February 17, 2012

Book Blogger Love-a-Thon • A Love Letter To My Book Blogging Inspirations

The world of book blogging has never struck me as intimidating, despite the proliferation of the blogs about books, book covers, book news, etc, etc. I think it's because, despite having so many different people involved, the sense of community, camaraderie and friendship is quite clear, even to a newbie like myself.

That having been said, there are many bloggers that deserve my absolute gratitude for inspiring me to dive into this wonderful, crazy, awesome world of book blogging. I mentioned my main inspirations when Ginger interviewed me for her Blogger Behind the Book feature, but I want to take the time to thank them again in this post, and as part of the Book Blogger Love-a-Thon.

Without the inspiration of these book bloggers and their blogs, I don't think I would have even dreamed of making my own. So I definitely owe it to them that I'm now firmly entrenched and loving the world of book blogging and the community I'm now a part of!

Thank you Kristi of The Story Siren!

Kristi's book blog was the first one I ever found online, and I was hooked on to her informative and interesting reviews. I'm certainly in awe of everything she's managed to accomplish as a book blogger, and she's definitely a great inspiration! I'm still very much in awe of her and would like to emulate her professionalism and her dedication to blogging.

Side Story: I actually saw Kristi last year at the This is Teen event in the Scholastic Store in SoHo, but I was too shy to approach her! I tweeted her later on and she was sweet enough to reply. Hopefully, I see her at BEA this year!

Thank you Amanda of One More Page!

Amanda's blog was recommended to me by one of my friends, since she knew I adored reading chick lit. I have to say, she was spot on in her recommendation because Amanda has become one of my go-to blogs when I look for that sort of read. She's also incredibly nice, writes really good reviews and I can admire how she balances book blogging with the rest of her life.

Side Story: I actually posted my first ever comment on a book blog on Amanda's blog! I remember that I was a little intimidated to do so at first, but Amanda was more than welcoming in her response to the comment.

Thank you Christy of The Reader Bee!

I think Christy's blog design is one of the cutest ones I've ever seen! But apart from that, Christy has great reviews and shares a similar taste in books, so I've come to consider her opinion when it comes to novels that I'm on the fence about. She's also one of the nicest, sweetest bloggers I've encountered!

Side Story: I won an ARC copy of The Future of Us from Christy last year, and I thought it was totally cool I had won a contest that one of my favorite blogs hosted!

Thank you Tara of Fiction Folio!

One of the main reasons I adore Tara is because she loves Harry Potter just as much as I do! But apart from that, I've always found her reviews fun to read. She's also a really cool, genuinely nice blogger! I was totally excited for her when she got to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter last year. It's really cool because I share similar tastes with her when it comes to books, so her recommendations, I find, are usually spot on.

Side Story: I actually won a copy of Shatter Me from Tara recently, so that was really cool! I always feel extra honored and surprised when I win something from one of my favorite bloggers, as I've already said.

Thank you Ginger of GReads!

I absolutely adore Ginger and her blog. She comes across as very genuine in her posts, especially in the more personal ones, and she's got some great memes (Tune in Tuesday & TGIF) that I enjoy participating in and checking out. I love reading her reviews because they're intelligent, personal and straight to the point. I definitely trust her recommendations when it comes to contemporary YA.

Side Story: I love interacting with Ginger via Twitter! I think she's really cool :) Plus, it was an honor to be featured on her blog a few weeks ago - I seriously got really excited about that!


This was posted as a response to Mini-Challenge #1 for the Book Blogger Love-A-Thon.
The Love-a-Thon is an event hosted by one of my awesome friends Katelyn from Kate's Tales of Books and Bands.
You can find out more information by checking out THIS POST.

28 Comments:

  1. Some pretty great bloggers to thank. Ginger was included in mine. I just lover her!

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  2. You have some AWESOME inspiration <3 A lot of these bloggers are ones that I look forward to interacting with on a daily basis. Great post :)

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  3. Very nice love letter. I am sure they all do appreciate you writing this to them. :) It is always nice meeting a blogger face to face and becoming friends.

    I hope you are having a nice day. I am stopping by for the Love-a-Thon. I am a new followers and have also add you on a few other social networks as well. Very cute blog. I love purple!

    - Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment

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  4. You better at least tell me hi this year! HA!

    Thank you so much for including me with these other fabulous bloggers.

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  5. Hannah @ In the Best WorldsFebruary 17, 2012 at 10:02 AM

    You have some really great bloggers listed here! There are so many people to look up to, it's amazing =)

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  6. These are some awesome blogs :D I love TheStorySiren.com; I read a mixture of YA and Adult. Anytime I want to read a great book I go over to The Story Siren to see what she's reading. This is a great post!
    Kayla @ Simply Kayla's Book Reviews

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  7. Wow this is a long and informative post! Very well done! (checking out the bloggers you talked about now :) - except Kristi because she is in my post too :D )

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  8. I love Ginger too!! This is an awesome post...will check out the others I haven't seen : )

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  9. You just completely made my day Alexa :) I love reading your blog as well because we do have such similar tastes in books and your reviews are always informative and fun to read. And Harry Potter... I could talk about HP all day, every day!!

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  10. Oh gosh Alexa, you have me almost in tears & I'm at work! Ha! I am honored to be among such fabulous bloggers as your inspiration. Truly, I am. I love this community & what it's brought to my life. Thank YOU for being a part of that. XOXOXOXO

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  11. Lovely posts! There are so many great bloggers out there! Love it :)

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  12. So many awesome bloggers!! They're all fabulous and friendly and I don't think it's any surprise that people love them so much! I know I do! Yay blogger love!!

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  13. Ginger is on my list of inspiring bloggers too, she is wonderful! Two of the other blogs I already follow and I'm off to follow the other two now because, with such glowing recommendations, they have to be awesome! :D

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  14. I'm really enjoying this love-a-thon and I love this mini challenge! The Story Siren is actually the first book blog I ever went to and I definitely credit her for finding so many of the books that are now favorites! I love Ginger's blog, she just seems like the sweetest! I'll definitely be checking out some of these other bloggers :0)

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  15. I recognize and am inspired by most of these blogs, too - which means I definitely have to check out the others if they're as amazing as the rest! Thanks for sharing :)

    PS. I love all your little side stories! Makes it so much more personal and heartfelt.

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  16. Ginger is an amazing blogger! I definitely count her as an inspiration - she's genuine, honest and really nice :)

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  17. Without them, my blog would not exist. And if that hadn't happened, we would never have met. *gasps* We have a lot to thank them for ;)

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  18. I will! I promise ;) I just remembered that story - and I do remember telling my friend who you were and gushing haha :)

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  19. There really are! I love reading blogs that are authentic and who are written by people who's opinions I feel like I can trust :)

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  20. I bet we could totally geek out at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for DAYS. Seriously. We'd make up our own version of the books... featuring us in it!

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  21. Ginger, I know you know that I think you're amazing. Thank YOU for being one of the nicest, most honest and most genuine bloggers I know. You set a great example!

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  22. There really are! I think it's really exciting when I find new quality blogs to read... like yours for instance ;) I really only discovered yours recently!

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  23. I honestly and sincerely can say that I believe they are! These are the blogs that inspired me to start blogging, as well as set an example for the standards and behavior I should emulate :)

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  24. The Story Siren, to me, is the mother of all book blogs. What Kristi has managed to do with it and how she's continued to remain professional, honest and authentic is admirable! And Ginger is just as awesome!

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  25. I'm just lucky I had side stories to share about each of them. They're all pretty darn great blogs :)

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Thanks for leaving a comment! I love seeing what you have to say, and will try to reply (here or on Twitter) as soon as I can :)