I love to read.

A couple of years back I decided to read more fiction as a means of getting my focus back and I wrote about it in the post Reading Books as Sense Making.  At the same time, I was also watching many Book Tubers review their books online so I thought I’d start doing mine and shared how I was Doing A Booktube.

I admit that it’s been a lot of fun not only to read the book but also take notes while I read in a small paper pad and then think about my feelings towards the book.

My process is:

1. Pick a book from my own collection or from the library (I rarely buy fiction novels and if I do, they’re usually second hand bought from opportunity stores or borrowed from others).
2. I have lots of resources from other people’s reading lists (tweets they share about books they’re reading; follow Instagram accounts on books; trawl through Good Reads recommendations; photos of what is on the bedside table – and then I look through the library catalogues of which I’m a member of many libraries – to order the books.
3. Make time to read the book and hope that it sucks me in within the first 50 or so pages.  If it doesn’t I’ll leave it aside and pick a new one
4. I take some notes in a small paper pad about it namely how I’m feeling about it, characters names, things that I like and don’t like as a memory jogger.
5. Half way through the book, I’ll check what others are saying about it usually through reading articles online reviewing the book; watching YouTube video reviews by some of the bigger name Book Tubers and trawling through the Good Reads reviews.
6. Discussion with others such as my husband, and friends on social media is also a big factor for me to make sense of the book, the author and their writing.
7. On completion, I’ll share my review and rating on Good Reads and then also comment on other peoples reviews of the book, tweet and share my thoughts on social media and then I’ll create a short video about it that I’ll upload to YouTube.

There is no real reason why I’m doing this visually – or by video – other than simply just being able to experiment with the camera.  My aim is not to set up a BookTube account and be a full time book reviewer.  Nor is it to generate income from it or become a book review celebrity.  I’m merely sharing my love of reading to others – and melding together my love for video creation as well so that I can connect and communicate with others who may also have loved – or hated – the book.

My reasons for doing the reviews are simply because I can – it’s another form of expression for me because I love to see the entire process.  Finding a good book, reading it, creating something from it, sharing it to the world, having conversations about it – actively making me think about it and connecting with others.  That’s it really.

Nothing about business.  Nothing about blurring my “personal and professional brand”. Nothing about getting known or building a reputation.   It’s just using these tools we have available to make sense of what we love to do with our time; to share it with others that MAY start a community or new connections.

It’s also a great way to keep continually practising in front of the camera so that you can hone your communication and your camera skills.

What is something that you do and you love to do and to learn about that you can share to the world?

Want to see the Book Reviews I’ve done?  I’ve got the Playlist here.

Here’s my latest book review of Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe.