Happy 2nd Birthday, Blog!

Yes, it's my blog's second birthday today! Wow, two years book blogging. I thought that I wouldn't make a big deal about this, but I was actually excited last night and was telling my family, "Hey, my blog will be 2 tomorrow!" Not that they actually read my blog, but they do know that I blog.:)

So, two years means that my honeymoon stage with blogging is definitely over and the real work has set in. By work, I do not mean the dreadful, soulless kind. I mean the thing that may not enamor you everyday, but you do anyway because you know, deep down, you love it. Kinda like a marriage.

Last year, on my first blogiversary, I wrote very passionately about the Filipino reader. I didn't really know it then, but that post became a sort of manifesto for me and colored what I wanted to do as a reader, a blogger,  and a book club member in the succeeding year.

This year, I don't have an issue to talk about with a burning passion. Rather, I find myself still wanting to do more of the same. I look back on that anniversary post and what happened this past year, and I realize that, "Hey, we were able to do something about it." I can't vouch for how powerful or successful it's going to be, but from my point of view, I'm happy that I tried to do something or became part of someone else's effort to address it.

For instance, in the effort to 1) promote the Filipino as a reader (and, by extension, book bloggers) and 2) help local publishers and authors by connecting more with readers, fellow book bloggers and I have done the following things in the last year:

• came up with a list of Filipino book bloggers, which led to the creation of the Filipino Book Bloggers website.
• had a first and a second meet-up with the Filipino Book Bloggers, both of which were successful. 
• met and made friends with local authors who have the same concerns we do about promoting the Filipino as a reader and local publishing
• convinced one of the largest local trade book publishers to try giving out complimentary copies of their books to our book club, Flips Flipping Pages, for the purposes of promotion. (And very generous they were, too.)
• had a very relaxed author meet-up with Marianne Villanueva in Libreria, that cozy bookstore that serves as the informal "hang-out" of our book club as well as the Filipino Book Bloggers

On a more personal level, I was able to attend two conferences this year, The Future of the Book, and the Lit Out Loud Literary Festival, where I learned a lot about book publishing in general and where I was able to connect with people who share the same concerns and can help further those two causes I wrote above.

Another personal blogging highlight was the NYRB Reading Week, which Mrs. B from The Literary Stew let me co-host. I loved that week and all the discoveries I made because of it.

This year, too, my blog was a finalist once again in the Arts and Culture category of the Philippine Blog Awards. There were two book bloggers among the finalists, but there were more in the nominees list. I hope this is the beginning of the recognition of book bloggers in the local blogosphere. It is not about the winning, but about giving the readers in the Philippine blogosphere their due attention. Actually, I'd like to see the readers in the country, whoever and wherever they are, given their due attention. What better way to promote the Filipino reader, eh?

You know, in the writing of this post, I realize that last year was full of bookish and reading activities for me. Cool.

So, here's hoping that my third year of book blogging will make me a better blogger (because I do need to post and reply to comments more) and a better activist for reading and Filipino readers. That's all I got for now. And thank you to all of you--readers and fellow book bloggers the world over--for reading this blog and for making this community what it is: vibrant, warm, and creative. I wouldn't have lasted two years if it weren't for the community.