It’s the last day (so sad!) of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, so that brings us to the final topic:
We’ve been visiting each other and getting to know each other better…now is your chance to share what you enjoyed about BBAW and also what your blogging goals are for the next year!
Dear book blogging community,
Without a doubt, hands down, my favorite part of my very first BBAW was you.
I had no idea what Book Blogger Appreciation Week was until literally two days before it happened. And then, I only came across it by chance on someone else’s blog. Without realizing what I was getting myself into, I decided to jump in.
On Monday I wrote up my first BBAW post, plugged it into Mr. Linky, and waited. I watched as the list of linked posts grew and grew, and I made my way through as many as I could. I lost count of how many awesome new blogs I visited for the first time and then promptly added to my Google Reader. I read comment after comment on all these wonderful, thoughtful posts. I started making comments of my own. The community started to reach out to my blog. I could not have been more thrilled by all the book-y goodness!
My husband was certain I’d gone nuts. Every time he walked into the room I was glued to my laptop. If we left the house, I was glued to my phone. I could not believe this amazing, vibrant community had been out there the whole time, just a few clicks away.
The high continued through the week. I finally tackled Twitter, which I’ve been dragging my heels about like crazy. I sponsored my first giveaway (still happening, if you haven’t entered yet!). I added more blogs to my GR and followed more people on Twitter. If it this community of bloggers wasn’t so friendly, none of that would have happened.
So thank you, all you fabulous book bloggers and blog readers. You have made my first BBAW more than I ever could have imagined. I am starting to feel at home in amongst you, and that is just freakin’ awesome.
As for my blogging goals for next year: I want to push myself. I want to read more widely, think more deeply about what I’ve read, and then write more eloquently. I want to write posts that will ignite discussions and join in discussions that are ignited on other blogs. I want to learn from and be inspired by all of you awesome bloggers out there! I want to burrow into this amazing community and read amongst kindred spirits.
If you’re reading this post, I’d like to invite you to leave me a comment and say hello. Tell me something about yourself, or suggest something you’d like to see on Erin Reads, or even just say a quick “hi.” I’d love to meet you!
Happy BBAW, everyone! And thanks again!
Erin
Nice to meet you, Erin! I am so glad you’ve been enjoying BBAW 😀
Nice to meet you as well, April! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Wow what an experience! I can’t imagine how overwhelming and wonderful it must be to get into BBAW right before it happens. You are newly added to my blogroll this week, so I’m glad you participated. I might not have found you otherwise!
I couldn’t have timed it better…I feel so lucky! I’ve found more new blogs to read than I even knew existed. Thanks for being so darn welcoming!
Please consider this comment your invitation to finish up your BBAW week by adding a link to any reviews you’ve managed to post this week to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon this Saturday. Every week book bloggers from all over the blogosphere post links to their reviews and other bloggers and readers check out the reviews and find even more books to add to their wishlists.
Thanks for blogging and reading and sharing.
Thanks for the invitation, Sherry! I will definitely check it out. Sounds great!
Great meeting you this week, and I look forward to hanging around here more in the future. Email me with your shipping address? You won the signed Super Sad True Love Story at Nonsuch Book.
Woo hoo! Ditto! And done. Thanks!!
Nice to meet you – so glad you participated in BBAW this year! It’s a great event.
Nice to meet you as well. I’m already looking forward to next year’s BBAW! And to reading all the new blogs in the meantime, of course.
Glad you discovered BBAW and had such a good time … though it will wreak havoc on the time you spend blogging .. that is a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it!
I can definitely see that happening! It’s been fine during BBAW when topics have been provided, but I bet it’ll be harder once I’m back to coming up with my own content!
I love the sense of community BBAW promotes. Like you, I was glued to my laptop all week. It was worth it though and I am sad BBAW has come to an end. I am glad I discovered your blog.
It’s really an amazing event! I’m so happy I found out about it in time to participate. I’ll definitely be seeing you over on your blog in the days to come!
BBAW has done crazy things to my reading and after 2 days of trying and commenting on over 100 post I finally gave up and realised that I needed to pay more attention to my offline life.. But I loved BBAW nonetheless! Just wish I had been less busy so I could’ve commented more.
I was lucky in that, because my husband and I are preparing to move, my only real-life responsibility, really, was packing. And I’m good at making excuses, so I managed to spend a ridiculous amount of time online, pouring over BBAW posts! I didn’t get to everyone by any means, but I did find a lot of new blogs I plan to follow and comment on more in the future.
The community has been amazing this week. I heard about the estimated number of book blogs around but to see hard evidence of it through the links on BBAW was amazing.
I like your plans for next year ad hope to do the same! Book blogging has added so much variety to the reading I do now.
I had wondered where all the book bloggers were and how I could find them! I’m so happy BBAW came along when it did. It’s truly an amazing community.
I keep thinking about Bo Red. Maybe he could be a guest poster on your blog? If he’s a hit, he could always branch out and start his own site…
You already write quite eloquently!
Aww, thank you!