INFP | Bookworm | Trekkie | Fangirl | Gamer | Comma-Abuser
The Blogger
Brin isn’t my real name; it’s just on I use as my general internet pseudonym. There is a (kinda) funny story behind the origin of the name: I was a huge fan of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – an RPG from BioWare. The name Brin Guivera was my very first character’s name (via the in-game name generator). I thought it was cute so it has followed me around ever since.
My real name is Ruth (but I will answer to either Ruth or Brin). I decided to name my blog Brin’s Book Blog because I liked the alliteration mainly. It definitely sounded better than Ruth’s Book Blog which was my other option… I’m not really very inventive when it comes to naming things, I guess. 😉
My Reading Journey
Right now I’m hitting middle-age (it comes to us all unfortunately) though I still feel young at heart despite what my body screams at me – I always got on at other people for getting tired and falling asleep while reading, watching TV and the like when I was younger – now I’m one of those people!! It sucks but what can you do? – just call me Miss Naps-A-Lot!! 😆
I was (and I still am) a voracious reader. I was always encouraged to read by my parents; they always had massive tomes lying around the house when I was growing up and I cut my teeth on a mixture of classics, fantasy, and Stephen King novels (what a combo!)
The first book I ever read by myself was The Sly Fox and the Little Red Hen (which I talk about in more detail here). I still have a fondness for the Well Loved Tales series. I learned to read mainly by begging my mum to read the exploits of the little red hen again and again until finally I knew every word off by heart and I could follow along with the book.
As a youngster, I was a huge lover of fairy tales. I had very well-read copies of Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale collections on my bookshelf.
Truth is, I have always loved books. Going to the library was my favourite pastime when I was a child and even well into my teenage years – I preferred reading to socialising and was mostly an introverted soul (this hasn’t changed as I’ve gotten older!) Getting my own library card was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life (well, at least until that point).
My favourite books when I was really young were The Secret Garden, The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Watership Down but it was when I discovered Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings that I really discovered my passion for reading (I was nine).
Other Interests and Personal Details
One of my favourite television shows as a child was The Storyteller (created by Jim Henson) a series which retold various European folk tales. As a child, I also had a great love Jim Henson’s other projects. I loved The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. My viewing habits were well-informed by the time I reached my teens and I have always favoured fantasy as a genre, probably largely due to these fantastical projects being ingrained into my brain…
Oh, and I’m also a huge Disney fan! The Jungle Book was my absolute favourite when I was little.
I’m also a gamer – I spend a lot of time playing games especially RPGs and story-based games. BioWare is probably my favourite developer but I also really love the smaller game studio Spiders. I am a huge fan of their Mars games – Mars: War Logs and The Technomancer – the latter being one of my favourite games ever. I also really loved their latest RPG game GreedFall so they are definitely a studio to watch.
My other favourite games are Knights of the Old Republic (both games), the Mass Effect series, the Dragon Age series, the Dishonored games, Life is Strange series, the Final Fantasy (and other related) games, and the Fallout series. I am also a huge fan of the Animal Crossing games and recently got sucked into New Horizons for the Switch.
I’m a multi console player but I mainly play games on my Xbox Series X (Scorpio Edition) – what can I say, I’m a gamer-girl nerd and love getting the best tech (and luckily have a significant other who shares my obsession and is somehow always able to secure the very latest gadgets!)
I also have a love for documentaries (especially true crime) and spend a lot of time on unresolved/unsolved mysteries forums. It’s amazing to see so many crimes being solved due to advances in DNA testing.
As for more personal stuff; I met the love of my life when I was eighteen (at a wedding no less!) and we are still going strong twenty-odd years later. I am a reader and he is not but we have so much other stuff in common that it hardly matters. He is very supportive of my blogging and my excessive book-buying binges although he has started to complain about the lack of space due to my over-flowing bookshelves!
Brin’s Book Blog
I made the decision to start this book blog on August 4 2013. I dove in headfirst but I really struggled to find my feet at first. Being a newbie blogger is not easy, the bigger blogs might make it seem effortless but it is a lot of work running a blog – a fact this blogger only realized after they made the plunge!
I started, then stopped for a while when my mum got sick. I then decided that I really did want to make a go of this blog and I came back with a vengeance. Blogging has been enormously therapeutic for me, especially after losing my mum.
I’m not going to lie – the decision to start a blog of my own was a bit of a nerve-wracking one (like who would really want to read my scattered opinions!) but I do enjoy reviewing books almost as much as I enjoy reading them so it was a bit of a no-brainer really.
I have veered away in more recent years from my blog being a review space and it could probably be described more as a book appreciation zone rather than a place strictly for reviewing (though I still do review books, just not as frequently as before).
Blogger Style
I would dearly love to be funny but alas I can never really pull it off without sounding vaguely sarcastic and/or silly. My reviews tend to be on the serious side but I do try to inject humour where I can (not always successfully but I am working on it).
On this blog, I also do not always stick to talking about books although that is my main focus. Sometimes I blog about television, movies, even about my own personal struggles with my mental health.
I blog mainly to share my love of great books, to have a place to share my thoughts, and sometimes just to get things off my chest that are bothering me. I love this community and I intend to be a part of it for many years to come!
Thank you for following my blog! I had the same thought when it came to making my blog! I kept thinking who’s actually going to read it? No one is ever going to come across my blog, boy was I ever wrong! Looking forward to your future post!! 🙂
You’re welcome – same to you!! I know what you mean – it took awhile but I get a fair amount of traffic now and I really appreciate when people take the time to comment! 😀
great blog! looking forward to your posts 😀
Thanks! I really love your blog too. 😀
Found via WordPress Next…couldn’t follow quickly enough! Such a great blog. I write book reviews too over at http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com…check it out and return the follow if you like! thanks 🙂
Thanks! I will definitely check out your blog. 🙂
Hey, I found you because WordPress generated a random “related” link to one of my posts. I like your style! I’ll be back.
Thanks for stopping by! I enjoyed reading your blog – always good to met a fellow Tolkien-enthusiast. 😉
Hi!! I’ve nominated you for the Liebster award! 🙂
Here’s the link: http://wp.me/p40KXd-9A
Thanks so much!! 🙂
You’re welcome! 🙂
Hello! My name is Brigit over at Escape Inside the Pages, I nominated you to receive the Liebster Award! Find out what happens next here: http://escapeinsidethepages.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/liebster-award/
Thanks for the nomination!!
Looks like you’re a much loved blog! I’ve nominated you myself…check my blog out…even though you know the drill 🙂
Thanks so much for the nomination!!
You’re welcome!! I love your blog:)
Aww thank you!!
Thanks for the follow! Your blog looks awesome–I can’t wait to read more of your posts 😀
Thanks! I really like your blog and what I have read of your posts! Looking forward to checking out more!! 🙂
Thank you!
You’re very welcome. 🙂
I love book review blogs. That’s what mine started out as, but I discovered that while I love books, and reading is my favorite thing, I don’t so much like the reviewing process. Who knew? My blog has morphed into something other than I intended, but I have fun with it.
I know what you mean – I seem to have shifted a little from doing book reviews these days. 😉
Love your blog!
Sorry this is so late, but many thanks for the follow! I love finding book blogs and I really liked your right guy vs wrong guy post; I agree, love triangles seem to be a growing feature of YA.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks – love triangles really drive me round the bend, even well-written ones. 🙂
Hi, Brin! I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. You can find the information here: http://littleonionwrites.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/the-liebster-blog-award-2/. I love reading your posts 😀 Have a great day!
Thanks so much!! 😀
Hi Brin, I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award http://deliabattie.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/the-very-inspiring-blogger-award/ Please don’t feel obliged to do this, particularly if you’ve been nominated before but hopefully it’ll encourage a few more readers to your blog. 🙂
Thanks so much for the nomination!! <3
Thanks for the follow, I am excited to read your reviews. BTW loving the alliteration in your name 😉
You’re welcome – your blog is awesome!! Looking forward to reading more from you. <3
Thanks – I like the alliteration too. 😉
Your blog looks great! You have an Ah-mazing master list of reviewed books. With a YA section yay! Ill be going there to source some books :p
Also thankyou for following me! I’ve only start my blog two/three months ago and I am always to surprised when people like and follow my blog!
Thanks (and also thank you for stopping by)!
You’re very welcome – your blog is really impressive (mine wasn’t half as good just after I started out!)
I love find great new blogs and I am looking forward to seeing your future output. 🙂
XD you’re too kind, thank you 🙂
I love your blog — and you taste in books! I’ve read Wildwood Dancing and Cybele’s Secret, but never tried any other Juliet Marillier books. Which do you recommend I start with?
I also have to mention I love your choice to stick with a pseudonym from childhood. I’m hoping mine (yes, Gwen and Kate are both pen names – shh!) will stick a while too 🙂
Can’t wait to read more!!
Thanks! I really <3 your blog too! It looks like we share very similar tastes!! 🙂
Hmmm…I would probably recommend going with Daughter of the Forest or Heart's Blood. HB is probably the most accessible since it is a standalone but DotF is my favourite overall.
Lol – thanks! I just really liked my character's name so I have kinda stuck with it! 😀
Hey! I love your blog and I nominated you for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. You can see it here.
You don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to. 🙂
Thanks for the nomination! It really cheered me up after a bad day. 🙂
No problem! I’m sorry that you had a bad day, but I’m glad you felt cheered up by the award. Your blog is gorgeous <3
Aww thank you – that is really nice of you to say! <3
Looks like you were already nominated, but I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award as well. 🙂
http://danielleelisemiller.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/stories-unfolded-one-lovely-blog-award/
Thanks so much – I really appreciate the nomination! 🙂
Hi, I nominated you for the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award. Here are the rules:
http://drowninmelancholy.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/sisterhood-of-the-world-blogger-award/
Thanks so much for the nomination! <3
No problem 🙂
Thank you for following my blog! I am pretty new to the book community, so it is great to get to meet new people! I really like your site and I am looking forward to reading more from you! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! I love finding new blogs to visit and new bloggers to chat with. 🙂
Hi! I’ve nominated you for The Addictive Blog Award!
http://ohbookish.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/the-addictive-blog-award/
Thanks so much for the nomination! I will definitely be posting this soon. 🙂
Happy Holiday 🙂 I have nominated you for the Jolly Blogger Award on my blog!
Go check it out https://coffeennotes.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/the-jolly-blogger-award/
Thanks so much for the nomination! I really appreciate it. <3
<3
Hey I have been absolutely loving your writing recently – it has kept me going on tiresome train and bus journeys and I was wondering if you wanted to do the ‘End of Year Confessions’ tag if you have a minute? 🙂 xx
Find the origional post here:
https://findingmyselfinwonderland.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/end-of-year-confessions/
Aww, thanks lovely!
Sure – the ‘End of Year Confessions’ tag looks fun – I will definitely take part! Thanks for tagging me. 🙂
[…] Brin at Brin’s Book Blog […]
I love your blog! I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. Thanks for the great posts 🙂
http://52lettersinthealphabet.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/one-lovely-blog-award/
Thanks so much for the nomination! <3 I love your blog too. 🙂
Thank you! And you’re welcome
Thanks 🙂 and you’re welcome
Hope you are having a great day 🙂
I have nominated you for The Versatile Blogger Award.
https://coffeennotes.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/the-versatile-blogger-award-wow/
Thanks lovely! <3 I really appreciate the nomination. 🙂
<3 np
Hello beautiful, I nominated you for the Versatile blogger award ^^ Check it out here : https://cuteandbubbly.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/the-versatile-blogger-award/ no pressure to accept if you don’t want to 😀
Thanks so much! <3 That's really awesome of you. 🙂
Thank you so much for following our blog!! We agree it was very nerve-wracking at first to start a blog and it makes our day to see someone with such similar interests to us who would chose to follow our blog!! We are very new to the book-blogger community and we would just like to say we love your blog!
Aww thanks! That’s really lovely of you to say. <3 It is nerve-wracking when you first start out but you are doing an amazing job. 🙂
Thank you Brin! We have tagged you in the “Inside and Out” Book Tag!! xxx https://twinsturnpages.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/44/
Hi! Thanks for being one of my followers! To show how much I appreciate you, I’ve tagged you to do the A-Z About Me tag: https://victoriajaynesbooks.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/a-z-about-me/
Thanks for tagging me! I will definitely do this soon. 🙂
Hi Brin! I absolutely love your blog design, it’s beautiful!!
I also like to nominate you for the Liebster Award this year. I hope you are not tired of it so feel free to participate! You can find more details here: http://wp.me/p3A7Os-na
Thanks lovely – I am pretty happy with it (finally!).
Thanks so much for the nomination. I will definitely participate. Thanks for thinking of me. 🙂
Hi Brin, I nominated you for the Liebster Award. You can find out more here: https://zezee112.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/liebster-awards/
Thanks so much for the nomination. 😀
Hi! I love your blog; it’s so beautiful! 🙂
Thanks lovely! It was really nice of you to stop by. 🙂
Hiya
Thank you for the follow 🙂 I am looking forward to reading more posts from you!
Nicola 🙂
Hi Nicola – thanks for stopping by to check out my blog. I am also looking forward to reading more of your posts. 🙂
Thank you so much for following my blog, it’s lovely to find your blog today too, we seem to have some things in common: our love of books, and I also met my other half when I was eighteen too! We are still going strong too!
Hi Marjorie – thanks so much for stopping by! We do seem to have a fair amount in common. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing more of your posts.
Hi there! I nominated you for the blogger recognition award! Feel free to check it out here: https://greenishbookshelf.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/blogger-recognition-award/
Thanks so much for the nomination! Sorry for the delay in response (for some reason your post went to my spam folder). 🙂
Hi Ruth! 🙂 Thanks for the follow! Love your blog style, it’s very sweet and unique! Can’t wait to fangirl with you XD
Thanks so much for stopping by and for the lovely comments! I really love your blog too. 🙂 Looking forward to chatting more with you.
Tag! You’re It!
https://bookcomablog.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/the-reading-habits-tag/
Thanks Giovanna – I will definitely check it out! Sorry I missed your post. 🙂
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You’ve been tagged : https://maginibooks.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/the-emoji-book-tag/
Feel free to ignore it, but if you’ll decide to do it let me know 🙂
Thanks for tagging me Meg. I love tags so will definitely be doing this soon. 🙂
[…] Brin’s Book Blog […]
[…] @booksandbakes1 @indydriven Kendra @readsandtreats Brin @brinsbookblog Heather @thesassygeek April @swimmingthroughliterature Ayunda @tea&paperbacks […]
Hi Brin: Thank you for stopping by and following my blog. You have a nice voice and you blog looks interesting. I will be back. In love and light Cheryle
Thanks Cheryle! I really like your blog too. Thanks for stopping by and checking mine out. 🙂
[…] Brin (a.k.a. Ruth) @ Brin’s Book Blog […]
Hi! I tagged you for The Emoji Book Tag. Hope you have fun doing it! <3 https://bookisglee.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/the-emoji-book-tag/
Thanks Mariana, I will definitely check this out. 🙂
[…] Brin @ Brin’s Book Blog […]
Your blog looks and reads amazing !! Thanks so much for following me. Its much appreciated as I’m about to hit 200 followers!! Your blogging story is so inspiring. I’m revved up to keep trudging on my own bloggety blog! Thanks so much once again! I cannot wait to read more of your posts!! <3
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I am always on the lookout for new blogs to follow and yours definitely caught my eye. 🙂 Congratulations on almost hitting 200 followers – that’s a huge milestone! Loving your posts and looking forward to seeing more of your content. 🙂
Book lover? you’re lucky…I feel book lovers are a different breed…they cannot be nasty or bad characters! anyways, this is a lovely blog!
btw, where are you from?
[…] Brin- Brin’s Book Blog […]
[…] Brin @ Brin’s Book Blog […]
You had me at “I also overuse commas.” I’ve been enjoying poking around your blog.