Book Perfume

Look out for wayward streamers and get ready for sugar high. Book Perfume is five years old today!

Half a decade ago, I started this journey with a post about my undying love of Little Women’s Professor Bhaer and I haven’t looked back since. Well, that’s not entirely true. I look back on occasion to make sure Ollie Twist isn’t eating my books, because really, that’s a professional hazard, but I try not to look back.

I say this every year, but when I hit publish on that first post, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if anyone would read it, and I didn’t know if I would stick with it. I certainly didn’t know that this blog would change my life. Over the past five years, I’ve gushed over dozens of literary hunks, reminisced over childhood favorites, obsessed over Jamie Fraser’s finest moments, and read countless books that will stay with me forever. More than all of that, I’ve met the very best people. Authors, bloggers, readers—some in person, many online, all with one thing in common: an utter devotion to books. The friends I’ve made along the way continue to prove what I’ve always known—that bookish people are the best people.

I’ve learned some things along the way, too. I’ve learned to accept that I’m not going to be the most prolific blogger on the block. If I were, I wouldn’t have time for my own writing, or for managing Ollie’s booming social media presence. I’ve learned that it’s okay to not have as many followers as the coolest bookstagrammers and that I’ll probably never see a day when I post and don’t obsessively wonder, “Is anyone out there?? Can anybody hear me???” I’ve also learned that as long as I continue to write from the heart about the books that I love, I’ve done something I can be proud of. For every moment when I feel like I’m just another voice in an overcrowded internet, there’s a message from someone telling me I’ve helped them find their new favorite book, or a note from an author saying that my support has made their day. Who could ask for anything more?

As I embark on my sixth year as a blogger, I promise you there is even more fun in store. I’ve done oodles of summer reading that I can’t wait to sing about, and we’re about to enter my FAVORITE BOOKISH SEASON OF ALL, fall! (Blankets! Tea! Pumpkin bread! ALL AROUND COZINESS! There’s nothing more conducive to reading. Nothing!) To those of you who have been with me since day one and those of you who just stumbled on this blog for the first time while searching for perfume that smells like books (sorry!), thank you, from the bottom of my cupcake-loving heart. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world knowing that you want to talk books with me. Now drop a comment and tell me what you’re reading and let’s all pretend we’re having a nice cup of tea together.