CommonBookSense: One Year Of CommonBookSense

Hello, lovelies! Today is the day! We really don't have anything uber special planned, but we just wanted to pop in for a quick second to talk to you guys.

In case you didn't know (or see the massive header image), today marks one whole year of CommonBookSense! We really wish we would have saved pictures, so that we can show you just how much it's changed since that very first day.

We started CommonBookSense this time last year because Kailei had wanted to start a book blog for several months. She actually tried a few different blogging platforms before choosing our current one. We did a minuscule amount of research before jumping in head first (and without floaties), so we had NO idea what we were doing…..But we don't regret one single second.

Some people have asked us why we decided to start a blog, and why we chose this particular niche. Our answer has differed as a week turned to a month, turned to six months, turned to a year, but the basis has always stayed the same. We love to read. It's just something that really has always been a big part of our lives.

Books offer you this great escape. You can sit down after having a bad day and become someone else for a few hours. You pour your heart into the words that are on the pages, and you always get something in return. We created CommonBookSense because we wanted to share our voice with the world. We always had so much to say about our latest read, but no one to really listen (besides each other)...So, we made a place where we could be heard.

Every day, we get to wake up and do what we love. We get to read. We get to virtually meet new people, and authors. We get to share our voice and our opinions with the world. We can make someone's day with just a few keystrokes. We get to build these amazing relationships with amazing authors and bloggers. We get to sit at our desk, every day, and make some kind of difference! We know we just sit behind a computer and type up a few sentences telling someone what we thought about their book, but it's bigger than that for us. Amazing opportunities have opened up for us. We’ve gotten a VIP pass into this elusive world that authors live in.

Authors, for us, have always been on this pedestal -- untouchable and distant -- no matter how much we loved or hated their book. Now, we get these emails from these people that we hold in such high regard, telling us that they really appreciate what we do here, what we've created, that it's people like US that help people like them [authors] get noticed. It's always so humbling for someone to tell you that you just made their day...You made their day, JUST by doing something you already love doing! That's what makes all of the stress, hair-pulling, and late-nights worth it.

There were a few times where we almost gave up, but something always pulled us back to our computers. Reviews were slow coming, but not because we weren’t reading, rather because we were trying to teach ourselves how to juggle real-life responsibilities, and those that come with running a blog and getting it to function..That was until CommonBookSense became a real-life, every day responsibility.

We're here for the long-run, no matter where our future takes us. We’ll still be here, sitting behind this keyboard, when Kailei starts college, or after Shell moves to the beach.. And we hope you guys will be here with us.

Here's to all the late night tutorials, the stress, the reviews, the new friendships, and most importantly, to you, our lovely readers.

You can see some of our favorite reviews and a few of our accomplishments below, if you feel like reading some more :)

We'll blog you later. ❤