Blogger Interview # 34: Sakhi Shah

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your blog?

I'm Sakhi, a 17 year old blogger from India. I blog about my favorite thing in the world - books. In My Bookshelves is a compilation of the reviews of any books I read within the year. It includes a variety of books, from fiction to non-fiction, fantasy to romance to mystery, and is a testament to all those books that have (positively or negatively) impacted my life. Occasionally, I also do features, like interviews with authors and 'list day' (which is the first sunday of each month) where I compile a list of books on a particular topic for people to add to their reading lists. I also organize reading challenges, like the ongoing Book Reading Challenge with BRL, and I enjoy having other features like a "Great Classics Read" that I had a few months ago on my blog. 

Are you a full time blogger? How did you get into blogging and why?

I am not a full time blogger, I also attend school alongside blogging. My first blog was at the age of 12, where I would write private musings. After that I've had loads of blogs, like one which advised people on effective study tips and another which was about my efforts to run a roleplaying forum, but I wasnt able to continue any beyond a few months. However, with In My Bookshelves I feel I've got my calling. I started In My Bookshelves because I read a book called Tigana, which was so beautiful (and which is so very rare) that I had to share it with someone, and I feel that along the way I've found the blog I love. I blog because I love to share, and because everyone should know about books which can change their lives. 

If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?

Find a topic you know a lot about, and that you love. If its yourself, well and good. It could be your work, your friends, your poetry, your field of expertise, but make sure you're not choosing it because its a fad, because you wont be able to keep it up then. Its is said that, "If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery. If you want to be happy for a lifetime, learn to love what you do." I believe I truly love what I do, and thats what makes me get to the keyboard when I have so much homework and its 1 am and I'm too tired to even think, and makes me a write a blog post. 

How do you build a community around a blog and social media?

A community can make or break your blog. I have been lucky enough to have made a good community of experienced bloggers at the very beginning of my blog, through a site called Indiblogger, a great resource for Indian Bloggers. While they helped me through the initial stumbles and gave me my first readers, I would say Facebook and particularly a community of dedicated readers called Book Readers Lounge has helped me sky rocket. 

What are your three favorite blogs to read? What makes those blogs special?

1. Stargazer Puj's Book Blog (http://stargazerpuj.wordpress.com/)

Pujhita writes excellent book reviews, in a succinct, clear, and extremely professional way. I truly admire her and always read her blog. 

2. The Starbearer's Cave (http://starbearer1.blogspot.com/)

Shashank writes intense, dark poetry and his writing style is superb. 

3. Chaos is Forever (http://chaosisforever.wordpress.com/)

Pavan is truly hilarious and unique. 

Which one plugin would you suggest all bloggers to have? 

Since someone has already suggested Google Friend Connect for easy following, I'd also recommend making it really easy to view more posts, with widgets like 'latest posts', 'top posts' and 'you might also like...' since you want a readers to spend all day trying to finish reading every article on your blog. (And if you're good enough at writing and have a knack with titles, this is really possible.)