Book Blogger Hop ---- what are your beginnings?

Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer has kindly taken up the mantle of hosting the Book Blogger Hop (thank you!).    This week's question, submitted by Judy, is: What got you started as a blogger?  Everyone has a story/reason -- what's yours?

I started blogging because I had started reading book blogs, and liked that even though they were all different, there was this common theme of sharing thoughts on books.  There was also this feeling of community that appealed to me.   I've always been a book addict, but had never really thought about sharing my own thoughts on what I was reading, beyond the occasional comments to my husband, or my co-workers.   For a long time, I worked in an office, where no one really seemed to talk about books.   Of course, that all changed when I got my MLIS and became a librarian ---- now, I work with people who love to read, and talk about books.  

Anyway, getting back to the whole blogging thing (sorry, I got off track for a moment there) ---- I decided that if all of these other people could write about what they were reading, I could too.   As I said, I also liked that there was this feeling of community -- that even someone like me, who is pretty shy by nature, could feel like I was part of a bigger group, where there could be some back-and-forth discussion.   Looking back at some of my early posts, I cringe a bit.  However, now that I've been blogging for a while, I feel like I've become more comfortable with my writing style.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other bloggers have to say on this!