5th Year Blogiversary Post

Can you believe it? It's been 5 years!! Well, as of tomorrow. It's been such a fun ride and I love blogging so much. While I am cutting back on my blogging, it doesn't mean that I don't love it any less. I wish I could post every day with reviews 3 times a week but it's just not possible with my current schedule and goals.

But anyway, let's focus on the good stuff. In the past 5 years, I've:

- been quoted on/in three books: Invisible Touch by Kelly Parra (inside), Going Bovine by Libba Bray (on back of paperback as GuysLitWire), and Forever Summer by Alyson Noel (on back of book as Book Chic). It's thrilling to see my words and blog name in print on the back of or inside these awesome books.

- been to BEA 3 times (recap of this year's to start soon!), and ALA and RWA once. Every conference I go to is a blast and I love meeting fellow bloggers as well as awesome authors and publicists. It's also fun to be recognized, whether it's fellow bloggers who are fans of my blog or authors (Jennifer Echols literally yelled my name and waved at me at RWA during the literacy signing).

- done interviews and guest blogs and vlogs for authors and bloggers. You can go to my About Me page for links to all of them (it will be updated soon with 3 new interviews, so come back). I love doing these, so if you ever need someone, let me know!

- reviewed over 500 books! I don't know the exact number since I've been very lazy in updating my review page, but I do believe it is getting fairly close to 600. :)

- had some amazing experiences with authors, such as Maggie Stiefvater doodling in my copy of Shiver and it's now my header and on my business cards! There's also been Diana Peterfreund treating me to lunch (McDonald's but still!), Lisa McMann giving me $5, and having dinner at Shake Shack with Susane Colasanti and Elizabeth Eulberg which was totally unplanned and coincidental!

- made friends with some really wonderful bloggers, including Susan (Wastepaper Prose), Emily (Emily's Reading Room), Meaghan (A Bookworm's Haven), Kristi (The Story Siren), Cat (Beyond Books), Devyn, John (Dreaming in Books), Brent (Naughty Book Kitties), Pam (Bookalicious), Mitali, Lynsey (Narratively Speaking) and so many more.

- been a very lucky guy. There's a lot of blogs out there, especially now, and I'm extremely grateful to all my readers for staying with me and commenting as well as the authors and publishers who supply me with my reading material. It amazes me still that I'm able to get advance copies of books and I don't think that will ever change. I get so excited whenever a package appears on my doorstep or in my mailbox. This blogging journey has been so much fun, and I hope it continues for years to come.

Here's to 5 years (and 5 more!)!