#meetthebookstagrammer interview with @ab_reads

Abbie’s was one of the very first accounts that I followed when I started to get interested in Bookstagram. I really liked her content and I realised we had very similar reading tastes.

When I decided to work on a product for avid readers, I reached out to a bunch of strangers, including Abbie, and I didn’t expect any of the bigger accounts to reply. Abbie replied in about 30 minutes! We had a wonderful, very useful conversation back in February, and since then I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with Abbie pretty much every day via Instagram.

This interview marked Abbie’s face-to-camera video and Instagram Live debut — I was so honoured.

Nadia: So you’re based in Durham. What’s your favourite thing about it?

Abbie: It feels like a small, village town, but it has the amenities of a city. So it feels like there’s a good community, but I’ve also got a 24-hour Tesco. It’s great. Also, there are a tonne of charity shops. Obviously, that’s where I get all of my books from. We have, like, nine of them!

Nadia: Wow, that’s amazing. Now, I have a key question. We all love your tea-pouring photos and we’re curious to know: have you ever spilled tea on any of your books?

Abbie: I’ve not ever had a serious disaster. Sometimes they get a little splashed with some droplets but, I mean, they wipe off. What normally happens is I spill tea on the windowsill, so then I have to stop and wipe it off, because no one wants to see a giant puddle next to my book. But no, never any serious book drownings.

Nadia: It’s because you’re an expert now!

Abbie: Yeah, I’m pro now.

Nadia: How and why did you get started with Bookstagram?

Abbie: I’ve been on Bookstagram for over three years now. I used to have just a personal account, which I never posted anything on. I was on a break from university at home and I started reading for pleasure again. I think I was reading ‘The Giver’, which I’d borrowed from my friend, Beth. I just decided to search the hashtag on Instagram to see if anyone else was reading it. Then I found the Bookstagram hashtag and found the community and thought: yeah, I wanna do this. So I just did! I changed my handle to what it is now, @ab_reads, and just started posting. And I’ve never stopped.

Nadia: That’s amazing. Especially because of where your account is now, three years later.

Abbie: I know, it’s crazy.

Nadia: So, on that: Your account has grown a lot. You passed the 50,000 followers mark some weeks back. Congrats. Also, you read a lot, often finishing about 15 books a month. So, how do you manage such a popular account, alongside reading, alongside a full-time job? Do you have any routines that you do to stay efficient?

Abbie: Yeah, I am strict with my screen time. We don’t want to be spending too much time on Instagram, even though we all do. So, I have set times when I check it.

I check it in the morning before I got to work for like twenty minutes. Then I’ll read until I leave. Then I catch up with my feed and what you guys are all reading and posting at like seven at night for about half an hour. Then I reply to my comments. And then I try and stay off the app — ‘try’ being the optimal word! I don’t mindlessly scroll. I just keep it to those times. And any time other than that, I’m reading.

Nadia: Have you been doing that since the beginning or was it that as your account got bigger you realised you needed to add some personal restrictions?

Abbie: Yeah, I used to be on it way more. Obviously, three years ago we didn’t have those activity charts so I don’t know how long I used to be on it for. I don’t wanna know either. It was probably too long. But, since they introduced those things — one of the only things that Instagram gets right, I think—I like to keep an eye on that and make sure I’m not exceeding an hour and a half a day.

Nadia: Yeah, that’s a good limit. Okay, so in March, you were awarded the Bookstagrammer of the Year award. Congrats! Why do you think you were chosen? What do you think the London Book Fair, who gives out this award, look for?

Abbie: Well, they did say. They really liked my theme with all of the tea and reviews down the one side [of my Instagram page]. So I guess it’s the tea and the jumpers that did it for me! It was a massive surprise and I was very flattered.

Nadia: So, let’s talk a little bit about your job. You work in translation, don’t you?

Abbie: Not at the minute. That’s the dream goal. At the minute I work as an editorial writer for a magazine, but this is actually my last week there. I handed in my notice four weeks ago, because, it’s a really great job, but I wanted to focus on my freelance goals. I think freelance is the way for me. I’m not really a nine-to-five person. I’m more like a seven-to-three person.

Freelance would allow me to set my own schedule. So yeah, I’ve taken a leap of faith. I’ve been saving really hard all year and I feel like I’m in a place where I can try. That’s all you can do, isn’t it?

Nadia: Yeah, that’s amazing. Congratulations. Once you’re all set up, and your work pipeline is flowing nicely, what do you hope your day-to-day will look like?

Abbie: Well, I’m definitely an early bird. I’m not a night owl at all. I’m in bed by nine-thirty most nights. So, I’ll probably get up at six, and still catch up on Instagram. But instead of forty-five minutes of reading, I will just jump straight into work. So I’ll probably be working from seven am, and do four hours or so of hard work, until lunchtime.

Then, I obviously sit down quite a lot now, and I still will do when I go freelance, so hopefully at that point I could get up and go for a walk, then have lunch – and I have a really early lunch. I’m one of those weirdos that eats lunch at like half eleven.

Then I’d work, until maybe three o’clock. And then, after three, my most productive time is over, so then I’ll just read. So I’ll probably be reading more than I do now, if that’s possible!

Nadia: 200 books this year! Let’s go.

Abbie: Haha, yeah, three-hundred and sixty-five! One book a day!

Nadia: Haha, let’s go! Okay, now I’m gonna switch topics now. We share the same exercise hobby!

Abbie: We do!

Nadia: And I don’t think many people know but, what is it, Abbie?

Abbie: It’s powerlifting! The most fun sport! To do, not to watch.

Nadia: It’s so great. Okay, so why is it the most fun sport to do?

Abbie: I dunno. It just is. I just love feeling strong. Getting PBs. I hate cardio and running and stuff. So this is great because you do a set, then you get like four minutes’ rest or something. You can take a seat, and then you do another set…and it does great things for your health. And where I train there’s a really nice group as well, so it’s a nice community.

Nadia: Yeah, you’ve summed it up. How did you get into powerlifting the first time?

Abbie: I started venturing into the weights area of the gym when I was like sixteen. I used to go in free periods at Sixth Form. And then when I got to uni, I said I’m gonna see if there’s a powerlifting club—which there wasn’t with the uni, though there is now. But I found another one, a local one, for people from Durham. I went down one night and I…well, I did leave two years later because I hurt my back…but now I’m back!

Nadia: Haha, now your back is back!

Abbie: Haha, yeah, it’s fine now.

Nadia: Good, good. Okay, let’s get to some guest questions. This one is from @whatellisreadnext. So, she loves your theme but wants to know how many cups of tea you drink a day.

Abbie: “A lot”, is the answer. Actually, I don’t think it’s that many…it’s like five or six. Is that a lot?

Nadia: Do you concentrate them in the morning, or are you spreading them out?

Abbie: I always have one when I wake up, obviously, and then as soon as I get to work I make another one. And then I have three in the afternoon.

Nadia: Okay. Well, we’ve got another question, which I think is a great accompaniment to the tea one. So, alongside the tea, Kelsey wants to know: what would you rate as your favourite Greggs pasty and why?

Abbie: [Laughs] Kelsey! My favourite Greggs pasty is obviously a Festive Bake. They’re only available two months of the year and that makes them special.

Nadia: Do you get them every day they’re available?

Abbie: Well, when I worked there, yeah. But when I left, not so much, because you know, it’s expensive..well, not really, but I mean if you have one every day then it adds up. But yeah, Festive Bake is where it’s at. I’m counting down the days until they’re back.

Nadia: They’ll be back in no time. Okay, that’s all the time we’ve got for guest questions, because now it’s time for the quickfire round.

Abbie: Exciting!

Nadia: Are you ready?

Abbie: I’m ready.

Nadia: One book at a time or multiple?

Abbie: One.

Nadia: Mood reader or strict TBR follower?

Abbie: Umm..a bit of both actually. I’m a ‘mood planner’.

Nadia: Fiction or non-fiction?

Abbie: Fiction.

Nadia: Print, digital or audio?

Abbie: Print.

Nadia: Favourite light-hearted book?

Abbie: I read ‘The Flatshare’ by Beth O’ Leary earlier this year and I loved it sooo much. It just made me — you know that emoji with all of the hearts over its face? That was me the entire time.

Nadia: Favourite heavy/emotional book?

Abbie: ‘A Little Life’. It’s just urgh! God. I wanna re-read it, but it’s just so much emotional trauma. It’s literally one of my favourite books ever.

Nadia: Favourite unexpected favourite?

Abbie: Mmmm…I’m gonna say anything by Ali Smith, because I really didn’t expect to love her as much as I do. I thought she’d be out of my range, but I’m obsessed with her now.

Nadia: All-time favourite book?

Abbie: Oh, don’t ask me that! I dunno…I have like…no. I don’t wanna answer that.

Nadia: Haha, that’s fine. If you could have any career in books or publishing, what would you do?

Abbie: I would love to get paid to write reviews for some kind of publication. That’d be great.

Nadia: Favourite thing to do outside of books or reading?

Abbie: Powerlifting. And napping.

Nadia: Napping is the best. People need to do it more. But again, the nine-to-five really does not allow for it.

Abbie: But soon I’ll be able to nap when I want to!

Nadia: Yes, I know that life. Okay, now we’re gonna do three shoutouts. You can shout out anything within these topics. So, a book?

Abbie: Mmm…‘Spring’ by Ali Smith as that’s been my favourite book of the year so far. Everyone go and read the Seasonal Quartet, please!

Nadia: Yes! I recommend it too, though I’ve not read ‘Spring’ yet. Any Bookstagram account that you want to shout out?

Abbie: Obviously, Johann, @jobis89. She’s been my best friend for like two years now. First Bookstagram best friends, and now ‘in real life’ best friends. She’s just my favourite person. Sorry, Adam.

Nadia: And something non-book related!

Abbie: I have been obsessed with two shows: ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Derry Girls’, which is so funny and a nice break from ‘Stranger Things’.

Nadia: Okay, and that’s a wrap! Thank you so much, Abbie.

Abbie: I survived!

Nadia: Yes, you survived and you were wonderful!

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