I'm not going to lie - writing this is weird, because I want to make sure I get the tone right. So I'll start with: I love bookstagram. It's my comfort space on the internet. It's where I go to find my next favorite reads and to chat with my favorite friends, and during the beginning stages of the pandemic (2020-21) it was my creative outlet.
And then I got pregnant, and it changed my entire worldview. The pregnancy wasn't a surprise, but my body's reaction to being pregnant sure was (spoiler alert: my body didn't love it and I ended up in the hospital for a full month, gave birth seven weeks early and had heart failure immediately after giving birth which, in part, resulted in not meeting my baby until 24 hours later. It was, to say the least, quite a time.)
With all of these major life events happening, my bookstagram fell by the wayside. I was focused on being a new mom, on recovering from an abnormally traumatic pregnancy, and I wasn't reading at all. When I felt ready to come back, it became apparent that my creative well had run completely dry. There were no posts in the pipeline, I hadn't been reading any books. I felt like a complete fraud. Announcing I'm coming back, and then doing absolutely nothing about it?
Of course I still loved the conversations, adding books to my TBR, getting my StoryGraph figured out, etc. I still loved the community, reposting photos I loved to my stories, reading everyone's reviews, watching their reels, buying bookish merch made by friends and people I knew, cheering everyone on. But I realized that Instagram the platform? It really didn't suit me anymore. I couldn't keep up. I didn't know how to make a proper reel. I didn't know what time of day was best to post. I didn't know if engagement groups were still a thing (are they?) I didn't have time between work and new motherhood to hop on my stories and talk directly to my followers as often as I wanted, and with all of that came so much pressure. Pressure to succeed, pressure to be "liked" and then I would spiral back down into a negative headspace.
So, I started to think - if I loved the book community (and I did, I do), then how did I remain in the space without feeling the pressure to post on Instagram all the time?
You're currently reading the answer to that question: a blog. Where I can keep writing about books - or whatever I want, honestly. On Instagram, I can focus on cultivating my relationships with the people there, posting to my stories, and I can stop putting pressure on myself. I like to say I'm not a vain person, but likes matter to me, and not having something "liked" matters to me. So I'm taking likes off the table for now. I'm so excited to have a space I can control.
So why Custom Fit Books. Because one thing I am proud of is that I'm pretty good at giving book recommendations. It's why I started a bookstagram in the first place. As a one-stop shop for people who come to me in real life and ask what to read next. I'm sincerely hoping that this blog will turn into the space I always imagined and hoped my bookstagram would become.
And if you're looking for a personalized book recommendation? I still do those too. Drop me a line. I'll find you a book.
xx
Lis
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