Reading Treasure is now Inviting History! What's Changing?

 

As you no doubt noticed when the blogspot URL for Reading Treasure redirected you here, there are some big changes! Namely... Reading Treasure: A Retreat for Everything Marie Antoinette is now Inviting History: Marie Antoinette and More.

Reading Treasure was my first foray into non-microblog style blogging and I couldn't be more excited to expand it into something bigger and hopefully, better.

I have been debating on a name change for Reading Treasure for years now, namely because that name was created for the very early version of this blog, which was originally meant to only be a longform guide to Marie Antoinette books. The concept for this blog has greatly expanded since I first made it, and the title simply hasn't reflected the nature of the blog for a long time.

Where did the name 'Inviting History' come from? Several years ago, I started a history book blog called Inviting History, which focused on history books related to lesser-known (or at least, not widely publicized) areas and subjects of history. I was unable to keep up with 'Inviting History' due to personal reasons, and while I attempted to revive it several times, I realized that it would be much more effective to integrate Inviting History with my expanded vision for a renamed Reading Treasure.

Plus, let's be honest: Inviting History just sounds better, doesn't it? 

Without further delay, let's get into the changes.

What's Changing?

Truthfully... not too much! If you've been a loyal reader of Reading Treasure, don't worry: Marie Antoinette is my primary historical passion and you will still see all the regular posts related to Marie Antoinette and her world. I will not be posting less frequently about Marie Antoinette, and you can expect to see what has been a mainstay of this blog for years: book reviews, thoughts on a variety of Marie Antoinette topics, etc.

Aside from the name and blog URL (which will redirect you from the old Reading Treasure blog posts) you will see the following changes:

• A new site theme and banner + logo! The gorgeous illustration used in the new site banner and my 'About Me' page is by Bogoface, an artist working on Fiverr. (Edit: I have reverted to a simpler site theme while I attempt to work out the bugs in the other one!)
  
• A new contact email! I still have the old contact email and will forward messages to the new one so there is no gap in communication, but if you'd like to contact me in the future, please use the new one. 
• There will be a wider variety of historical topics covered! The main emphasis will still be Marie Antoinette, French Revolution, and 18th-century France--but expect to see other areas of history, such as Titanic, WW2, Tudor, and more.
• There will be an emphasis on longer posts and analysis, rather than microblogging images or quotes; these will still be around but with less frequency. 
• Updates to themed posts that I have neglected, such as the Marie Antoinette 1938 Costume Guide; 'And Marie Antoinette Said,' a series looking at the veracity of various Marie Antoinette quotes; and more.
  
• More book reviews, including book reviews outside the 18th-century France, Marie Antoinette and Versailles sphere previously featured here. I will be bringing over some reviews from the previous incarnation of Inviting History, which was a book review blog.
• More pieces from my personal collection; I have been wanting to scan and share pieces from my personal Marie Antoinette and adjacent collection, and what better time to start than with a refresh of this blog?
  

Ironing Out the Issues...

 While I'm still ironing out the new site, you may notice a few things:

•  Older posts being revamped. Many of the old posts and reviews on this blog are years old and I would like them to better reflect current information or simply be rewritten for improved clarity and style.
• A few website theme hiccups are being still worked out, including additions to the 'categories' bar on the top. You may notice some menu links do not lead anywhere right now--I am still working on creating defined categories for popular types of content, such as book reviews, long-form posts, and so on. There is also an issue with some posts not showing up on the main page but I'm working on getting this bug fixed ASAP.  I have reverted to a different theme while working out the issues with the other one!