For those of you who have been around these last 10 years (EEP), you know I was once quite the blogger/book chatter/writer girl. This site… if you dig through the glorious archives is not only an artifact of my love of books… within the posts, is also the story of me.
And…
If you have been with me all these years. You know much of that story… much of my strong review years, what slowed me down to now (life, loss, change) to this, my eventual pop in once in a while.
Because of all of that I just said, I keep this site active as it does hold much of me… a bit of a Horcrux (but not the evil kind).
Ok – this is not meant to be about that. I wanted to share a little history of First Book – the one consistent I have held on this site.
First Book started with me, long before I knew what a blog was. I always made a big deal out of my first book of the year… making it a “no rules book” – just merely guilty pleasure – a book I was reading not because it was the next hot thing, not because it should be read next, not because it was for my book club – etc etc…. First Book to me was a book that I wanted to read for me. It could be anything. A re-read of a favorite. One I had put off for a while (years even) due to time restraints etc…, one that was not in my normal genre circle but I longed to give it a try…
Seven years ago I brought First Book to Book Journey. Opening up my silly tradition to the masses – anyone else who wanted an excuse to read something they really wanted to read for no reason at all then they wanted to read it.
It has been a lot of fun. as you can see by the posts and the pictures of those who shared their first book (some of you are represented year after year!)
I keep it going for many reasons. It connects me to the book lovers/reviewers that I have come to know through the years – heck, I even met quite a few of you that are not in my everyday world. It is also fun to see if there is a book that is selected many times (last Year Crawdads and Michelle Obama’s book Becoming were featured frequently). And if I am completely open and honest – I do it because it gives me a project to get through the New Year and focus on something positive instead of losing myself in loss.
That all said… I do hope you join in this year. It’s easy – you just send in a picture of yourself with the first book you plan to be reading into the New Year. You can email me at sdechantal@gmail.com or PM me on Facebook – or even add it to a Facebook post I wrote about First Book.
Thanks All! Happy Holidays!
Sheila
Book Journey 
YAY!
Exactly. ;P
I love this event, and like you, it shows my journey through reading. I have a page on my An Interior Journey site that spotlights the event and the books I’ve read through the years on the First of the Year.
Thanks for sharing it with us!
I love that Laurel!
I have my book picked and need to make a photo and get it to you. You started me on first book 7 years ago. I never gave it any thought, now for the rest of my reading life I’ll always want to pick a first book, thank you for sharing it with us.
Awe, I love this!
Great post, and great reminiscing.
THANK YOU!!
Looking forward to this year’s photos.
New to me
Look forward to The First Book Shelia! It was fun to look back and see that I wore either pink or purple in my pictures. Will send my picture shortly!
Sheila, life changes and, for sure, is ALways too busy, certainly for me, but you and your blog have been a very special part of my online life and connections. Regardless of how often (or not) you post, it’s a comfort to know that this blog is here and to occasionally here from you through the “net waves” 🙂 And heck, I just recently referred someone I know who was looking for audiobook recommendations and sent them here!
First Book is SUCH a fun activity/tradition and I’m glad you do it 😀 Whatever happiness the New Year holds, I hope you find it! oxox
What a fun idea!
Great way to start the year. I went for a non fiction and wrote a post about it (a little bit too late…) https://thecontentreader.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-first-book-of-year-2020.html