A Book Blogger Appreciation Week Meme

At this point, most book bloggers are more than aware of the upcoming Book Blogger Appreciation Week, held September 14th through the 18th. For my non-blogging friends, this event is the brainchild of Amy from My Friend Amy, who organizes over 400 book bloggers in a celebration of literature, the hard work and dedication of bloggers, and recognition of those that stand out in the field. She schedules a whole series of guest posts, blogging themes and giveaways. This will be my first year participating, and I can barely wait! Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I will be out of town for most of that week, but I plan on bringing the laptop!

To build up the excitement of BBAW, Amy devised this meme of questions, in order for everyone to either share their favorite parts of BBAW last year, or if you are new, like me, to share some highlights from their first year of blogging:


1. What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you?

The answer to this question becomes overwhelmingly clear pretty quickly when you start blogging. The bright spark of my every day (besides the sweet angelic faces of my children) is the warm, friendly camaraderie of the book blogging community. Everyone is incredibly supportive, whether you have a technical problem, you're in a reading slump, having a bad hair day or you've won an award. Book bloggers are a very happy lot, and an extended family who all have a like-minded passion for literature. They never fail to bring a smile to my face.

2. What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you or inspiring you?

Like I said before, if I put a call out for help, everyone comes running! Many have also bestowed me with thoughtful awards. But a few bloggers have really reached out to help me throughout the last 9 months. My very first official follower (not counting my mom and sister) was C.B. James @ Ready When You Are C.B.. I sent him countless e-mails with technical questions (I suck at html), and he very quickly pulled me in for some guest posts and memes. I will forever be grateful for his patience with me!

Two bloggers have interviewed and featured me on their blogs: Jackie @ Farm Lane Books and Wendy @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty. Both of these features gained me some serious readership, and I felt honored for them to spend their time helping me out!

About a handful of months after I started blogging, I wanted to make some technical changes to my format, and I turned to Beth @ Beth Fish Reads, who has a beautiful website, for help. She pointed me in the right direction, and after some angst, I came out the other end with a format that I liked. Beth is also a talented photographer, and as a result has inspired me to actively participate in Wordless Wednesdays. She has also made me much more aware of how and what I am photographing.

I quickly developed a friendship with the Bumbles early this year, who are a dynamic blogging couple that sponsor the Monday Movie Meme. They gave me my first award, which was an exciting day! And when I was getting ready to go to Poland for vacation, Molly jumped in and gave me about 20 ideas on how to prepare my blog for 2 1/2 weeks of absence. She loaned me a book review (as well as C.B. James and ds @ Third Storey Window) and came up with 3 advance Monday Movie Meme topics. She made sure all my links were added to meme host sites. The Bumbles rock!

3. What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer?

My only question at this point is, how can I get involved? I want more exposure and to expand my readership, as I am sure most of us do! C.B. James and I are currently working on a project together for BBAW, and hope it can find its way into the fray. I would welcome any thoughts!