BBAW Appreciation: Blogs I Love

 Today’s topic for Book Blogger Appreciation Week is “Appreciation!”

I am super thrilled to be participating in BBAW once again this year. Partly because I love that the event has chosen to appreciate all bloggers and not make it about the awards this year, partly because I’m just so happy to be blogging for yet another year and partly because I think this is an incredible event that shines the spotlight on the book blogging community as a whole.

With all the drama of the past year, joining together with a group of bloggers to celebrate blogging and getting the chance to set aside, even if just for a week, all the negative stuff that seems to be a growing side effect of blogging is a wonderful way to show just how much the large majority of us love this community, love the authors we interact with and love talking about books with anyone and everyone who will listen.

There are so many bloggers who work to keep this a community, who continue to persevere even through the tough stuff and who bring joy and enthusiasm to it on a daily basis, that I couldn’t possibly list them all. But they are so very much appreciated.

This year’s question asked us to share some of the blogs we enjoy reading daily and why. And while I don’t get a chance to read my favorite blogs every day, I do visit certain blogs fairly frequently –  or at least read their newsletters that get delivered right into my email. I’ve spotlighted just a few of them, below.

***

Blogs I Love

I am a regular visitor of Parajunkee.com. I stop by at least a couple times a week to check out Rachel’s posts. And it’s not just because she’s my favorite blog designer. I love her voice which shows through clearly in each and every one of the posts and reviews she writes. I love the character she brings to her reviews. And I love the informative BB101 discussion posts she comes up with each week. She helps to create a dialogue with her posts that engages the reader and provides a forum, of sorts, for them to share their thoughts about the topic at hand.

She is a blogger who is active in the community, someone who, by her Friday meme/feature helps to bring attention to blogs that otherwise might not be noticed as easily throughout the blogosphere and she is just someone who is incredibly entertaining and fun to interact with.

Aside from her BLOG she can be found on TWITTER, on FACEBOOK, on YouTube, at Spine Benders on YouTube and on TUMBLR.

I am also an avid reader and fan of Two Chicks on Books. I visit Jaime’s blog daily, even when I’ve read her posts in my email. Her reviews are honest and when she loves a book her enthusiasm always makes me desperate to grab a copy and start reading. She is also an active participant in blog tours, and I love getting to read all the exciting posts she has from a variety of authors – some I might never have discovered if it weren’t for her blog.

Even if we hadn’t become friends I’d still be checking out her site, because I love her voice. And I love the sneak peeks at her favorite passages she includes with her reviews. Jaime is a hard-working, dedicated blogger who absolutely loves what she does. She’s incredibly easygoing, approachable and friendly. And she’s probably the only person in the blogosphere I’m not afraid to send a random Tweet to.

Jaime can be found on her BLOG, FACEBOOK, and GOODREADS. But if you want to get to know her best, catch her on TWITTER where she’s always a part of the conversation.

One of my new favorite blogs to visit is The Bookish Brunette. While I don’t get to visit Ashley’s blog every day, I try to catch up on weekends. Her reviews and posts are wildly entertaining to borrow a phrase most often used in reviews. She has a very distinctive voice which shines through in everything she writes and it’s so much fun to read her posts. She’s incredibly enthusiastic about the books and authors she loves. And it’s her passion for them that makes me enjoy checking out what she has to say on her blog.

She is incredibly supportive of the community and the authors therein, her vlogs are the stuff of awesome and are very much the real her. And when she gets going on Twitter her conversations are laugh out loud funny. Plus, she, too, is an amazing designer and I adore staring at her blog design and avatars, which are ever changing.

Ashley can be found on her BLOG, TWITTER – you won’t want to miss her there – FACEBOOK, YouTube and Spine Benders on YouTube.

I am also a frequent visitor of Magical Urban Fantasy Reads. Aside from the fact that Mindy is one of the nicest bloggers I know, and aside from the fact that her blog design is absolutely gorgeous, I almost always discover a new book or author when I visit. I love reading her author interviews – she really makes them fun – and checking out her author guest posts. And when I’ve read a book that she’s reviewed I like to go back and check out her thoughts, which are always honest.

Mindy is incredibly generous and she loves sharing her books and her passion for books with her blog readers and friends. She’s nice, fun and clever and her enthusiasm for the fictional boys she adores always makes me smile.

You can find Mindy on her BLOG, FACEBOOK, GOODREADS, TUMBLR and every so often she’ll pop up on TWITTER to say something awesome.

While I don’t get to read as many blogs as I’d like, as often as I’d like, there are quite a few bloggers that I love checking out when I get the chance. Here are just a few of them….

Bookalicio.us and Bookalicious.org - Pam is still one of my favorite bloggers, though I wanted to share the spotlight with a few other favorites this year. I don’t know how she does all that she does – blogging, writing, working as a literary agent. She’s truly inspirational.

BookPics – Alba is one of the sweetest, nicest and most enthusiastic bloggers I know. Just check out one of her vlogs or reviews and you’ll see just how much she loves books and the authors who write them. Whenever I need a reminder of the good things in this community, I visit Alba’s blog.

Nina Reads –  Nina is a blogger I “met” through participating in a Top Ten meme on one of my other blogs. I checked out her blog and loved the way she writes her reviews. They’re informative and they have such a nice, easy flow to them. I don’t get to visit as often as I’d like, am terribly quiet when I visit, but I love hearing her thoughts about the books she’s read.

Reading Teen – I love checking out the reviews and posts by Amy and Andye and the rest of the “team” at Reading Teen. While site statistics may suggest that I don’t visit very often, it’s only because I’m subscribed to their newsletter and shamefully read their posts from afar. I think I only noticed their updated blog design a month ago!

Avery’s Book Nook – Avery is one of my favorite reviewers. I love checking out her thoughts on the books I love. And I love learning about new books I might not otherwise have known about. While she is taking a bit of a break from blogging right now, I am a loyal – if not as frequent as I’d like – reader of her blog and will definitely stick around for when she does find time to post.

While I would love to list every blogger I appreciate and think is amazing and an asset to this community, I have to wrap this post before it gets out of control. Which is a very real possibility for me.

And I appreciate every single blogger and reader who stops by the blog, reads my posts, leaves comments, interacts with me on Facebook and Twitter and makes me feel a part of this community instead of just an outsider. I am terribly shy around people I don’t know so I appreciate them all so much for making me feel welcome.