City of Deja

The year 2026 marks the ten year anniversary of my blog. Back in 2016, I started this blog as an extension of my Bookstagram account of the same name, where I could share more in depth posts related to book recommendations and any of my other interests. A lot has changed in the digital sphere since then, so I wanted to reflect on 10 years as a book blogger and the future of this space.

Archiving vs. Content

Last year, I updated my blog tagline to “a digital literary archive,” and for the first time in nearly a decade, I felt that I had finally captured the essence of this space.

When I began my book blog, I wasn’t familiar with labels such as “content creator” or “influencer” as it related to those who published posts on the topics of books. Back then, you were called a blogger across most social media platforms (or a “vlogger” if you were on YouTube), even if you never had your own website.

Although I eventually leaned into the labels as I began working with publishers and even started getting paid for some of my collaborations, it never felt like a true representation of what I hoped my platform would become. I wanted my blog to be a space where I could look back on my thoughts about books I’d read and share them with others who, like me, went searching for reviews right after finishing a book. As much as I tried to make “content creation” work, it didn’t feel natural to have a posting schedule for my blog, since I wanted all of the posts and book reviews to come from me organically. While I have since privated quite a few posts from my early blogging years, I’m glad to have such a detailed documentation–a digital literary archive, if you will–of my reading journey.

The AI Question

It is not lost on me, however, that sharing my written reviews in this contemporary moment contributes to the larger issue of AI content and writing. I’ve already seen in my blog stats that a certain generative chat bot has linked to my blog on more than one occasion (I do not use AI myself, so I’m not exactly sure about the circumstances surrounding this). It feels a bit bittersweet to know that we have now moved beyond the coveted “search and find” process of the Internet as I once knew it, and that there is a trend toward devaluing the writing process and the authenticity of sharing ideas online.

Though I’m still not exactly sure how to answer the AI question as it relates to blogging, I do reserve some hope. Since my blog is largely about my leisure reading and other literary topics, I do think that it lends itself toward something that AI cannot recreate, and that is the feeling that comes out of these literary processes. Whether it’s the sense of satisfaction after finishing a book or the moment of catharsis when your revised sentence finally conveys the thought that has been living in your head, these very human moments are always at the heart of what I share here. The writing of it all only serves as a vehicle in which to share the literary representations of such moments with others.

I have thought about all of the alternatives to a public-facing and searchable blog (like Substack), but for now, I’d like to remain where I am–and stay committed to keeping book blogs human.

The Future of Book Blogs & What’s Next

Finally, I think that the future of blogging about books lies in the construction of a more expansive definition of what is means to “blog,” document, and archive contemporary literary processes. I find that many Bookstgrammers I follow are doing their own version of blogging through photos and short-form videos. And that more traditional book blogs are also incorporating other forms of media in their posts to expand their audience reach. Though I am partial to the long-form written book review, I can appreciate how there are many corners within the bookish world of the Internet, and I do hope that more will continue to show up in the future.

From me, you can expect more occasional book reviews, as well as posts related to my next venture of pursuing a doctorate degree in English Literature.

Overall, this space has evolved quite a lot since I first launched it in 2016, so thank you to every reader–old and new–who has stuck around. Here’s to another decade of book blogging.