Monday, September 14, 2009

BBAW: Spotlight on Book Blogs!


At long last, the much awaited and much prepared for Book Blogger Appreciation Week has arrived. In honor of the first official day, we're spotlighting and celebrating blogs and bloggers that for one reason or another (the 1000 or so nominations? the fierce competition?) didn't manage to make the official BBAW award short lists but are super awesome nonetheless.

I find myself in a bit of a conundrum because several of my usual suspects - you know, the bloggers I just love to sing the praises of - were actually honored with spots on shortlists. Ah, but hey, we all know of my love for Eva, Nymeth, Chris, and Raych. Good news, I've got plenty more book blogger praises to extoll, and I'm sure I'll be leaving a bunch out despite my best intentions, as is always the case when doing these sorts of things.

First, the other usual suspects. I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of my long time favorites...

Wendy the Literary Feline of Musings of a Bookish Kitty who has a knack for rekindling my interest in mysteries and crime fiction and is a great commenter. It's always a pleasure to hear from her both at her blog and in the comments at mine and others' blogs!

Debi of Nothing of Importance. I would be beating a dead horse to mention the complete inaccuracy of Debi's blog's name. I love Debi's chatty posts, her weekly blame game (someday I'll be on that list...I hope...), her book babbling, and her obvious pride in her three great kids. When she went on vacation, I honestly felt a little bereft.

CJ of My Years of Reading Seriously. I've "known" CJ since I was but a baby blogger, or at least it seems that way. She writes excellent reviews, but more importantly, sometimes it's just nice to check in and see what's going on her life and read about her adventures with her furkids. =)

I gotta mention Becky of Becky's Book Reviews, too. Even though she did grab a short list mention for her blog's design, which is great, I was a bit disappointed to see that that was the only one since her abundant and quality content is what lights my fire about her blog. I totally rely on Becky's great YA reviews. They're honest and to the point and have introduced me to a great number of books that I would otherwise be ignorant of.

Someone I don't mention enough that I've been following for a long, long time is Tara at Books and Cooks. She writes great reviews, has weekly pictures of the most delicious looking farmer's market produce, and her memoir week was just to die for.

Now for a few of my newer discoveries...

I was a little surprised to see that The Book Lady's Blog didn't manage to snag a spot on a short list. Rebecca's reviews are detailed and heartfelt, her Adventures in Bookselling posts are a laugh riot, and just about anything she writes is something I'm bound to find interesting.

Likewise with Jackie from Farm Lane Books. More great reviews of books that I'm nearly always interested in(are we noticing a trend here?). I've been particularly enjoying reading her reviews as she's been reading through the Booker Prize long list.

I've only just discovered Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. I think we share some of the same reading tastes, and I'm convinced that her great reviews will be putting books on my wish list for a long time to come.

Likewise with Claire at Kiss a Cloud. After repeated mentions of this blog on several others that I read, I finally clicked over and saw what a great blog Kiss a Cloud is. I love Claire's bookish talk, her scrumptious bookish pictures, and her fabulous knack for picking the best passages to share that make me desperately want to read what she's reading!

Lastly, I don't even know how I happened upon it, but I greatly enjoy reading Gaskella. I can always count on great, thoughtful reviews here, often of books that I might never have heard of otherwise. Definitely one of my favorites of my more recent discoveries.


As I'm finishing up, I'm thinking of others I wish I had mentioned, but alas, this, like all of my posts is probably too long already. I'm still holding out for the debut of the BBAW award for "Most Needlessly Verbose." I mean, there's a "Most Concise" award - what about the rest of us that can't help getting carried away?

*sigh* I know my losing battle with Google Reader (which will undoubtedly become worse after this week's festivities) makes me a rotten lurker and lousy commenter, but I do appreciate all 10 of these and the many more blogs I (attempt) to read. All of you - please keep up the great work making my wish list grow and making the book blogosphere the best place to be!

12 comments:

  1. Thank you for your kind words!

    I do have to warn you about Diane's blog though - it is very bad for your finances! I think she has persuaded me to buy more books than any other!

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  2. I hope we all also know of my love for Megan! You picked some great blogs to highlight - I couldn't agree with you more about Debi in particular.

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  3. What a great compliment! I've spent my whole morning blushing with excitement, and I really appreciate your words here.

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  4. Thank you so very much, Megan! I feel honored to make your list with all those other wonderful blogs. :D Okay, some I don't even know, so I'll have to go check them out. Oh no, we all know where that will lead...

    And you would so get my vote for "most deliciously verbose"...your verbosity is positively delightful!!! Don't you dare change!!!!

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  5. This post was so hard to write, wasn't it? You highlighted some fantastic blogs.

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  6. Good question! Why don't they have an award for Most Verbose? I could be a contender in that one as well. LOL

    Thank you so much for your kind words, Megan. I'm always so excited when I see you in my Google Reader. You've had a big impact on me, review writing wise.

    I'm pleased to see you've highlighted several of my favorite blogs in there along with some new ones I will definitely be checking out.

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  7. Great list! I like your idea about an award for most verbose!

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  8. It's impossible to make a list of all the blogs we love - maybe just post a screenshot of my google reader? Please know that, even though I didn't mention you, I do love your blog!

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  9. What a great list Meghan!! Seriously, you have some of my favorite bloggers in there...and you added a couple of new ones too!! And of course I always love your blog...Even if I suck at commenting >>

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  10. Megan -

    Thank you so very much! I appreciate the kind words and I love coming here. Your reviews are great and you non-reviews are wonderful. (If that makes sense...)

    cjh

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  11. Jackie - You're quite welcome, and I'm definitely seeing that about Diane's blog!

    Ana - =D

    Rebecca - You deserve it! Keep up the great work!

    Debi - Thanks for calling my verbosity delicious. I usually think it's uh...rambly. I do think "Most Deliciously Verbose" would make a fabulous award category....

    Kathy - That it was, and they definitely are! =)

    Wendy - Aw, you're too sweet. And I'm admittedly agape about having had an impact on you in review writing. That's a high compliment indeed given how much I love *your* reviews!

    Lola - Thanks! What's the big deal about being concise anyway? LOL!

    Elizabeth - I think next year, they should just have us link everybody we follow in our reader. Sure, it would be a big task, but then nobody that I love would get left out! I coulda listed you and Susan from Bloggin' Bout Books and Dolce Bellezza... Honestly, I could have just gone on and on! I second the "loving your blog despite running out of space to mention it" sentiment. =)

    Chris - Thanks! This commenting stuff is hard, I'll tell ya, but at least we're uhm "mutually lurking" so there doesn't need to be any guilt, right? Ha!

    CJ - It makes plenty of sense, and I thank you! =)

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  12. Thank you so much for your nice words and link. I only just re-found you via Jackie at Farmlanebooks's post on finding links. It is so difficult keeping track of everybody! I shall explore those others in your list that I don't already know.

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