Before the pre-digital, pre-books-on-demand days there were a limited number of publishers and thus a limited number of books and reviewers from magazines and newspapers could keep up with them. But things have changed drastically. Hybrid publishers abound now, and the number of books being published each year is enormous. Additionally, many newspapers and magazines have found it necessary to streamline, letting their reviewers go in favor of receiving the same review from the same news agency source.
But the good news is this. A whole new breed of reviewer has arisen from this fray: the book blogger. Book bloggers have quietly become the unsung heroes of the literary world, a small army of ravenous readers who, for the most part, are willing to share their love of books simply for the joy of it. We are so happy to introduce Occhi readers to book advocate Scarlett Cardeli, otherwise known as Scarlett Readz and Runz.
How and why did you become a book blogger?
I have always been a reader and book pusher, but my reading volume varied and I never imagined it would land me here, being a book blogger today. In my 20s and 30s, I read a lot less due to the busy demands in the workforce and raising a family. Along with staying physically fit—I used to dance competitively until my mid-thirties—I always chose reading as a way of balancing activity with the need for calm and self-care.
In more recent times, and as a regular patron at our library, I found out about the lending system of audiobooks through Overdrive and began using them during my daily exercise. This led to listening to audiobooks in the car, while doing chores, and at every other possible opportunity. I also learned about Goodreads and went to town logging in books I’d read and creating my ‘virtual shelves’ (which need a bit of cleaning up nowadays, admittedly). I still had no idea that book bloggers existed. I was just happy to connect with other readers since I don’t have any bookish people in my immediate circle of family or friends. From there came the gentle beginnings of writing reviews and putting myself out there, which was strange, since I didn’t even have any social media accounts at that time. It didn’t take long, maybe a year or so until I was contacted to be a beta reader for an upcoming book, and from there I started researching as much as I could about beta reading and reviewing. That sort of started everything, though I knew I wasn’t equipped to be reviewing books on a larger scale as I didn’t have a platform of my own to review on. It took me another ten months and some help to come to the point of launching a website, opening social media accounts and creating profiles on review sites. Now, two years later, I am still learning something new all the time about the ins and outs of book blogging. Establishing an ongoing rapport with publishers, authors, PR agencies, fellow bloggers and readers has been an amazing and rewarding experience so far.
How many books do you usually read in a year?
Since fully taking off on Goodreads and blogging, it’s been between 100 to 130 books a year, though I came short of my goals in 2019. I would have loved to have exceeded the above average by 40 books. Fingers crossed for 2020.
If I understand the industry correctly, most book bloggers review and blog for the love of it. Is that the case with you?
Definitely a big yes. As far as I know, a love for books is the driving force in book blogging since it is rather a time consuming, semi-pricey and at times a stressful hobby without a financial return. You have to have been bitten by the reading bug and feel sincere about spending so much time with your nose in a book or it would feel like work! If you love what you do, it simply doesn’t.
In addition to book blogging, do you have a full-time job? And if yes, how does it impact your reading life?
As the spouse of a military veteran of almost 25 years, I had to move household close to 20 times and though I kept up with working full time (in accounting) for many years, it was rather difficult to begin over every time our duty station changed. By the time my oldest son was 12, he had moved ten times and it was wearing on his school performance. It was then that I decided to put my professional life on hold and begin to home-educate him and his little brother. This freed up time to read but the materials I read were mainly of an educational/academic character and children’s books. But I was determined to turn my children into readers, and we took library trips twice a week, had morning storytimes and made a lot of time for self-sustained reading.
About eight months into blogging, in 2018, my youngest son was diagnosed with a rare genetic and potentially fatal disease that shattered my world completely. This was during a time when I was contemplating easing back into the workforce. Sleepless nights, medical tests, trips to the doctors and the bi-monthly hospital visits in another state have certainly impacted my reading at times. Combined with a new diet regiment I had to implement for him, the daily timed- spaced-out medication routine, the lesson planning, and his extracurricular activities, I’m certainly very busy. There are times when I can’t actually focus on reading; my first job is to be a mother and caretaker. But my love for reading prevails through it all.
Your Twitter handle is Scarlett Readz and Runz. How far do you run, and do you think about the book you are currently reading while doing so?
My usual run is about seven miles; that’s where I am at the moment and what I can fit into my day. In the summer I run shortly after 5:00 a.m. because of the heat, and in the winter I schedule my runs for midday. I absolutely love running with an audiobook, and as of recently, podcasts by fellow book bloggers as well. Being out there in nature and on the trails has proven itself to be one of the best places to think in general, but a really good book makes time simply fly by. As a fan of authors’ afterwords, I have teared up while running or grinned along with a good story.
Your reviews are very detailed. Do you make notes as you go along?
I am the queen of sticky Post-it notes when I read a physical book. Depending on the complexity of the novel, I will use a variety of colors to coordinate different characters, quotes, and important plot points. If I read on Kindle, I will use the highlighting function. Unfortunately, I can’t do that for audiobooks, so I try to choose fast-paced novels like thrillers or more emotionally-charged books like historical novels, which are easiest for me to recall. I refrain from listening to fantasy on the trail since I have the most difficulty reviewing it without tabs, highlights or notes.
What do you do if you begin a book and realize it is not your cup of tea?
It’s a fine line between giving books enough time to develop and not giving them enough before I give up. If I cannot connect to a novel after I’m 30 percent into it, I abort reading it. To prevent this from happening when reviewing for an author or publisher, I ask for an excerpt from the novel in my contact form so I can make the best possible decision ahead of time. My selection process has become critical, and I sometimes take a few days to let a request simmer before I can answer.
I also apply the same careful consideration when requesting novels from publishers or review sites like NetGalley or Edelweiss, where I don’t always have access to an excerpt. An honest reply/review with respectfully-stated reasoning to the publisher or author as to why a book didn’t or won’t work for me is sometimes the best I can do.
The audiobooks I listen too are mostly from my personal TBR list, or because the mood struck me for a particular novel. They are the easiest to just abandon if I don’t like them. To me, the voice, accent, tone, and dialect of the narrator plays an important part in the enjoyment of an audio story. If it doesn’t work, I will just move on.
I notice there is great camaraderie among book bloggers on Twitter and other social media sites. Are there any book blogger conferences where you can actually meet up with your fellow bloggers?
The camaraderie is absolutely phenomenal among us book bloggers and I have met amazingly creative, courteous and friendly people online. Since I didn’t really have social media before blogging, I had some reservations, but they were stuffed out immediately by the embrace of my new fellow bookish friends. I have found my tribe, and I would love to meet some of them at an event or a get-together. Though I know there are book bloggers that have done this, many of us are spread around the globe. With a love for books at heart, online social media outlets have been a great way to connect internationally. Perhaps we need to spearhead a meet-up sometime at one of the Book Cons. I would love that.
Where do the majority of books you read come from?
Initially, I requested all my books on Netgalley. As author review requests started coming in overtime, I slowly turned away from Netgalley, mainly because I made the rookie mistake of requesting too many books and it was a challenge to catch up. Nowadays, I like to keep a high ratio of reviewed to requested books to raise my chances of approval for some special rarities from publishers. In the meantime, I have also established a network with some awesome publicists and frequently accept requests from self-published authors as well. The majority of my books now come from publishers and authors.
What would you like readers at Occhi to know about the work that you do on behalf of the literary world?
Being bubbly about books and encouraging young and old to read is something I have always done. Giving books for special occasions, donating books and taking trips to the library or bookstore comes naturally to most book lovers.
My blogging venture has rendered me a small part of a large community of book bloggers doing their best to spread the love of reading. It is the extra mile we go to spread the written word, to encourage one another, to build networks and lift each other up as readers. Authors, editors, illustrators and all those behind the creative work that makes stories come to life have found a home on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, to name a few. The entire melting pot of creatives from all areas of the literary world participates to ensure the written word, especially as it exists in physical books, doesn’t slowly become lost in today’s distractions and society’s need for immediate gratification.
Books can provide a truly transformative change in one’s perception of others. Reading many of them is something I highly encourage everyone to try, and that’s my main purpose in all this.
Where can readers find your reviews and blogs?
I can be contacted here:
My Blog: “Through Novel Time & Distance”
Twitter: @ReadzandRunz
Instagram: @scarlettreadzandrunz
Goodreads: Scarlett Readz and Runz….Through Novel Time & Distance
About Author
