Friday, September 14, 2012

Blogoversary Day 6: Blogger Lovin’

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I talked about authors, I talked about publishers, I talked about me, now it’s time to talk about bloggers! All of YOU, who have made a difference in my blogging year! So today, I want to take the time to show appreciation to those who have been a big help to me throughout the year, and those who have made blogging a welcome and incredible experience for me. Also, I’m sure I forgot someone, but every one who’s ever shown kindness or said hello, you have shown me how much this community has heart!

Special Thanks
Not that all y’all aren’t special, but these fellow bloggers have become very close friends and have helped me immensely through the year. Sometimes it’s advice I desperately needed, a second opinion, or simply letting me vent about problems that arose. This has meant so much to me to know I have people I have never met in real life who I would trust with my heart and soul.

       
BFFs

These bloggers have a been a constant in my blogging year with their friendship and support. I talk to these peeps almost on a daily basis and we have bonded either because of our matching fabulousness, or books we both loved, or a little of both. I know my year would have been so much different without them!

               
–And missies without a button here (really, ladies!? :P) 
Katie at Blook Girl
Christina at A Reader of Fiction
Regular Commenters
I may not have striked up a personal relationship with these bloggers, I still feel like I’ve come to know them from these comments and me visiting them as well. I am so very thankful for their constant visits and entertaining/wonderful comments. Reading these makes my day, every day, and I just hope they know how much they have made a difference, and how much I appreciate their loyalty and support!
(Sorry no blog buttons for this one, but they’re all linked!)
-Jenni at Alluring Reads
-Sara of saz101
-Bookworm 105 at Whisper of Reads
-Kristin at My Para-Hangover
-Jenn at Owl Read It
-Henriette at Leisure Reads 
-Savvy at Books With Bite  
-Christina at A Reader of Fictions
-Amber at Amber at The Musings of ALMYBNENR 
Katie at Blook Girl  
-Natalia at Dazzling Reads
-A Canadian Girl at Musings of a YA Reader
-Kristilyn  at Reading In Winter   
-Maji at Maji Bookshelf
-Liesel at L.K.Hill
-Ash at Smash Attack Reads!
-Kathy at I Write, I Read, I Review
-Lena at I Love Books Club
-Aneeqah at My Not So Real Life
-Amber Hughes
-Jennifer at Book Den
-Jac at For Love and Books
-Kara-Karina at Nocturnal Book Reviews
-Silverlight at Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews and Goodies
-Sharon at Obsession With Books 
-Aeicha at Word Spelunking
-Addie at Bookworm Recommendations
-Nea Barabea at My Life Is A Fairytale That Will Never End
-Rachel at Unforgettable Books
-Sarah at Forever 17 Books
-The Bumble Girl at Bumbles and Fairy-Tales…
-Melissa at Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf
-Melliane at Between dreams and reality
-Becky at Stories & Sweeties
-Mindy at Magical Urban Fantasy Reads
-Shaheen at Speculating on SpecFic 
The Vintage Bookworm
-Jasprit and Rachel at The Readers Den
-Maja at The Nocturnal Library
-Roro at Roro Is Reading
-Carole at Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings
-Ange at Libby Blog
-Chrystal at Snowdrop Dreams of Books
-Tiffany at Escaping… One Book @ a Time
WinterHaven Books
-Kelly at Radiant Shadows YA Book Blog
-ShreShre at Chocolate Coated Reviews 
-Renae at Respiring Thoughts
-O’dell at Book Twirps 
-Rebecca at Reading Wishes
Book Passion for Life 
-Tayteh at Reading in Paradise
Nazish Reads   
-Jenn at A Reading Daydreamer
-Carina at Fictional Distraction
-Damaris at Good Choice Reading
-Vivian at Vivaciously, Vivian
-Lalaine at FicBookReviews (YA)
-Lauren at Lose Time Reading
-Sarah at Sarah Elizabeth’s Bookshelf
-Shane at Itching for Books
-Millie at Millie D’s Words
-Brandileigh at Blkosiner’s YA and Teen Book Blog
Pocketful of Books
-Marie at The Book Swarm
-In Libris veritas  
-Krazzyme at YOUNG READERS
-Amber at Du Livre
-Tabitha at Tabitha’s Book Blog!
-Stephanie at *♡Stepping Out of the Page♡*
-Keertana at Ya’s the Word
-Liesel at L.K.Hill
-Megan at The Book Galaxy 
-Beckie at Becca’s Book Bug….. 

Eeeep.. ok, I know, I KNOW that I have missed someone and I’m SO sorry. I didn’t want to name names at first because I’m afraid I’ll offend someone who will blacklist me or think I don’t notice/appreciate them but I just went through my last 800 comments *blank stare* and I think I’m seeing double, now. So if I missed you, please don’t think you don’t matter! 

THANK YOU!

I have made friends for life that I have never even met yet, I have developed friendships with people who I look forward to talking to on a daily/weekly basis! On twitter, through comments, on Facebook, you all have no idea how much this community means to me! I am overwhelmed with all the great people I have met and if I ever think back on my blog days when I’m 90 years old, it’s the people and the community that I will remember! So thank you, for just being you!

 Giveaway
*It takes two*
Today’s giveaways are twofers. My blog would not be what it is without you, so for today’s giveaway, every winner gets a twofer! For me and you, muffin! 😉 Kelley York, M.R. Merrick, and Brigid Kemmerer have generously offered copies of their pretties for giveaway.

Winner 1
  

-One e-copy of Hollowed and one e-copy of Hushed by KelleyYork (INTL)

Winner 2
  

-One e-copy of Exiled and one e-copy of Shift by M.R. Merrick (INTL)

Winner 3
  

-One signed copy of Storm and one signed copy of Spark by Brigid Kemmerer (INTL)


Giveaway details

There will be three winners (one per author). A BIG thanks to these wonderful authors for this giveaway opportunity!
Day 6 giveaways end on September 28th, 2012
All are open internationally
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Blogoversary Day 5: Favorite Reads

Posted by on 09/13/2012 • 37 Comments

It’s day 5!! I hope you guys are all enjoying my celebration week. It’s been super hectic for me with this event and my Xpresso Design launch so I’ve been a bit absent from the blogoverse, but I will be back to my full glory soon! 😉 So today I’m going to list my top 20 books that I’ve read since starting my blog, and some extra honorable mentions which are other 5-star reads that I couldn’t leave out.

Top 20 Books of My First Blogging Year Note: These are in no particular order. I tried to make it listed and it’s just too hard! IT’S TOO HARD!! >.<

My review

One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous…

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century Tour Stop

Posted by on 09/12/2012 • 25 Comments

Today on the blog I’m happy to have the fabulous Rachel Harris drop by for her blog tour. She’s got a great guest post about life and technology. Could you live in the Sixteenth Century?

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century Rachel HarrisRelease date: September 11th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

 

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed…

Blogoversary Day 4: Author & Publisher Love

Posted by on 09/12/2012 • 27 Comments

Where would we be without authors? Without publishers? Do I even dare picture such a life? *faints dramatically*. Today, on the 4th day of my blogoversary celebration week, I’m going to talk about these wonderful people who let us experience worlds beyond our own. Really, it’s just a big blah blah post about being starstruck by authors and publishers! Starstruck Like probably a lot of you, I felt very intimidated by authors and publishers when I started blogging. To me, authors have always been superstars. I’m not saying this to flatter — although I do love to flatter authors I love — but for a girl from a small town Canada where no big authors ever come for signings, I was very starstruck from the whole idea of communicating with…

Blogoversary Celebration Day 3: FAQ

Posted by on 09/11/2012 • 57 Comments

For the 3rd day of my blogoversary celebration week I’m going to go into questions that I often asked about my blog and blogging in general.  How did you get followers?

This is by far the most common question I get. How I got followers, and how I got them so fast. First and foremost you have to understand that blogging is not about followers, and followers doesn’t equal readers. With that said:

GiveawaysYes, giveaways are the fastest way to get followers, but also the way that gets the most inactive followers. Meaning they follow and don’t pay attention to your posts. Nonetheless, giveaways hops (I Am A Reader, Not A Writer has great ones every month) are a great way to get a head start. Seeing people follow your…

Review: Death and the Girl Next Door

Posted by on 09/10/2012 • 29 Comments

Death and the Girl Next DoorDarynda JonesSeries: Darklight, #1Publication date: October 2nd 2012by St. Martin’s Press

 

Ten years ago, Lorelei’s parents disappeared without a trace.  Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home.  For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be.  Until the day the school’s designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it,  standing outside her house in the dark, night after night.  Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school.  Cameron and Jared instantly despise…

Blogoversary Celebration Day 2: Now & Then

Posted by on 09/10/2012 • 46 Comments

Welcome to day 2 of my blogoversary celebration. Since yesterday was just the launch/announcement, today is the first actual post and it’s going to be about what kind of year I had; where I’ve been, what happened, what changed.

Then This adventure all started on September 9th, 2011 when I started Xpresso Reads and posted for the very first time *sniff*. It’s safe to say I had no idea what it all entailed. I had been reviewing on Goodreads for a year, and before that I was using some lame Facebook App for a couple years. So I wasn’t new to reviewing, but blogging was a whole new world for me. I had heard of book bloggers but I didn’t know much about what it was like to have…

Xpresso Reads’ Blogoversary Kick Off

Posted by on 09/09/2012 • 64 Comments

Welcome to my 1 year blogoversary celebration week kick-off!  Get ready for a week of awesome posts and epic giveaways! Xpresso Reads turns 1!

Xpresso Reads turns one TODAY (September 9th) and I have a great week planned for my fabulous followers, readers, and friends who made it all happen! Without all of my supporters, I wouldn’t be where I am today after only one year. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I started my blog and I am overwhelmed with how much it all means to me now. The blogging, of course, but I have made friends for life as well. I have completely changed the way I see authors and publishers who intimidated me so much just a year ago. I have posts planned that…