Meet Emily Christensen | Book Blogger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Christensen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, what do you attribute your success to?
When I first started my Instagram/Blog, HonestBookGirl, I really dove in blindly. I knew I wanted to put forth an effort but I also knew that I would be happy sharing my thoughts on books even if it was only one person who wanted to hear them. I never in my life thought that over 14,000 people would be interested in hearing what I had to say about books. So, success has been funny because my expectations were low, but seeing how my community has grown since I posted my first review has been an incredible feeling of success. I think the important factor contributing to my success has been continuing to be genuine and always staying true to my beliefs – people know what they’re signing up for when they follow me and whether or not folks agree with me, I’ve always maintained this genuine perspective.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I started my book blog, HonestBookGirl, I knew this would always remain a hobby no matter how “successful” it became – so I think setting boundaries has been a large part of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

The book blogging world is actually a fairly large community, which is kind of funny when you’ve never really realized or been exposed to it. I think setting myself apart was always something that didn’t cross my mind, but I always wanted to maintain my genuine and authentic self. I might not always read books that are everyone’s cup of tea, but I think being a book blogger for a couple of years now I’ve gotten a great grasp on what books are the perfect fit for specific people. I will also always maintain that I believe reading is political and that is part of me always being my genuine self. I think the lessons I’ve learned along the way are general life lessons – never being willing to change who you are to please a group of people, maintain boundaries in time and headspace, and so much more.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Denver is a great city for people who live here (minus the traffic, ammiright?) but I thinkvisiting Denver is best as a hub for day trips and activities!

Obviously, anyone visiting would have to go to a concert at Red Rocks – I’m a huge fan of Colorado in the summer, so I would look up whether there’s a Film on the Rocks one night or a concert worth seeing.

I also think a day trip to Boulder is necessary – I’m a CU Buff and while most of my favorite Boulder spots have closed down since my college days, we’d have to hike the Flatirons or Sanitas, go to lunch at T|Aco, get rooftop drinks at Avanti, and walk around campus for a bit.

Being from Colorado, I love a little history lesson from the area. I’d love to take someone on a ghost tour around Cheeseman or maybe check out the Molly Brown house (I’ve still never been!) – there are so many cool things about Denver that I don’t think folks who’ve just moved here know about or might not appreciate.

My partner and I are big campers so obviously a weekend spent unplugged in the mountains with a drink by the fire is one of my favorite Colorado activities.

In terms of things to do in general around Denver – I love a good barre class at BarreForte (either Wash Park or LoHi), coffee at Wash Perk, Devils Food, or Downpours, a trip to Bookbar to support my favorite Indie bookshop, of course, and maybe get happy hour at Angelos or dinner at Adelitas.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and partner have always been incredibly supportive in whatever endeavor I’ve chosen to pursue, so I would be remiss if I didn’t consider them a huge factor in my success.

Website: https://www.instagram.com/honestbookgirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honestbookgirl/