Hi! I'm Kimberly. This website is my online home and commonplace book. A large language model called it "a digital diary that no one asked for." This front page houses a complete stream of all of my short notes, blog posts, and photos.
Want to get to know me better? Check out About. Over at Now you can see what I've been up to lately. If you decide you want to keep up with me in the future, please head over to Follow and find your favorite way to subscribe to updates.
Welcome!
There are a lot of hard moments as a parent. I tend to share moments like this: M. quietly building with Magnatiles while leaning on my leg. We share these easy moments, but know you’re not alone when it gets hard, even though you aren’t seeing other parents' hard moments.
Trusting my (book blogging) intuition
Fourteen years ago, I started a book blog - or, as I called it at the time, a reading journal. I jumped in and started writing without any worries about doing it “right.” (For one thing, 2007 was early days with respect to book blogging.) Over time I became part of the kidlit book blogging community.
I slowed down on book blogging long ago, but now I want to ramp up the bookishness of my personal blog. So I did what you do, I googled “book blog.” For months I’ve been reading book blogging introductory articles and posts.
Most of the advice hasn’t sat with me quite right.
I don’t want to book blog like anybody else.
I want to book blog like me.
It turns out 2007 Kimberly has a lot of wisdom when it comes to book blogging. I’ve started looking at my old posts to see how they might be models for how I write about books in the future.
I’m already feeling better about book blogging. I’m excited to get back into it.
Just finished the introduction to SUCCEEDING OUTSIDE THE ACADEMY. Excited to read the rest. It seems like having 14 informational interviews in a book. 📚
I woke up with a migraine today. I’ve had enough caffeine that it’s significantly receded but now I’m SO AWAKE. I would normally read a book but I’m waiting to get new ones from the library tomorrow, so I think I’ll try some comics.
Do I know anybody who works in youth services in the Wake County Public Libraries? If you do, will you let me know? Mind if I message/email you with some questions?
Okay. I finished pulling quotes from the last interview. I was like, “Cool! Time to move on to the justification writing!” and my body said “Hold on there, Kimberly.” So I’m going to have a bit of a liedown.
Only one interview left to pull quotes from for my findings chapter and then I can move on to the part where I justify my data analysis decisions. Dissertating is mentally tiring work, y’all. It feels like the closer I should be to done the further the horizon stretches away.
Just updated my Fan Studies in LIS page to include some scholars I met at FSNNA20!
OKAY. I finished pulling quotes from that giant and awesome interview. Three more interviews left to pull quotes from, then some writing up of my data analysis rationale and some definitions…
Hello today I think my ideal job would be to read books and then write essays (not straight up reviews) about those books. Sometimes a group of books or a pairing, like I might try reading Monster She Wrote and Women and Other Monsters. 📚📝
I’m writing through a migraine right now. I have this one participant interview that’s really detailed and part of me wants to just copy and paste almost all the participant’s answers into the findings chapter because they’re so good.
I finished reading Mona Awad’s BUNNY last night. I can’t even write a review of it because I don’t have enough words to convey all the important things about it. It’s beautifully written, sad and weird. It completely blew my mind. I’m so happy to have read it. 📚
My current writing process: mine one interview for quotes. Read a chapter of BUNNY by Mona Awad. Repeat. 📝 #amwriting 🐰
I should hang this Austin Kleon drawing from p. 165 of KEEP GOING up in my home office. [Description: a human skeleton wearing a black hat & clothes holds up a sign reading “LESS DESPAIR.” Next to it, a steer skeleton dressed in black holds up a sign reading “MORE REPAIR."]
“Art Monsters are not necessary or glamorous and they are not to be condoned, pardoned, or emulated.” - Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 124 📚
Just gonna give up all other pursuits and devote my life to writing Muppet Show friendfic from now on, byeeeee.
I have so many happy Muppet Show feelings. Every time Fozzie is on screen my brain almost literally superimposes my dad’s image over him. This brings me joy.
🔖 This is a library that is also a theater. I want to go to there.
