Bloggers Who Wrote Books

Do you fondly remember the heyday of blogs? Do you still have a couple that you follow and read every word of? You are not alone! I love reading blogs—getting that sneak peek into a person’s life or learning something that a passionate person wants to teach me is always awesome. Below are bloggers who got off the internet (or stayed on) and published books so we could finally have a hard copy to read while offline. Even if you didn’t read their blogs, these are some great writers! They’ll teach you how to cook, craft, dress, and do complex math equations. Don’t believe me? Read on!

Ree Drummond

Starting with cooking, a lot of people know Ree Drummond from her blog, The Pioneer Woman. She told us about how she moved from the city to the country and shared with us a ton of yummy recipes she’d made for her family. She won Weblog of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2011 at The Bloggies. Drummond published her first book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl in 2009. She wrote her autobiography, Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage & Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere in 2020. She calls this book a “love letter and a laugh letter” to her ranching life. Drummond has written several more cook books and has even written children’s books starring a dog named Charlie! Find her books in the catalog by clicking here.

Gina Homolka

Homolka’s name might not be as familiar as Drummond’s, but Homolka is the author behind the blog and cookbooks SkinnyTaste. Homolka is all about lots of flavor with few calories. The first cookbook she wrote was The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor in 2014. Since then she’s written several more cookbooks, guiding readers with slow cooker recipes, healthy meal prep, and one vessel cooking (whether that’s a sheet pan or a Dutch oven). Her newest cookbook is Skinnytaste Air Fryer Dinners: 75 Healthy Recipes for Easy Weeknight Meals. To find her books in the catalog, click here.

Anne Weil

Anne Weil writes a blog called Flax and Twine. She blogs to teach people how to knit, crochet, weave, sew, and more! Weil sells kits for most of her patterns, so if you’re still new to the skill, she will provide you with a tutorial, materials (like rope for baskets or yarn for blankets), notions (darning needle, hook, or knitting needles), pictures, and a video. If you don’t want to buy a pattern, you can find Weil’s tutorials for arm knitting a throw pillow, finger knitting a rug, crocheting for rocks, and more by accessing CreativeBug (free through the library’s website). You can also check out her books. She’s written Knitting without Needles, a book about finger and arm knitting, and Weaving within Reach. Both books are sure to help you create a project you’ll love!

Rachel Hollis

Rachel Hollis wants you to live your best life. She started her blog because she once caught a Thanksgiving turkey on fire! She shares everything from delicious recipes, to the best presents to give for any occasion and any person, to tips that may make your life better. She’s written several books to look out for: Girl, Wash Your Face, which is packed with tips to help with self-confidence; Girl, Stop Apologizing, which is a book about embarrassment, perfection, and chasing your dreams; and Didn’t See That Coming, a book about learning and growing from your difficult times. To find her books in the catalog, click here.

Will Taylor

The creator of the blog Bright Bazaar, Will Taylor has been teaching people how to style themselves and their spaces since 2009. Do you want to know how to wear vertical stripes, what shorts look the best, or what to wear to a holiday party? He’s got you covered! Do you want to design a bathroom, a wet bar, or incorporate Scandinavian style into your backyard? Will can give you tips for that! He’s written two books, Bright Bazaar: Embracing Color for Make-You-Smile Style in 2014, and 2016’s Dream Décor, all about bringing your vacation style to your home.

Randall Munroe

For a very long time, the internet did not know Randall Munroe’s name. He was and is the creative mind behind my favorite webcomic and blog, xkcd. The usually black and white comics, filled with stick people, talk about everything from romance, sarcasm, math and language. The blog, What If, answers random questions like how to experience the longest possible sunset with science, math, and, sometimes, absurdity. Munroe has written two What If books to ensure you get your serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions. He has also written Thing Explainer to provide simple explanations for hard concepts, and How To, a book with advice for common real-world problems. If you love science and silliness, you’ll like Randall Munroe.

Ed Yong

I started reading Ed Yong when he wrote a blog called Not Exactly Rocket Science. It moved from a Wordpress website to ScienceBlog to a National Geographic website to The Atlantic, where he still does some reporting. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for his reporting and coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has written two books. The first, written in 2016, is I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. This book is about how microbes are necessary to our lives and how interconnected all life is. The second book, from 2022, is An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. This book talks about the sensory world all creatures experience. Some animals can perceive the Earth’s magnetosphere, some see colors humanity can’t dream of, and some animals can sense the flow of water and other creatures in the water. I hope Yong writes a new book soon; I’ll definitely be on the hold list for it!

What blogs do you still read? Any good writers who got their start on the internet that you’d like to suggest to me? I am always looking for new blogs and books to read!

- by Kimberley H., Lawrence Branch