Nerd Church - Is This A Book Blog, Though?

 

...aka she's back on that existential crisis train again.

Is Dora Reads a book blog?

I mean, yes. But...

Is it, though?

Certainly, I've been calling it a book blog for the past 8+ years, but that doesn't automatically make it one, does it?

I write very few posts which actually, actively, talk about books.

My last review was some time last year, (a mini-review of Klara and the Sun, which you can see here, if you're interested - gotta get that self-promo in!) and I rarely write book lists or discussions.

(For the record, I always intend to write more reviews, and even more lists and discussions, but life has this knack of getting in the way... 😅)

So, for years now, I've wondered whether I talk about books 'enough' to call this a book blog.

From time to time the doubts go away and I carry on my merry way without them, but they are always waiting for me somewhere. Wondering whether this is even a book blog, whether I'm even a book blogger.

Whether I fit 'enough' of the parameters of what a book blog is to 'count.'

Which is my insecurities turning up, front and centre, I know - just because my book blog doesn't look like other people's book blogs doesn't mean it's not a freaking book blog.

I've never done well with narrow definitions, and it's the same with blogging - I'm me, being my messy self all over the internet. 

It's what was always going to happen, and fighting it is both pointless and probably unhealthy.

But that doubt - that uber-specific form of imposter syndrome - likes to swoop in on me when I least expect it. 

Likes to point out that I write more book-adjacent posts (like about superhero movie adaptations, fanfiction, poetry, etc.) than I do book-centred posts. 

Likes to point out that I talk on Dora Reads about history, true crime, the media, social media, writing, mental health, general nerd stuff... 

- Which, yeah, I do. But so do books.

Books talk about everything - they contain everything.

They talk about justice and injustice and people and animals and science and art and history and...

They talk about life. They talk about the world.

Books are the vessel for everything. They're the conduit of the universe, y'know?

So, imho, you can't talk about books without talking about life. Because they're intertwined, inseparabale.

They're words on a page or on a screen or read aloud, yes, but they're not just that. They've never been just that.

So... is Dora Reads a book blog?

I mean... I think so? Maybe?

OK - objectively. This is a book blog. I write about books. 

Even when I'm not writing about books, I'm writing about reading - like with my fanfiction posts - or talking about things like history and films while incorporating books (my Jojo Rabbit posts are full of quotes from books, for example.)

Because my brain automatically makes bookish links - it just brings it all in naturally.

So, objectively, this is a book blog.

Subjectively...

Well, it's one thing to know something, and another to believe it.

So I'll probably be having this conversation with myself again some time 😅

Nerd Church is going on break in June, and will be back on 2nd July 2023

Are you a blogger?
Do you ever argue with yourself over what your blog 'counts' as?
Talk to me! 😅💬

You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page

Previous Nerd Church Posts:

• Nerd Church - Is 1.5 Still Alive?

• Nerd Church - Short Story: Crystal Clarity

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