Thursday, September 17, 2009

BBAW: Thanks to blogging...


Today's writing assignment for BBAW is to discuss a book we recently discovered that we would have never read had it not been for the wonderful world of blogging.

This was an easy assignment for me. I have long been a follower of Beth from Beth Fish Reads. Her blog and her writing is the standard for excellence, in my humble opinion. Early this year, she posted on one of the numerous awards she had received, and listed a group of fellow bloggers to pass the awards along to, all of the blogs being outside the US. Like an eager little newbie that I was, I looked up all of the award recipients, and found Jackie at Farm Lane Books. Since then, I have been so fortunate to develop an online friendship with Jackie. We even interviewed each other in February (see Jackie's interview here and mine here) and I found a very fascinating person behind an amazing blog. She has a beautiful family, makes homemade sausages for fun, and used to breed chinchillas!

For my birthday, Jackie sent me one of her favorite reads for 2008, entitled "Random Acts of Heroic Love". I'd never heard of the book, never heard of the author, but if it got a thumbs up from Jackie, I knew it had to be a keeper. And it was. 5 out of 5 stars to be exact. See my review here. It took my breath away, and was thankful that through the world of blogging, my life was made just a little richer for having read it.

19 comments:

Melody said...

I enjoy reading Jackie's blog! And I'm so glad to know her too!

That book sounds great so I'll have to check it out!

Beth F said...

I'm still thrilled that I was an oblivious matchmaker for great friendship!

Random Acts of Heroic Love is on my MP3 thanks to you and Jackie. The thing is, when you two both love a book, I *know* it's going to be great and I have absolutely no resistance.

Sandy Nawrot said...

Melody - isn't she awesome? This book was such an awesome gift, and I know I never would have read it if not for her.

Beth - I remember that post where you passed an award to all of your non-US blogger buddies. Jackie was on there, Melody, and Dar. That really is the true beauty of those awards...it gives everyone a chance to explore new blogs! I do thank you for that!

gautami tripathy said...

Random Acts of Heroic Love is one of my best reads of 2009.

BBAW: Thanking Feminist Reviews

Meghan said...

That is an awesome bookish story! I'd not heard much about Random Acts of Heroic Love, but I'll have to check it out now.

Ti said...

Book bloggers rock! Seriously, I've never met a nicer group of people.

bermudaonion said...

I love this post because I love the friendships bloggers have forged with each other. There are a handful of bloggers I consider real friends too and I treasure them.

Michele said...

So glad you posted about this....some of my closest friends these days came from the blogging world. Book bloggers are seriously wonderful people!

Sandy Nawrot said...

Gautami - that is great that you read it! Did you get the recommendation from Jackie I wonder?

Meghan - It is a three hanky read for sure, but also very well-written and heartfelt. I hope you are able to read it!

Ti - I know, you are totally right about that. I wonder if techie bloggers or wine bloggers, for instance, are this nice!

Kathy - I'm beginning to understand that. My hubby does NOT understand. He just thinks I'm obsessed! BTW, I listened to the blog radio for about 10 minutes this morning, before we shuffled off to golf. I'm going to try to catch it here in a minute!

Michele - I know exactly what you mean. The only thing that could get better is if I could meet some of you!

ds said...

Lovely post, Sandy. Friendship is the best part of blogging and I value the amazing friends I've made since I began (you, for instance).

Jenners said...

What a great story and I loved learning a bit more about Jackie! Makes her own sausages? Used to breed chichillas? How interesting... Oh yeah -and you mentioned a book too?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the intro to Jackie's blog and I am already a fan of Beth Fish Reads!

Belle said...

I'll definitely have to check out Random Acts of Heroic Love. And I love that not only did a blogger introduce you to such a great book, but another blogger introduced you to a blogger who's become a great online friend!

Ana S. said...

After our interview I added Random Acts of Heroic Love to my wishlist. It sounds like a beautiful book!

And I love Jackie and Beth's blogs too! Hooray for friends :)

Unknown said...

This is a really sweet post, Sandy! I have been reading Beth's blog for almost the entire 2 months since I started my blog. Her blog, her writing amazes me. it's just so good. I only found out about Farm Lane Books Jackie's blog, this week and I'm thrilled. After reading just a little bit of her blog, I can see why you enjoy it and Jackie so much.

Thank you Sandy!
~ Amy

Andreea said...

I "met" Jackie through your blog, so thank you very much Sandy:)

Literary Feline said...

What a wonderful story, Sandy! Now I'm going to make sure Random Acts of Heroic Love is on my wish list.

Unknown said...

I'm so pleased to see that so many people are planning to read Random Acts. I really hope that they love it as much as we did and spread the word about how great it is.

Unknown said...

PS. I left a comment on this post the day you posted it...not sure what happened to it?