Now that I have some time again, I wanted to a blog or two today. It the last day of the Spirit Wars,and I have had a fantastic time this week. The theme for today is reflection, and I thought I would take the time to  reflect on my time here. I ed this Amino in November 2016, so I have been here for over two years, and in a few months, I will be on here for three years. Enjoy! #SpiritTheme

When I ed here I feel like I lacked an identity as a reader. Sure, I read books before I ed, and I had some favorite books, but it wasn't until I ed here that I found the genre of books I truly loved. When I ed here, I would call myself a reader but I didn't really discuss reading or analyze the books I was reading outside of an academic paper. When I ed, I had not read that many hyped books, even though  I knew what my genre  preferences were. Also, when I ed here my reading taste was very stale, and I had not broken out of my YA and classics bubble really.  This is more personal, when I ed I was this shy introvert that didn't really talk to anyone or make friends even though I knew it was easier for me to connect with people  online. I thought that everyone had these  groups and friends so that I was going to be a lone wolf here. In fact, it took me a while to become active here, and even I did I was still inactive for months at a time because I didn't know if people cared what I had to say, or if they would want to get to know me.

Now, I am more of a well versed reader and I am more comfortable  talking to you all about the books I read. Honestly, I realized that the weekly events are a great way to connect with the community and discuss the books we all love. Last year, I started the book series A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and that was all thanks to the community here. Without you all telling me how much you enjoyed the series, and how much the hype was deserved, I followed the advice and read the books. You all introduced me to one of my favorite fantasy series, and opened up a whole new world to me. I read Heart of Iron last year, a favorite book of the year, and I found out about it from this community I'm pretty sure. What I am trying to say here is that you all introduced me to new genres and told me that it is okay to step out of my comfort zone. Not only that, but I find myself reaching for hyped books because I see the glowing reviews here.

When I ed here three years ago I was a writer but was not that active in my writing. I wrote outside of academia once a year for National Novel Writing month. My stories were lacking, and I couldn't think of why  because I felt I was good at crafting a story even if I did have flaws. When I ed here I didn't write blogs, this was mostly due to the fact that I was insecure in my own writing that I didn't want to my writing here for fear of what you would all say. I feel these insecurities crept into my writing at the time, and pulled down what was good about my writing. When I ed here and started posting blogs my writing was not as good, my formatting was kind of atrocious and they were very short. I didn't review books when I ed, this was because I didn't have a system I could use and I feel I lacked a style in the reviews.  I was this shy new member who hadn't been writing for as long as some other people, and I just didn't think that my writing was interesting enough to .

Now I am more confident in my writing and I find myself ing more blog than ever. I feel I have found my style when it comes to reviews, and I get interaction for writings I here. I have moved onto doing Camp Nano even if I don't hit my goal this month, I know that at least I gave it my best shot. When it comes to blogs for this community, I have learned that I need to spend more time on them, and that I need to add more detail and opinions than my earlier blogs. I feel I have improved as a writer and that is all thanks to this community. I have made some freindships here and I am so thankful for peop