Book Perfume

Excuse me while I gorge myself on buttercream and pump up the party jams. Book Perfume is seven years old!

And by “pump up the party jams” I mean “snuggle up in my favorite chair and read with my dog,” but I’m serious about the buttercream. I don’t joke about cupcakes and neither does Ollie.

Seven years ago this month, I decided to put this little blog out in the world with the goal of doing what I love most: gushing about books. I didn’t know if anyone would read it. I didn’t know if I would keep it up. (If you look back and see how sporadic my blogs sometimes are, you’ll correctly guess that there were many times when I almost didn’t keep it up.)  I definitely didn’t know that I’d meet so many amazing people over our shared love of all things literary.

I say this every year, but I repeat it because it’s true: I am so grateful for all of the authors, bloggers, and readers I’ve met in this cozy little corner of the internet. Taking into account all that we have faced in the world since the beginning of last year, I’ve been tempted so many times to give it all up and never look at social media again. With the entire globe in peril, who wants to hear me swooning about fictional heartthrobs? But here’s what I know—books matter. They connect us, they make us feel less alone, and they reveal the joyous, heartbreaking, absurd experience of what it means to be human. I think these are things we could all use right about now.

I wanted to mark this 7th blogiversary with something notable—seven days of book reviews or seven author interviews or seven fictional characters I’d want to be stranded with on a desert island. (Actually, that one sounds like a lot of fun and now it’s all I can think about). I wanted to do a lot of things, but, well, there are only so many hours in the day and Ollie’s Instagram isn’t going to manage itself. I do want to make a conscious effort to blog more in the year ahead, and I do want to try new things and see how you like them, but for now, you’re stuck with little old me saying thank you from the bottom of my heart. Whether you started reading this blog seven years ago or are only stumbling upon it today, I am so thrilled to talk about books with you.

If you haven’t already, you can find me gabbing about books (and dogs and random pieces of pop culture) on Twitter and Instagram. (My dog has 4 times the followers I have. Please, make me look cool in front of him!) I’m also on Facebook, which I have not done a very good job of keeping up with, but I will try in the year ahead!

Truly, thank you, bookish friends, for being so wonderful. I can’t wait to keep the conversation going. In the meantime, I have a cupcake to attend to.