"Celebrating Bloggers" Blog Hop

This hop is being hosted by author, Terri Giuliano Long. The event runs from September 10 to 13 and she's invited bloggers and authors to share their thoughts about bloggers.

Why do I blog?
This is an apt topic of reflection for me because September 14 marks my one year anniversary of blogging. One of my reading buddies (and the first reader of this blog) couldn't believe it when I told her it's almost been a year. Time really does fly by when you're having fun. ^_^

I initially started writing about the books I read as part of my New Year's Resolution a few years ago and I enjoyed being able to remember all the books that I've read for the year. When my notebook got filled up, I decided to move my writing online.

I blog because I love to read and I love being able to share my thoughts about the books I read with fellow readers. Authors have spent time and thought to write stories that evoke emotions and inspire imagination so, to show my appreciation of their efforts, I challenge myself to digest and reflect on the book I've just read and to put my feelings down to words.

I also grow as a reader with each book that I read and with each blog entry that I write. I am gradually discovering that I do have preferences when it comes to my heroes and heroines -- and about the kinds of romance stories that I read.

I love reading blogs because I get to see the different perspectives, approaches, and reading experiences of my fellow readers. It's fun to read online discussions on books and book-related concerns. I've discovered so many great authors and books through other bloggers and my reading pile has grown exponentially because of this. (This is a good thing. ^_^)

Reading Challenges have also helped guide me as a reader -- and I have blogs to thank for this. I look forward to the start of each month for the Reading Romances Reading Challenge because it helps me plan what to read next. I also recently joined a month-long reading challenge hosted by Lisa Loves Literature called "September is for Sequels" -- and only then did I realize that I had a lot of sequels in my TBR pile.

The one important lesson I learned this year is that blogging also takes quite a bit of time and careful planning. I've joined a few book tours this year and I love the experience of having authors visit the blog but it also means fixing my calendar to make sure that blog posts go live promptly. The same goes for reviews -- I used to be a casual (and carefree) reader and I didn't have to think about what to read next but now I have to. But I love the challenge of making sure my blog is updated. I love that my blog keeps my mind active and alert.

Which brings me to the "celebrating bloggers" part of this entry. I've only been blogging for a year and I am in awe of the dedication and passion of my fellow book bloggers. They are tireless and diligent in their promotion of the books and authors that they love.

It's also an amazing community that helps to promote its own. I've seen many instances on Facebook and on blogs where bloggers would highlight fellow bloggers' fan pages and blogs. (Parajunkee's View has a regular Feature and Follow Hop and Stitch, Read, Cook has a wonderful feature on her blog called "A Day in the Life".)

Now I'd like to highlight some of my favorite book bloggers (and my regular blog stops) on the net:

The Season for Romance
- run by author, Beverley Kendall, the website has amazing discussion points and a great new feature that helps self-published authors gain insights into buyer attitudes called, The Anatomy of a Potential Bestseller.

Beverley and the rest of the bloggers at The Season for Romance are generous in sharing reviews, publishing news and giveaways. And the discussions on the blog are always very interesting and insightful. I also love the monthly release calendar which provides me a visual reference of all the books I need to buy (don't tell my husband) every month.


The HR Critic
- a unique voice in book blogging. I am amazed by the clarity of his opinions about historical romances. He writes very thorough and very fair assessments of the novels that he reads. I also love that his blog features a mix of newly-published novels as well as older books.

His tags are also very so much fun to read (and reflects his enthusiasm for the genre). ^_^

By the way, my choice of pronoun in reference to The HR Critic is not a mistake. ;-)


The Brazen Bookworm
- I found out about Sarah's blog when she was featured in Elise Rome's March Madness series. I remember that Elise said The Brazen Bookworm was one of the loveliest-looking blogs she had visited -- and Elise is right. The Brazen Bookworm is style and substance. She reads and writes about a broad range of books and, to date, her feature on Favorite Romantic Heroes: The Peerage remains one of my favorite blog entries read online.

I am also enjoying her Outlander read-a-long entries. Diana Gabaldon's work is an important piece of historical romance but, to my eternal shame, I have not had the chance to read it. I read Sarah's entries to gain an experience of the book vicariously. ^_^


Finally, to celebrate bloggers, one must also celebrate the readers and blog followers who take the time to visit blogs, to read entries, and to leave comments. Readers inspire me to read better and to write better blog entries.

Many thanks to Terri Long for hosting this very thoughtful event.

Terri also has an ongoing giveaway and you can join by filling out the Rafflecopter over at her blog. Link here.


Hop on to the other participants and read about how they are celebrating bloggers. ^_^

Blogger Participants


Author Participants