Oh, hi!
It is crazy to me that six months ago, I had never heard of Substack and yet since then, the bookish corner of it has consumed so much of my scrolling hours to the point where in the end, I had no choice but to start my own. So, I think it’s time I took the leap and jumped off the ledge. Because something about it does feel like a ledge. Despite having 20 years of blogging experience (yes I did just realise that -what.the.hell), I’m scared and honestly? I’ve got no idea why.
I think I first heard the word ‘Substack’ on BlueSky, the wholesome, chill ether that I migrated to early last year along with several thousands of other tired X (get it? ;)) tweeters and found Emma Gannon on it. I’ve known who Emma is for years, having read her debut novel Olive when it came out and heard her speak on podcasts a few times, so I followed on BlueSky, as I was pretty sure I followed her on Twitter. She was talking about something called Substack and I came across this post. Well, consider my interest piqued! It was a post that only her paid subscribers could read and as I am not exactly rolling in disposable income, I couldn’t quite justify it but I did subscribe to Emma’s free content. A couple of months later, she announced a sale on annual subscriptions which I jumped on and that post was the first thing I wanted to read. So I did and it got me thinking. A ritual that sometimes goes a little too far and ends up not being very helpful but sometimes, it’s an excellent use of my time. Whether this particular instance of it turns out to be one or the other remains to be seen but maybe I am a little excited to see how it turns out.
So, who the fuck am I?
I’m Alex.
I’m 35 and I live in a sleepy little pocket of the West Midlands in the UK.
I was born and raised in South East London and pretty much all of my family and friends still live in and around there.
I live with my fiancé, who is my best friend and favourite human. Yeah, we’re one of those couples. We’re not ashamed of it in the least.
We have a tuxedo cat called Rosie, who spends about 90% of her waking hours screaming.
I also have a brown tabby cat called Sherlock, who lives with my parents. He spends about 90% of all of his hours sleeping. He used to have a twin brother called Dexter, who I miss every day.
Books are my passion and this Substack will be almost entirely book-focused. I may occasionally mention things I’ve watched or consumed in some other format but if you’re not much of a reader, I’m not sure this will be for you.
I also love Taylor Swift. I have been a casual fan since Fearless and an enormous fan since Red. I feel like any long time Swifties reading this will have all the information they need there.
As this will be a bookish Substack, I think it’s only fair that I try to give you a good impression of the kind of books I enjoy. I will read most genres, so my tastes are very eclectic. I tell you that with the hope (and maybe a bit of confidence?) that you’ll find something that interests you in my recommendations. So, with that in mind, I’ve curated a collection of books that I think illustrate that eclectic taste to give you more of an idea of what I mean.
Books pictured and reasons for their inclusion:
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng -a philosophical dystopian
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman -a hopeful LGBTQ+ story
IT by Stephen King -a classic horror
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree -cosy fantasy
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa -a book about books featuring a cat
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë -a bildungsroman
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson -a mystery with social commentary
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid -a book featuring an extraordinary woman
Pages & Co by Anna James -children’s fantasy
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang -a rom-com
Let me leave you by saying that I’m aware success stories like Emma Gannon’s are probably pretty rare and I am by no means, setting out to make six figures here (that would be crazy). However, I’ve been reading bookish Substacks for a while now and I think I’ve got a pretty good sense of the place. Substack seems to be a good social media outlet for writers and if there’s one thing I’ve always been, it’s one of those. Hopefully, I’ll see you in the comments either here or later!
Love, Alex x