Book Blogger Highlight #2: Rose from White Rose Stories (+Interview!)

Hey everyone! Welcome to the second edition of Book Blogger Highlight. Today I have the honor to be interviewing one of my favorite book bloggers who is also a newbie in the book blogging game like me, so if you don’t know her this is the perfect opportunity to do so! I’m talking about Rose from White Rose Stories, whose content I love and has one of the most aesthetically pleasing blog designs I’ve seen.

I’ll stop with the babbling, stick around to get to know Rose and see some of her content!

Rose’s biography as seen on her blog

White Rose Stories is a blog run by a teenage bookworm under the pseudonym Rose White.

Rose lives on a wine farm somewhere in the peaceful countryside in South Africa and can always be found with her nose between the pages of a book and/or with her loving puppy, Zorba.

In her free time, she likes to write reviews for some of her favourite books, as well as capture them in pictures to share with her friends, followers and the rest of the bookstagram community on Instagram.

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1. On your blog, we can see that you have an interest in films and TV series. Can you tell us which ones are your favorites?

I never had much interest in films and TV series because I always preferred reading whenever I had a bit of free time, until recently. Out of everything I have watched so far this year, I only have a little more than a handful of favourites. My favourite films include: Sense and Sensibility (1994), The Imitation Game (2014), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and of course, the Harry Potter films. I have not watched many TV series yet but the ones I always love to binge are: Gilmore Girls, Friends and Good Witch.

2. Out of all the books you’ve read so far this year, which one has been your favorite and why?

Oh, this is such a difficult question as I have so many favourites. Just because I am a huge fantasy lover, I am going with House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. It has been a while since I completely lost myself in a book and it did such a great job at it. The characters were so special and I loved the moral of the story. I know there are a lot of mixed opinions on her books but I love them all so much and she is one of my favourite authors. You can read find my review here!

3. Can you tell us what a day in your reading/blogging life looks like?

It looks quite chaotic, actually. I finished high school last year and I am currently halfway through my gap year. I had quite a lot of plans for 2020 and wanted to accomplish so many of my goals but with everything currently going on in the world, I am unable to get to most of them. My blogging and reading life is what I pay most attention to at the moment. During the day, a few things from “the real world” get in the way but I do try to accomplish tasks for my blog early in the morning and late in the afternoon. At night I try to get in most of my reading but it depends on my schedule. If I have blog posts planned for the next day, I work on those. My little dog, Zorba, is my blogging and reading buddy because he always sleeps on my lap, under a warm blanket on my bed, as I work on things for White Rose Stories.

4. What is a genre you don’t read much often but you’d like to explore in the future? 

Non-fiction and historical fiction. I have only read one of each genre this year—Becoming by Michelle Obama and The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Both of these books ended up on my top-favourites list because they changed the way I look at life.

5. What goals do you aspire to have accomplished on your blog at the end of the year? 

As I am new to the book blogging world, I am still trying to figure out which goals I would like to reach. I would love to grow my audience more by reaching 300 subscribers and 10,000 views on my blog. I am currently figuring out how to monetise my blog by signing up for a few affiliate links as they will help me to continue sharing my love for books, even if it is just a little bit. Overall, I would just like to keep doing what I am currently doing. I would love to meet more book bloggers, to continue posting and talking about what I love with all my heart, to think of more content people would enjoy and to continue learning.

6. Do you aim to support a minority with the books you read? If so, which one and why? (i.e #OwnVoices books of any kind)

Yes, absolutely. I aim to support #OwnVoices novels but I am a bit ashamed to admit that I have not read a lot of diverse books. One of my goals for this year is to explore more and I am happy to say that I have already found a few favourites just by reading more diverse books. The reason I support this minority is because I would love to learn more about different cultures and backgrounds. As a very introverted bookworm who spends most of her time in her bedroom to blog and read books, I do not socialise a lot with different people and I would love to gain more knowledge by supporting different minorities. Another one I am making a goal of to support more is books by queer authors.

7. What are some new and fresh things you’d like to contribute to the book blogging world?

Oh my, I have not really thought about it. As I have said, I am still learning and trying to think of new things every day. I do not have big plans for the future and I am not sure if this fits the question but I would love to maybe start my own readathon and/or book club in the future. Also, I myself am trying to read more diverse books and would love to encourage others to do the same. I would love to teach other book bloggers more about my country, South Africa, and of books written by authors here. I am still unsure of how to do all of this but I try to take it day by day and have fun while doing it all.

8. Can you tell us what the audience can expect from your blog in the near future?

I signed up for a blog tour or two, which I cannot wait to participate in as it will be my first time doing so. Readathons is something I am taking part of a lot lately, so my audience can expect quite a few blog posts on different ones I will be joining. I am also hoping to share a few blog posts written by guest bloggers and to bring a bit more different content to White Rose Stories.

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Check these posts by Rose!

• 20 books I want to read in 2020
• Poetry books I have read
• Autumn & Winter TBR

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That’s all for this post! I hope you liked it. See you on the next one!