stargazer

Who Am I – Can you get to know a blogger through their posts?

Many book bloggers write anonymously and don’t necessarily reveal a lot about themselves. I certainly belong to that category. Nevertheless, I do feel you get a sense of the person behind the blog. A blogger’s choice of books certainly says something about their taste, interests and personal preferences. Likes and dislikes may be discussed in their posts. Via the writing style, a blogger reveals aspects of their personality, including sense of humour, directness and generosity. Typically, it also comes across, which topics the blogger is passionate about. And occasionally, you may get an idea of the political views of the blogger via their opinions on certain books and authors.

Despite my attempts to remain private, I am sure people who regularly read my posts, have an idea of at least some of my interests and viewpoints.

Below, I have added ten posts, which in my opinion represent me as a person. Many of the posts focus on my interests and hobbies, but a few also include more personal background and opinions. Finally, I have added a couple of examples of my feeble attempts of creative writing.

Interest and Hobbies

1. Wildlife in Costa Rica
Travel is one of my big passions and you’ll find many blog posts on this topic. My Literary Location series includes some of my own favourite posts.

2. QED – The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Richard Feynman
My interest in science also comes across in various posts. When first starting my blog, I intended to review popular science books, but realised, that is probably too niche.

3. Book Review: Love and Other Thought Experiments
I am utterly fascinated by philosophy and books including metaphysical aspects always get bonus points from me. Love and Other Thought Experiments combines three of my interests: literature, philosophy and AI. No wonder, I love this book.

4. A day with Artificial Intelligence
AI is another topic which pops up regularly on my blog, both in reviews and discussion posts. Seeing the way things are going, this topic is relevant for all of us.

5. A Bookish Ode to London
One thing I do reveal about myself is that I am based in London. And it’s no secret, I am a city girl through and through. Art, music, theatre, good food and the diversity in a metropole like London are all essentials in my life.

Personal Posts

6. Judging a book by its cover, judging a blogger by their avatar
In my 2-year anniversary post, I gave a bit of background for my blogging name stargazer and explained why I found that name particularly suitable.

7. Hopes for 2021, a.k.a. the post where stargazer has an opinion
In real life, I have strong views on many topics, but I try to keep these at a minimum on my blog. However, in this Top Ten post, it just spilled out of me, so this is one of the few posts, where you see my true opinionated self.

8. Audiobook Review: Quiet by Susan Cain
I wonder how many book bloggers are introverts? In my review of Quiet, I talk a little bit about being an introvert and what it has meant for me.

My Writing

9. Circe: Interview with a fallen goddess
This might be a slightly odd post, but I enjoyed writing it and I still smile, when I revisit it.

10. Mrs Dalloway and Me
Like Circe, Mrs Dalloway inspired me to write an alternative review, tapping into the vibe of the story. It is still one of my favourite classics.

There you have it, ten posts which may give you an idea of the person behind the blog. Do you have any posts, which give a good impression of who you are?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl.

31 comments

  1. What a clever and thoughtful post. Our interests are very different – I am the least sciency person you could meet. But your posts are always interesting and thought-provoking and I’m glad you’re part of the blogosphere, if not as frequent a contributor as some (not a bad thing, by the way – some bloggers tend to overwhelm with the number of posts they offer).

    • Well, I guess it is fair to say, I don’t overwhelm the blogging community with a vast amount of posts these days!🙄😆 Apologies, for disappearing for a while – sometimes life just takes over. It is often fun to read posts from bloggers with different interests from oneself, I think, as long as there is common ground as well, such as books.

    • I am glad you enjoyed my Ode to London. I really enjoyed putting it together and thoroughly meant every word!

    • Thanks Nicki. Sorry about the late reply, but I took a short blogging break which unintentionally lasted for almost two months. Hope you are doing well!

    • Thanks Jonetta, I completely agree. Even for bloggers who don’t talk much about their lives outside of books, one still get a sense of the person behind the blog. Apologies for the late reply. Hopefully, I can soon start blogging a bit more regularly.

  6. “Art, music, theatre, good food and the diversity in a metropole like London are all essentials in my life..” — I’m completely with you on this. A high-quality urban environment is the greatest.

    • Absolutely, as much as I love nature, I still prefer to live in an urban environment. It is so stimulating and also – in many ways – convenient.

  7. I’ve never really written super personal posts nor did I intend to. But of course, I suppose that does translate now and then in a book review or certainly in a cultural post, too. Thanks so much for visiting my website today.

    • Neither have I. It is nice just talking about books, I think. I enjoyed visiting your website and reading your post. Apologies for the late reply.

  8. This topic raises an interesting question for book bloggers — do people read our content expecting to see something personal; some info that gives a sense of who we are? I’ve very rarely done that because I didn’t think people would be that interested but maybe I’m wrong and the personal info helps them to feel more engaged??

    • I guess it depends on what kind of blogger you are. Originally, when blogging started, it was my impression that people found bloggers they could connect with and getting some degree of personal information would be a must. I still see a few of those bloggers in my corner of the blogging community, who are doing very well and have a large.group of active followers. But on a global scale, that kind of blogging is dying out. On other platforms such as Youtube and Instagram, you can still find these more personal content creators, who share a lot of information about their private lives.

      From what I understand, the vast majority of successful blogs today are based on sharing information and/or selling goods and services.

      My blog (and I think your’s as well) is a bit of a hybrid. I share bookish content, which is meant to be interesting / informative, but I also participate in memes such as six degrees, which are more in the camp of community blogging.

      So in short, my take on your question is: People who find your blog in a search for information (most often via Google), would probably prefer you don’t mix in too many personal details in your reviews, although a few personal comments can help to put your view on a certain book / topic into perspective and make readers understand where you are coming from.

      On the other hand, for the community aspect, I am sure sharing details from your life make people engage and may make people more likely to comment.

  9. I clearly need to read more of your posts and appreciate this list of ones which will help me get to know you better. I don’t try to keep my life too private though I should be more cautious. I think if we read posts consistently over a year or so we can really get to know quite a bit about each other. I hope so.

    Posts for a Glimpse of Me Anne@Head Full of Books

    • I don’t think there is right or wrong, when it comes to sharing personal information. Each blogger should decide how much she/he feels comfortable sharing. And I agree, we will get to know other bloggers if we follow them for a while, even if they don’t share too much personal information. Actually, that is one of the fun aspects of blogging – to get to know other bloggers in different parts of the world, who are all interested in books. 🙂

  10. Great post and I enjoyed visiting various posts of yours that came before I knew about your blog, particularly the opinionated post. It’s nice finding out about you & the person behind the blog. I know you’re Danish … and enjoy science, London, travel and other things. You seem open, generous, smart, and for democracy, yay. And I like what you have to say in your book reviews. I hope you keep it going.

    • Thanks Susan, I think your observations sum me up pretty well! Ok, maybe “generous” and “smart” might be up for debate. 😉 Agree, it is fun to know a bit about the blogger behind the posts, but of course it should be up to each blogger how much they want to reveal. Apologies, for disappearing from the blogging community without trace. 😉 Hopefully, I will get into the habit of blogging again soon.

  11. Great list! I always love when people share posts that give a glimpse into who they are, because it gives us a new way to connect over shared interests or ideas. In this case, it would have to be travel to Costa Rica! I went in the early 2000s with a college Ecology and Tropical Conservation class, and spent two weeks there, and it was an experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world! I saw a lot of the same animals, birds, and plants that you did, although it looks like we visited some different areas because I’m so sad that I didn’t get to see the Quetzal or the Scarlet Macaw or a toucan! But we visited quite a few ecosystems around the country, and while it was humid, at least that wet and mildewed smell didn’t follow me home. Nice to get to know you a little better.

    • Thanks Leah and apologies for the late reply. Great, that we have Costa Rica traveling in common! It was such an amazing place, wasn’t it. Sounds like you had a bit more luck with the weather, but rain or not, still a fantastic experience. I had high expectations to the plants and animals, but the wildlife exceeded my expectations by miles. Do you write about travel on your blog? I quite like the idea of writing about certain trips, then I can go back later and read the post and think back on the trip.

      • I haven’t written about it because I went so long ago, blogging wasn’t even a thing yet! But that’s actually a great idea to blog about traveling so I can look back on it. I’ll have to do that with my next trip.

        • I quite enjoy writing (and reading) about travel and I also think that blogging about your trips keep them alive and it increases the chances of you looking at the photos again, if they are actually included in a blog post.

    • Thanks Lashaan! Yeah, our posts definitely reveal something about us, whether we want it or not! 😁 Sorry about the late reply, I took an unscheduled break from blogging, but will hopefully be back soon. Hope you are well!

  13. Loved this post, Stargazer, and revisiting some of those old posts 😊 Sadly, some things don’t seem to have changed much since 2021 – or at least don’t seem to have changed for the better. But let’s keep looking at the stars. And please, don’t change your avatar! 🔭✨

    • Thanks Sandra! As you say, some things haven’t changed much, it seems. In some areas, things have even moved backwards in terms of tolerance and diversity. But yes, I will keep looking at the stars, both in the abstract and the concrete way. I am actually in awe of some of the images being produced by the James Webb Space Telescope these days… Haha, no I think the stargazer avatar is now an ingrained part of my online identity, so I guess it is here to stay. 🙂

  14. I went down a rabbit whole of your old posts.

    I think we do get a sense of who someone is through their writing and the topics they chose to write about. I believe we can even get a sense of who a person is by the passages they highlight in a book.

    Think about Elena Ferrante – while no one can truly identify her, we all get a sense of who she is though her work. =)

    • Absolutely agree, both writing and choice of topics do reveal something about a person. Elena Ferrante is an interesting example though; quite impressive that we still aren’t 100% sure about who is behind the name. I’ve even seen it debated, whether it is actually a women. Having female protagonists, you would assume so, especially since the characterisation is so strong. But who knows? Some male authors actually write women very well.

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