Today we’d like to introduce you to Dannielle Kaneshiro
Hi Dannielle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
It all started with a love for books. I could always get lost in a good story, usually fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, maybe a little bit of war story romance to sweep me off my feet. When I was little, I had all the time in the world so reading really helped fill that void. Of course, as you get older, it’s harder to pick up a book and take time to read. After about 10 years, last Oct 2023, I told myself I wanted to read all of Stephen King’s books before I died, so better get to it and decided to finally finish Stephen King’s The Shining coupled with the sequel Doctor Sleep. I then came to this realization that it may be an undoable task because I don’t think I could ever read IT because of my coulrophobia (yes, fear of clowns), I ended up picking up a book I had been seeing everywhere: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and it was down the rabbit hole of books from there. I read 14 books that October. I decided to create an instagram for books, and here we are now! Despite having to take a break – I was inactive from Dec 2023 to about April 2024 because I had a baby in Jan and my church wedding in April, I was able to grow my bookstagram as well as my network of readers and authors by becoming an ARC/beta reader as well (ARC: advance reader copy – you obtain an advanced copy of an unpublished book; beta reader: you assist the author by reading a non-edited or newly edited draft of an unfinished or nearly finished book). My short term goal is to connect with other readers/authors, and eventually publishers to grow my profile. My long term goal and dream is to eventually open a book cafe here in Chula Vista.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not exactly – planning a wedding and having a baby, and at the same time, was extremely difficult. So my social media accounts were stuck from that timeframe and really hurt my potential growth in those months. However I am grateful for the consistent and constant growth I have had since May and am very proud of it given that I don’t have as much free time as I’d like since my priority has been taking care of baby. Pretty much all my free time that I am able to have for myself goes into reading and taking photos of these beautiful editions and books that I own. I was a stay at home mom up until recently. I actually was just offered a federal job that I happily accepted, and am in the final steps of onboarding before I officially transition to becoming a working mom. My husband has graciously been funding my book craze as of late, so that in itself has been a struggle of its own. However, now that I will be working too, it’ll definitely put all those struggles at ease. Any men out there who think their wife is expensive already with their love of designer bags and makeup, just wait until you find out they love to read and collect pretty books too, lol!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I actually worked in Healthcare for about 10 years with Leadership jobs in Healthcare Administration. At one point I was a Medical Records Director and Consultant, another time I was an Admissions Director for a facility. After dedicating 10 years to Healthcare, I guess you can kind of say I lost my motivation to create change in the Healthcare system so I wanted to try a different avenue in my career. Simultaneously, at the peak of COVID before I even held those titles, I streamed on Twitch playing video games and doing art commissions, which I loved! I was making pretty good money, but I felt my mental health wasn’t at its best. There’s a high demand of producing content that streamers don’t really talk about. When I found my love for books and reading again – the content, while it isn’t to easy to produce, I truly find myself having fun with it, tapping into my creative side to produce such beautiful setups for my photos to appreciate all the work that goes into these special edition books that I have been graciously able to get my hands on for my collection. My bookstagram is most known for a very aesthetically pleasing and beautiful setups of books. I am most proud of my graphics to promote newly debuted books. I use Canva Pro for all my graphics, and those are the posts I have gained the most traction in engagement. My graphics have allowed me to have amazing interactions with the authors. It seems my professional skills have become quite useful as it has allowed me to make use of them in my personal life and hobbies as well!
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I am what they call an Extroverted Introvert. At the peak of COVID, I had just moved back home to San Diego from Orange County. I am an only child so I don’t have any siblings, my friends were north 2 hrs away, and my cousins already moved away from home. I truly felt alone. That’s when I started streaming on Twitch, and while I made friends there, the moment I went offline, reality hit again. And what always found me? A good book. So the lesson is, people come and go, but a good book to be read is always waiting for you 😉
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/dani.readss
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dani.readss?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Other: https://www.threads.net/@dani.readss
