Top Ten Book Bloggers I Give My Love To
It’s time for a SOPPY post! Yay!
OK, in all seriousness, I try to show appreciation for the blogs I follow (366 in Bloglovin’ alone) in my Sharing the Bloggy Love posts; we all know this is a time-consuming (but rewarding) hobby, and without the enthusiasm, support and kindness from so many, I doubt we’d stick at it. But, sometimes book bloggers go above and beyond the call of duty, sometimes they offer a welcoming hand to a newbie, and sometimes you just click with certain bloggers and BAM. Insta-friendship, just add water books. I’ve seen a lot of posts talking about “being the change we want to see in the community” (or something similar), so I’m trying that today. Here are ten bloggers I want to say “thank you” to (in no particular order):
1. Brandie from Brandie is a Book Junkie: Brandie is fabulous (and her little girl is adorable). She loves wine, she loves men *ahem – I mean romance novels* and she fan-girls like the best of us! She introduced me to Colleen Hoover, for which I will be eternally grateful, and I know if I ever need to run an idea past someone, or squeal with excitement, she’ll be right there with me. She was also one of the top commenters on my blog in 2014.
2. Stefani from Caught Read Handed: I love this girl. She’s artistic, creative, a reading power-house and a super kind soul (she was my Secret Santa in the Belle’s EBE 2014, and she spoiled me). Stef’s bursting with enthusiasm that is kind of infectious, and she was also one of my top blog commenters of 2014.
3. Asti from Oh, The Books!: When I first started blogging, Oh, The Books! seemed like one of those “big” book blogs (you know the type!), but Asti was really welcoming, and over time I’ve seen just how much she (and Kelley) contribute to the community with their (multiple) impressive original features and constantly fresh and on-the-point posts. Asti also shares quite a bit about her personal life, which I admire, and it means I feel like I kind-of know her.
4. Joey from Thoughts and Afterthoughts: My male blogger! (Yes, I’ve declared you as mine). He’s my partner in crime for (S)He Said and is guaranteed to do complex, rambly and wonderfully word-vomitty posts because he just can’t contain himself! He’s my main point of reference for a male perspective in the sea of female book bloggers.
5. Lindsey from Bring My Books: There’s no doubt about it. Lindsey needs more love. She’s a bonafide book-seller, she owns 10 copies of Jane Eyre, she is ridiculously enthusiastic to the point where I question my own Book Geek status, and she’s genuinely lovely. Her posts are worth checking out, I especially love ones that read more like stories she’d tell you over a coffee.
6. Tara from The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shhh!: As her blog title suggests, Tara is a librarian (I don’t spend much time at my local library *slaps wrist* but this way I don’t have to!!). I love getting her perspective on books and bookish things as it often has an academic twist, which my inner Geek grins at, and I love that she takes us on her studying and traveling journeys with her.
7. Ashley from Nose Graze: A book blogger and a web-designer, what more could our community need? She’s outspoken and I love Ashley’s personal posts (pictures of her wedding, details on what it’s like freelancing…) and she has seriously helped me figure out how to do things on this blog with basic coding skills through her more technical posts. A lot of bloggers use her custom Book Blogger Plug-In, and from what I’ve heard it’s amazing.
8. Charnell from Reviews from a Bookworm: We bonded over our love for Diane Chamberlain and Jodi Picoult, I drool over her haul posts and I love that she loves Disney. But more than all of that it was so, so refreshing to find a blogger who I could also disagree with in a really productive way (we didn’t take offense and actually had an engaging conversation!), which led to me loving her blog. The book in question is Beautiful Disaster 😉
9. Trish from Between My Lines: Shout-out for an Irish blogger! Trish’s reviews are usually pretty spot-on for me, and I love her Green Giants feature that showcases Irish authors (I definitely need to read more of these!). She’s very genuine and is always willing to engage me in bookish-related conversations!
10. Amanda from Beautiful Bookish Butterflies: Amanda previously blogged at Book Badger but has now joined forces with Stacie to co-blog. Amanda was really welcoming when I first joined the community, and she has opened up a lot about her personal life on her blog, which I definitely respect. I love her ranty discussion posts, and her sheer commitment and dedication to reading and blogging!
I was so hesitant about posting this because I feel there are SO many of you I’m leaving out (I follow 366 of you guys, getting it down to ten was just plain hard). Feel free to leave links for bloggers you really appreciate in the comments! And for anyone who has commented on my blog, follows me or gets ridiculously excited about books with me, you get an Honorable Mention. Thank you!
Thanks so much for mentioning me! 😀 I think this is a really awesome post and it’s so sweet of you to do. I’m off to check out some of those other bloggers’ sites. 🙂
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No problem, Ashley! Hope you find some awesome new people to follow – I religiously check the posts from all of these girls (and guy) lol R x
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Thank you for making my day, Rachel! ❤ You are hands down one of my favorite bloggers, and I love discussing bookish things with you! I'm really looking forward to more of our joint reviews. 🙂
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I love when people say that! I love the idea of being able to make someone’s day better! 😀 Aw, thanks Stef, looking forward to seeing where our three woman wolf-pack goes, it’s exciting and different and I LOVE that! R x
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Well you definitely did. I smiled a bunch as I read it. 🙂 Our wolf-pack is the bee’s knees.
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You just made me cry a little! I heart you big time and am so thankful for your friendship. You totally ‘get’ me, and there’s no one I’d rather fangirl with than you! xx
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Awwww, B! I just realised I have a B and an S, I’m halfway to gathering my own Gossip Girl crew! What the hell does that make me?!
Now you’ve got me tearing up woman! R x
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Stefani is the best! ❤ her!
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Agreed! 😀 R x
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AWWWW. You guys, stop! I’m going to cry over here. ❤ YOU BOTH!
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This is a great idea!! So much love for the book blogging community! 🙂
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Thanks! 😀 Hopefully you’ve found a new blog or two to follow?? R x
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Aw! Thank you so much! I really appreciate being named and especially being in such great company!
And that was a great idea for a TTT free week. With enough positive energy like this, we’ll drown out the negative moaners! 🙂
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No problem, Trish! I thought we could do with a little more love being shared and a reminder as to why we do this. It’s not all negative, and certainly I don’t seem to see a lot of the problems other bloggers are talking about. R x
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I must have everyone fooled if “guaranteed to do complex, rambly and wonderfully word-vomitty posts “ headlines my blog. More like: “guaranteed to post when not lazy (which is never)” lolololol. Am I right, or am I right?
But thank you for the kind words even if it had a possessive connotation and was slightly frightening. (I fear for those who I blog with in the future.) LOLOLOL
Cheers,
joey via. thoughts and afterthoughts
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HAHAH you may be a little bit right!! I still owe you a finished (S)He Said post though… soon, soon. I had my last exam today so I should be a little more stress free, and free to blog AKA finish that God-damned post.
Haha – frightening? Little old me?? Pft. What do you mean who you’re gonna blog with in the future? Who are you planning on blogging with?!
*Kidding*
Kind of.
😀 R x
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I really like this post and the idea around it! That was really awesome of you !
Makes me love your blog even more (if thats possible) 😀
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Aw, thanks!! 😀 R x
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Aw, what a sweet post! I’m happy to see a few bloggers I absolutely adore (and have learned LOADS from) and will be checking out those who are new to me. Thanks for sharing the love with us so we can discover some new bloggers! 🙂
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Thanks for commenting! Hope you find some great new bloggers to follow! R x
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This is cool! I would be afraid to post this, too. lol. I’m always worried about hurting people’s feelings or leaving people off of lists. But I think this type of list is great because it gives your readers a chance to check out some cool book blogs! I did My TTT this week on my favorite standalone novels.
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It’s tough, because I know the feeling when you’re not included BUT I hope my Bloggy Love feature highlights each blogger I follow individually and this one was particularly aimed at those who’ve either made an impact on me personally, or who I feel make an impact on the wider community. R x
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I think it’s great post<3
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This made my day, thank you! I love the idea of bringing more positivity into the world. I may need to look into featuring more book bloggers in my Extra Credit feature, since there are so many great bloggers out there whose blogs I adore (yours included!)
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No problem, Tara! Extra Credit would be the perfect place to do that, and I geek-out over the name of that feature!
😀
R x
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You are such a sweet, supportive, sweetheart. ❤ Joey of Afterthoughts continues to blow my mind.
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Thanks, Joy!
And yes, he’s a wee bit special! 😀
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OH STOP IT, YOU.
(I hope that wordpress emoji shows.)
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Aw thank you for mentioning me Rachel! Especially because I know how hard it is to narrow it down to just ten people, like you said! (I think it’s part of the reason I struggle with my Bookish Friends feature sometimes, and need to get back on it! There are always SO many people I want to highlight! But I would hope everyone would forgive you if you miss out some people since your Sharing the Bloggy Love feature is so lovely and includes so many <3)
I'm glad to hear that you think I'm a positive force in the community, though. I think lately many people have been a bit unsure about the community, talking about how bad it's got, but I haven't seen it that way. I'm guessing that's because I don't get involved in any of the drama though! Every community will have it's bumps in the roads, and it is always going to go through changes whether we like it or not, but there still is a lot of good in the community, too. I've always seen the book blogosphere as a warm and supportive place full of so many good people who won't mind fangirling with you over a book one minute and then being a shoulder to cry on the next. And I definitely try to be a part of that image, open to anyone and everyone who wants to talk, no matter how serious or silly! I think my biggest hurdle lately is time – people have to reach out to me more these days than me reaching out to them, just because our blog has gotten bigger and life has gotten busier!
But yes, people like those ten you listed there, and YOU, are the reason why this community is awesome and should still be celebrated even amidst all the trouble. Thanks again for including me on this list, and showing what a beautiful person you are. ❤
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Thanks for commenting, Asti! I really need to do a couple more Bloggy Love posts – I’ve a long way to go yet to fit everyone in!!
I’ve seen quite a few of these posts about negativity in the community, and while I’m sure it is there, I definitely haven’t witnessed much of it or gotten involved in it. Communities will grow and become their own thing, and I don’t think that can be controlled, but it can be encouraged to grow in the right way by the actions of those involved in the community. I think we all go through peaks and troughs with being busy and not being able to contribute or reach out as much as we’d like – I’m definitely glad I found this community though – it takes a brave step to put yourself online but I wouldn’t change it!
Awww – thanks, Asti! 😀 R x
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Lovely list! I’ll definitely take this as recommendations for more blogs to follow!
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Thanks, Brianna! You should definitely check these guys out! R x
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Gah, this post is the best!!! 🙂 I wish I’d thought to do something like this, giving all my love to all you other wonderful book bloggers who make blogging fun.
YES!!! I agree. I love that we can disagree on a book but it’s never an issue, it’s just an opportunity to discuss our feelings and why one of us liked it and the other didn’t. I like that you respect my opinion and I respect yours, we’re never trying to tell the other person they’re wrong to think a certain way.
I’m also happy that we have a shared love of Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult and Colleen Hoover!!!! 🙂
I also appreciate the fact that this post has introduced me to some more awesome bloggers 😉
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Haha – thanks!
YES – that’s definitely it! It can almost be scary disagreeing with someone but it’s amazing when you know you can chat like that. Argh, I forgot the mutual Hoover love. I’m dying for Confess! And I’ve pushed her on like 3 people in real life who didn’t even know who she was! I’ve become an actual book pusher! R x
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