Alright folks, it’s official: I’m making some changes around here! I touched on this a bit when I announced that I was pregnant last year, but this time I’m taking some action.
I started Ashleigh Online many years ago as a book blog on Tumblr. Each time I read a book I’d review it and share my review there, as well as on Amazon and Goodreads. Eventually I decided it was time to move my blog on to WordPress and to get my own domain name.
When I got engaged in 2015 I was desperate to write about weddings, but I didn’t want anyone that might be coming to the wedding to read it so I made a new blog called Ashleigh Engaged. There I shared my wedding planning experiences and some extra lifestyle bits that I didn’t think fitted in with my bookish blog here on Ashleigh Online. But I loved writing about new things so much that once I was married in 2016 I decided to combine the two blogs into Ashleigh Online and go self hosted.
Fast forward to today and I am feeling both lost and inspired! Lost because Ashleigh Online feels like a mish mash of a blog that is all over the place, but inspired because I want to make it something I’m proud of. I’m in the habit of writing book reviews because it’s what I’ve always done, but sometimes I’m writing them months after I’ve read them and they’re becoming boring and repetitive.
Plus, I love writing about more than just books these days. I’m a bookish, nerdy first-time mum that also loves travelling and discovering new TV shows and buying new homey bits.
So, as I mentioned at the start, things are changing around here. Not drastically, because there’ll still be lots here about books, but rather than individual reviews of each book I’ll be sharing round-ups and recommendations (which I think you love more anyway). I’ll still be sharing short reviews on Goodreads and Amazon of every book I read, and I have also started sharing quick reviews on my Instagram stories and have saved them into a highlight called 2020 Reads.
You’ll begin to see more parenting posts and I’m not going to feel guilty for sharing them. I hope I’ll begin to build up a community of bookish mums that are interested in both like I am, but I also hope I can hold on to lots of my lovely bookish followers that have been with me all the way.
Plus, as I explore the UK with Phoebe and get back to travelling both with work and as a family I hope to share my experiences here too. I’ve been to so many cool places and have been so lucky to be able to do so, but I’ve never really written about them!
If you want to be sure to keep up with everything that’s going on, I’d recommend following me on Instagram. There I’ll share mini book reviews as well as insights into what’s going on in my world, but I’ll also share links to my latest blog posts to make sure you don’t miss them.
Blog posts coming soon (titles TBD) include:
Favourite Instagram accounts of February
How to entertain a 3-6 month old baby
Best books about anxiety and mental health
A big ol’ list of everywhere I’ve been in my life to help me remember!
