Hey, I Think It's My Blogiversary

Not that I deserve a blogiversary.  I'm pretty sure blogiversaries are for people who actually blog, and it would be generous to say that I've blogged, uh, sparingly this year.  That said, today marks six years worth of blogging for me, and considering I'm still surprised that I made it past the first year, it seems a shame to let it go by without any fanfare at all.  Not that the first year was bad or anything, I just have commitment issues when it comes to saying I'll do something next week, much less, you know, three years from now.

This year has been kind of sad year for me, blogging wise.  I've seen my own interest in blogging wane quite a bit in favor of travel, television, and spending more time with friend and family (er, not necessarily in that order).  In fact, there are days that I don't even turn my computer on, much less concern myself with a blog post.  My job sucks up a lot of my energy, and after a full day spent with a computer, the thought of looking at the computer yet more is less than alluring.  Blogging has changed a lot, and so many bloggers are stretched so thin over about a zillion types of social media that the community is very different than the one I enjoyed so much as a "young" blogger.  That and so many of the people whose blogs I've been reading forever seem to be actively throwing in the towel or just slowly fading away from the blogs I've loved for a long time.  I've been reluctant to change with the times, and I am nostalgic for the old ways, if you will, but I'm still hanging in there (despite the fact that this is a more or less melancholy blogiversary "celebration").  And, as ever, I thank all of you who are still hanging in with me! 

I'm as enthusiastic about reading as ever.  I've set a fairly good reading pace (for me, the turtle reader) this year.  Plus, I'm on a great reading streak, and I really need to share some reviews of those titles with you.  I mean, Brewster by Mark Slouka?  So heart-breakingly fantastic.  Rules of Civility by Amor Towles?  The narrator - best ever.  1930s New York - pitch perfect.  I'm getting into books I loved so much that they're hard to talk about with any coherence.

Recently, I took my commitment-phobe self over to Twitter to see if I should participate in next Saturday's Dewey's Readathon, and was strongly informed that I (obviously) should participate on both the reading and cheerleading fronts.  I'm a big people pleaser, so obviously I've since signed up for both.  I'm looking forward to re-connecting with some old friends and discovering some new (to me) blogging faces, and, obviously, getting in some good reading.  I hope to see your face at the Readathon.  It'll be that much more fun!

So, what's new with you?  Will you be Readathoning?  And if you're getting to be an oldie blogger like me, how has blogging changed for you?  (I'm very inquisitive today.  ;-))

Leafing Through Life is 5!

 

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away or maybe just five years ago right here, the blog you see before you now was born with an abysmal post that was filled with too many ellipses and seemed doubtful that I'd continue at this for five months, much less five years.  Now I count people I've never laid eyes upon in person to be my friends.  I've read and reviewed countless books.  I've been to BEA not once but twice and put some faces to some friends and made some new ones.  My TBR pile is out of control and filled with books I would never have picked up without some helpful nudging.  My e-mail box runneth over in a way that I could never even have imagined with messages from people who, for some reason, want me to review their books.

I have been challenged, I've read-along, and I've been totally overwhelmed by my Google Reader.  I've got a bookish wish list that could reach about to the moon and back.  I've stayed up late into the night reading and cheerleading for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon (and will again soon!).  I've seen bloggers come and go (and stay and stay!) and the book blogosphere go from a place where, even if you didn't follow everyone, you at least knew most people's names to a community where I couldn't even dream of even being passingly familiar with half the members.   I've been exhilarated and exhausted by it all.  Such is the life of a book blogger, and it's been my pleasure to be one for five years.  Thanks so much to everybody who's stuck with me and my blog even when I haven't been uber-dependable, and thanks all for inspiring me with your own blogs, for your great tastes in books, for commenting here and generally making book blogging the best hobby a person could have

 

Enough with all the sentimental windbagging, though.  Honestly, usually I forget my blogiversary.  I think of it a few weeks too late and let it pass without fanfare.  Who wants to hear me wax poetic about book bloggerdom anyway?  But five years, though, that's major, right?  So, I figure it's time for a giveaway of a few of my favorite books.  What better way to celebrate all the great books blogging has brought my way and my fellow bloggers and friends who have helped keep me at it all this time?  A few weeks back, I wrote a Top Ten Tuesday featuring the best ten books I've read since I started book blogging.  I'd love to send 3 different winners a new copy of one of those books, so check out the post, which has links to my reviews of the ten chosen ones.  Pick one out and fill out the form (Look, I learned how to make a form!  Who says an old dog blogger can't learn new tricks?) below if you want to win. It's open internationally, as long as The Book Depository ships to your country, until 8 am EST on October 21st, when I'll announce the winners.  There are no special requirements to enter, but if you wanted to spread the word, I'd sure appreciate it.  I'd like to, you know, actually have 3 winners.  ;-)

 

 

 

Four!

It's hard to believe this day has come. It's even harder to believe I remembered that it came and am writing a post about it seeing as I usually am off looking at shiny things or other such distractions for the attention span impaired while my blogiversary skates by with little fanfair. I'm not forgetting this year, though. That's right - this week Leafing Through Life is four. Four years old. It was four years ago today that I wrote my first book review for my own little corner of the interwebs. Little did I know the journey that I was beginning and that I'd still be at it four year later.

You see, I, as a person, am not blessed with a great deal of stick-to-it-iveness when it comes to things that life doesn't require me to do. With a flightiness I've more than likely inherited from my mother, I have the tendency to bounce from obsession to obsession. I'm all in for a little while, but once the thrill is gone, I'm on to the new thing. Not so with book blogging. I've finally found a hobby that stuck to me. It's had its highs and lows, and I've neglected it for other pursuits along the way, but I've never abandoned it completely, and with good reason - it is, by far, the most rewarding hobby I've ever put my hand to.

As I start my fourth year of blogging, I just want to thank all of you have taken the time to read some of my ramblings here, to befriend me, to encourage me whenever things haven't been going well, to send me a book, to make me feel like what I do actually matters and generally make this whole blogging thing the most worthwile of pursuits. Thanks, also, for making the book blogosphere the great place to be that it is, so that even when I think I might ponder giving it up, the connections, the recommendations, the friends keep me coming back.

To show my gratitude (and also because I just haven't done it in a while), I've got a few books to give away, because hey, what's a good celebration without presents?

I've got two gently used ARCs of a couple of my favorite reads from this year that I'd love to share with some other readers...

Sparrow Road by Shelia O'Connor (Read my review)
Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister (Read my review)

and also a pair of (never used) duplicate ARCs...

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

The giveaway is open internationally. You can enter for all 4, but you can only win one. Just leave me a comment letting me know which ones you're entering for as well as some way to get in contact with you should you win. I'll take entries through midnight (EST) on Monday October 17th and will announce winner shortly thereafter.

Leafing Through Life is Two! And a giveaway!

Well, can you believe it? Here I am two days after my blog's 2nd blogiversary only just realizing it passed me by without any fanfare or my even remembering it at all. It could be that I was so busy reading Fat Kid Rules the World which was every bit as awesome as I expected. It could be that I went to the dentist yesterday and had all four of my wisdom teeth yanked out and have been a little hopped up on tylenol with codeine which, instead of making me sleep a deep blissful sleep, actually make me kind of paranoid and insane. No fair. This may also help to explain this post and how I'm not sure if it makes any sense and how it's definitely not profound in any way. Anywho, the point is I've gone and missed my own blogiversary.

And I feel bad. I feel like maybe I need to buy my blog some flowers...




Or perhaps some jewelry?




Maybe a cake?



Or some chocolates?



Or, better yet, some books to make up for my indiscretion!




Two years of me doing something I don't absolutely have to do is a very, very long time in Megan years. So truly, something must be done to celebrate this remarkable occasion, something that doesn't involve excessively morose self-reflection as has become so common around here.

*looks around for inspiration*

Ah-ha! I've got it! Since I probably wouldn't still be doing this if it weren't for all of the fine bloggers and enjoyers of this book blogging community, I'll celebrate by giving you guys the books I don't have room for any more! Well- maybe not all of them - just the ones that I've read. But which ones of those? Perhaps only ones that I've reviewed on my blog as this is my blogiversary and all. *shuffles off to find a few*

Okay, I've got a few here. Two reviewed this year and two favorites from last year!

In the Beauty of the Lilies by John Updike which I reviewed yesterday. Bought new, read once. See if you can uncover the nuggets of Updike's genius!

Don't Call Me a Crook! by Bob Moore - a once read review copy. And yes, he is a crook!

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. I reviewed this ARC and then gave it to just about every woman in my family to read, so it's looking a little well-loved - because it is!

The Cactus Eaters by Dan White. Another of my favorites from last year - hilarious tale about this guy and his girlfriend who decide to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and get even more than they bargained for. My copy is kind of a "bare bones" ARC. It's bound kinda weird, but the pages look just like they would inside of a normal book!

Some or all of them might come with Bookcrossing labels in them. Journal them or don't, but don't be surprised to see the labels on the inside cover.

All right, four books to choose from. Enter for as many or as few as you like, however, the limit is one win per customer. Open worldwide. Leave a comment on this post to enter, and make sure you let me know some way to get in touch with you if you win. Enter by Friday, October 16, and I'll pick the winners over the following weekend. Oh, and since I'm doing this in part to celebrate the fact that in these two years people have actually been reading the crazy stuff I write and like being my friends and stuff, if you've ever left a comment in my two years on any post prior to this one (even if you leave it chronologically *after* I post this post - this one's for you, lurkers! Come out, come out wherever you are!), I'll give you an extra entry.

It's been a pleasure blogging with all y'all these two years, and here's hoping for another good year..and another...and another........ ;-)

It's my Blogiversary!

A brilliant thing has happened and I nearly missed it! As of today, October 6th, Leafing Through Life has lived for a year. I tell you, it sure doesn't feel like I've been blogging for a year, so I guess maybe it's true that time flies when you're having fun. It's been a great year. I've successfully reviewed almost all of the books that I've read since setting off on this endeavor. Actually, CJ, one of my first book bloggy friends tagged me for a meme that seems just built for a blogiversary post. The meme is simple - just list 5 ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.

1. Well, first, is the reason I started blogging in the first place. I graduated from college in 2006 and the year between then and when I began this blog, I realized how much I missed writing. Blogging has given me an outlet for my creative energies at the same time as it has made me a more thoughtful reader. As I read now, I find that I'm not simply being entertained but am really digging into what I read and coming out with larger themes and better understanding because of my concious effort to process what I read so I can write a good review.

2. This one always seems obvious to me, but it certainly must be said. The book blogging community is just awesome and getting to know each and every one of you I've had the privilege of interacting with has been a pleasure. It's great to find a group of people as passionate about books as all of you are, and I look forward to many more years of that!

3. This one falls more on the negative. I'd be hard pressed to describe myself as the most consistent blogger and even just popping in when I have time, I'm stunned at how much time blogging takes up. Between writing my own posts, keeping up with my feed reader, and leaving what few comments I'm able to on everyone's blogs, blogging really takes up a lot of time. I really respect those of you who seem to have time to work and/or take care of your families, read a dizzying amount of books beyond what I could ever hope to read in a year, and blog on a far more consistent basis than I do (not to mention your extensive commenting on others' blogs!).

4. Being a part of a community of bloggers has renewed my interest in reading a lot of books that before I might have sworn off. Eva with her enthusiasm for non-fiction definitely put it in my mind to reach for more non-fiction this year. Bloggers like Danielle have renewed my interest in reading literary classics. Nymeth could probably make me want to read the phone book, but other than that, her reviews of fantasy and fairy tales have inspired me to take a second look at those genres. Countless others have had a hand in making me want to try short stories again, seek out the best sci-fi, and even take up a mystery or two (which, by the way, I would never realize so many types of mysteries seem to exist were it not for my mystery-loving book blogger pals).

5. Last but not least, blogging has affected my be showing me that I can have an effect. This probably shouldn't have been as big of a surprise as it is. I guess a part of me thought, when I started this, that I'd just be blogging off in a special internet vacuum. I continue to be surprised when authors pop in my comments and in my e-mail box. I never realized that I could be such a positive (or negative) force for their books just by posting what reviews that I do or that the authors themselves would be interested my opinions as posted in my humble internet abode here. Stuff like that, and the impressive undertakings of other bloggers like Natasha have shown me what considerable effects bloggers can have for the publishing industry and even for the world at large. Who knew?


Thanks to everybody who has been a part of my first year of blogging. It wouldn't be near so much fun without you, nor would I have had the motivation to soldier on with it even when life got busier if it hadn't been for your company and your great examples to follow. With any luck, I hope there will be a good many more years of fruitful book blogging here!

Stay tuned for some more Blogiversary fun later today!