3 Years of Beyond the Read! (ft. so much love and thanks) 💜

hello everyone and welcome back—i hope you’ve all been well! i really had the audacity in january to say that i was going to post every month this year, huh 🫠 what can i say, march was a long haul of a month and time just kind of ran away with me hanging on for dear life 😅 i’m currently on spring break (happy belated easter to those who celebrate!!), which is still kind of stressful because it marks the official dawn of ap studying season, but i’m so glad that i have the time to pop back in here and write something!!

that brings us to the topic of the post today: this month marks beyond the read’s third birthday 🎉 i am completely lost as to how it’s already been three years since i hunkered down in my room during the covid-19 lockdown and decided to take the plunge in making a wordpress account. it feels like only yesterday when i published my first post, heart in throat at the prospect of reaching even an audience of one person. and now there’s almost 400 of you following me 🥹

it’s been an eventful few years and i’m not always the most consistent blogger, but this blog has been a constant source of comfort for me throughout all the ups and downs. i don’t think i’m exaggerating when i say that this blog and the amazing people i’ve encountered through it have changed my entire worldview. i’ve always felt very isolated in my interests in the real world—i can probably count on less than ten fingers the number of people i’ve met who’ve genuinely been interested in continuing a conversation with me about books—and i feel like that made me retreat into myself regarding the things i got most excited about.

and then i met all of you, this thriving, fearlessly passionate community just waiting to discovered, with all of this lingo that described everything that i didn’t know there were words for, and all of these books. i’ve discovered so many books that have very literally changed my life through this community, with so many more still waiting to be read, and so many people whom i’ve developed meaningful connections with. knowing that i’m not alone in my pursuit of fictional worlds and obscure hobbies has done wonders for my confidence (and by extension, my personality and relationships) in real life as well. i’m so forever grateful to all of you for bringing this shy girl out of her shell and empowering her to shamelessly declare her love for books to the entire world.

my aims with this blog have changed with the time that has passed. most prominently, i’ve been putting much less of a focus on my faith than i imagined i would be when i first started out, and i actually don’t think that’s too much of a bad thing. over the past three years, i’ve learned more about myself and my relationship to God. i’ve realized that my faith is something i’m just more comfortable talking about in private and that an online medium, no matter how anonymous, isn’t going to alleviate the anxiety that accompanies any discussion of the most intimate part of my personal life. this doesn’t mean i’m going to remove that aspect of my blog entirely, far from it. i just wanted to put this out there for those of you who might have been wondering 🫶

and now that all that sentimental stuff is out of the way, i just want to give shoutouts to a few of you who’ve made my blogging journey so much more special. i wish i could mention every single blogger i’ve befriended here, if only there weren’t way too many of you to possibly do that. but i hope you all know how much you and your blogs mean to me 💜💜💜

in no particular order:

• naemi, you are quite possibly the sweetest soul on the planet. your comments never fail to make my day brighter and i absolutely adore reading your posts 🤍

• veronica, i love love love your posts—you have the most creative ideas!! your enthusiasm and just general amazingness makes me look forward to our every interaction 😚

• eleanor, i’m so glad to see you back on my feed these days!! thank you for always being so supportive of my posts. i always love chatting with you, whether it’s about books or taylor swift 🫶

• stephen, you’re one of the first friends i made here and i’m so grateful for your kind comments! i always look forward to reading your posts—they’re so well-written 🥰

• esmeralda, everything you write is always so thoughtful and well-articulated! your book recommendations are so on point as well. every interaction i have with you is such a pleasure 😊

• cherelle, i still remember geeking out over musicals during our first comment exchange!! it’s been so amazing watching your blog grow and screaming about sabaa tahir’s books in all caps with you 💕

• m.t., you’re the first person i ever followed on wordpress, and my love for your blog remains the same, then and now 😍

• and of course, cait—i remember first reading your review of a curse so dark and lonely and then spending hours digging into your archives to read everything you’ve ever posted. thank you for getting me started down this path 💖

• again, every single one of you. you’ve given me books like six of crows, people we meet on vacation, book lovers, we are not free, a good girl’s guide to murder, the poppy war, and so many more 💗

so yeah, i just wanted to pop in and make my first-ever blogiversary post! all my thanks to God and to all of you for making this possible ❤️

it’s back to studying for me now (🥲), but tell me—how are all of you doing? how is the new season treating you? any new favorites you’ve discovered?

until next time, stay safe and happy reading, everyone! 💓