In the ever-evolving world of literature and online communities, Olivia Camarena Cervera has carved out a space where readers can come together to share their passions and insights. Starting her journey with Bookish Bruha as a simple desire to connect with fellow book lovers, Olivia’s platform has blossomed into a vibrant community dedicated to celebrating diverse voices and fostering meaningful discussions. Through book clubs, thoughtful reviews, and engaging content, Olivia has not only found her own voice but has inspired countless others to explore, share, and embrace their love for reading. Join us as we delve into her journey, challenges, and the impactful moments that have shaped Bookish Bruha into the haven it is today.
1. What inspired you to start Bookish Bruha?
Getting to Bookish Bruha has been a whole journey, it wasn’t really “Bookish Bruha” at the beginning. It went through different pen names on different platforms, many of which I cannot remember. Blogger/Blogspot. Tumblr. Now Instagram, plus a website with the archive. So for Bookish Bruha, it was a matter of wanting to reconnect with a lovely community I had found back in my blogger days but back when I started, I only wanted to share my reads and find my people, maybe even encourage people to pick up that book I had loved. Some say that reading is a solitary hobby, and the act of reading could be described that way but the aftermath leads to opinions. If you’re a fiction reader like myself, you’ll want to find people to fangirl with, to talk about the character’s decisions or theorize about the next installments in the series. Many of us struggle making friends, but among readers…it’s different. At the same time I wanted to promote reading out there; to inspire people my age, I was so tired of hearing that young people don’t read (and even more, Mexicans).. In the anime community there’s this saying “for fans by fans,” it was similar: from a reader to other readers, and readers-to-be.
It was 2018-ish, and I had been scrolling on Bookstagram for a while, so I knew where I wanted to start posting. Thankfully, my college professor agreed to turn it into my project for the course, so I was given school time to make bookish content. The following semester, I had to build a blog website from scratch: hosting, domain, design. That’s when I moved everything from my non-Bookish Bruha blog (Letras Púrpura) to the actual website.
2. Can you share a specific moment or experience that made you realize the impact your work was having?
I recently started hosting a book club to read female authors from all around the world (The Literary Coven). Our first book was “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner, it’s a memoir exploring the loss of a parent, the relationship between the author and her mother. Sitting there, surrounded by other young women, all with different stories but sharing their experiences, some around loss, and supporting each other…someone said “I needed this safe place.” It happened again last month, when we read “Territory of Light”by Yūko Tsushima. Some girls arrived with a rooted anger towards the female main character, but after discussing the book and everything that happened, they recognized that their rooted anger came from their life experiences and helped them to untangle from those feelings burdening them from their past. I cherish that safe place, by sharing our different view around a book it also leads us to see it from a wider perspective. It fosters empathy, promotes a healthy dialogue, and understanding different realities. We grow together.
For me, everytime someone says “I read this book because of you” or “you inspired me to share my opinions,” about what they like, it fills me because a book can be life changing, and sharing your opinions, respectfully, can make a change. It’s not about being liked, I couldn’t care less about being liked or being popular. I want to inspire people to take a book, to read it, and have opinions. What’s better, to speak up. Especially women, we deserve to have our own voice.
7. What advice would you give to other women looking to start their own creative projects or businesses?
My main advice is to stop waiting for everything to be perfectly ready for them to start. You’ll perfect your processes along the way. The important thing is to start, trial and error, until you find your formula. When I started Bookish Bruha, I didn’t have the best setup for photography or video, nor the perfect design for my website but it worked.
5. How do you balance your personal life with running Bookish Bruha?
I don’t. Bookish Bruha is my main channel, where I’m most comfortable. It started as corner in the cyberspace to share my reviews, connect with other readers, and promote reading but it became a place where I can be the me-est possible, the book obsessed, very opinionated girl. I feel safe there, I try to keep it a safe place for everyone. I connect with people and interact with my friends. I don’t have an active personal social media (it’s more like a photo album). What I do have is a strict schedule to create content for BB: weekends. I dedicate three hours per day to taking photos and writing other texts. Running Bookish Bruha also includes a lot of reading books sent by Mexican publishers, ARCs from US and UK publishers, and other forms of PR. I’ve put rule for my readings: for every PR read or ARC, I’ll read a book of my own choice (not one of the endless pending reads). That’s been crucial to prevent the famous “readers block,” I’m also grateful for all the effort my PR contacts put into choosing the right books to send.
6. What role has reading played in shaping your life and your business?
Reading has given me everything. It has entertained me when I was bored at home, it has shaped my values and helped me built an understanding of feminism, of equity and fairness. It has also been an exchange coin for making friends, as that was the only thing I was interested in as a kid. As a reader, I found a passion for telling stories; I used to say as a 10-year-old that I wanted to put smiles in kid’s faces as “books have put many in mine.” I had experienced grief at such a young age, books were my companions. So I started writing, collecting pieces in my blog…which eventually helped me land my first ever job as Assistant Editor for a local cultural travel magazine. It has opened many doors for me, I’ve been able to meet my favorite writers, and through reading I’ve come closer to unique people. For sure, reading doesn’t need to end in the solitary phase, there’s a world out there to share your passion.
7. Have you faced any gender-specific challenges or biases in your industry, and if so, how have you navigated them?
Well, some things don’t change. If you’re a girl, it’s ok to read romance but if you’re a bit more intelligent in the eyes of those in front of you, why are you reading romance? You should be reading something “richer,” “true literature.” The classics. Nonsense. For them, it’s ok to read fiction while you’re a teen and not “old enough” for the classics (or they mesmerize at the fact that you read War & Peace at 12 y.o.). Or sometimes it’s never time for romances or fantasy reads, the only true books are the classics (often written by white, ableist, misogynistic men). It depends on the people but it goes similarly every time, and let’s not talk about Young Adult and New Adult categories. I’ve been speaking for ages about how these forms of fiction expose many important topics in a language for these range of ages, about how some of them are metaphors. Funny enough, it usually comes from people outside my target who reach my corner thanks to the algorithms. You won’t change their minds. If I think they may be commenting respectfully, I will answer accordingly.
8. What do you hope to achieve with Bookish Bruha in the future?
I aim to continue promoting reading among the youth and young adults both on social media and in-person events, and maybe someday have a physical place, a community library. That’s very needed.
9. Can you share a memorable success story or milestone from your journey with Bookish Bruha?
Last march I was invited to speak at a panel in my local book fair, the FILEY (Feria Internacional de la Lectura Yucatán). The OG title is beyond my memories but it was about the books that made us, our experience as readers, and what have we learned from it. It was my first experience outside of classrooms, and the audience was amazing, very proactive. All of them were readers, some shared their experiences. We had a good laugh.
10. How do you stay inspired and continue to grow personally and professionally?
I follow writers and other bookish creators that inspire me. There’s such a potential in them, I want to see them closely and as we say, “echarles porras.” And of course, I read a lot.
11. What are some key lessons you’ve learned along the way that you would like to share with others?
Enjoy the process, do what you love; it speaks for leagues. Be yourself, your people will find you; they value authenticity over everything else.
12. How can aspiring readers and supporters connect with and contribute to Bookish Bruha?
I’m everywhere as @bookishbruha (or bookishbruha.com) See you there!
IG, Threads, Twitter and Tiktok: @bookishbruha
www.bookishbruha.com
