Blogs I'm Thankful For... Part 1

With the big turkey day rolling around, I've been thinking a lot about all the many things I have to be thankful for. All my dreams have yet to come true but I've lived a good life and gotten to experience many a wonderful thing.

One of these wonderful things is blogging. I always read a lot and liked to share my favorite reads with my friends. The problem was, so many people I knew didn't read so it was talking to someone who turned a deaf ear.

I haven't made it too unknown that the truest reason I started this blog was to integrate myself into the world of books for when my truest of all dream comes true and I am able to finally get my first novel published. The main goal of this blog was to network and talk about books. And I did this.

But what I found when I finally started to do this for real completely blew me away.

Never before have I been a part of a community where everyone is so enthusiastic about what they do. The blogging and YA writing communities are so supportive of each other and it feels like everyone truly is rooting for each other to succeed. It's an amazing feeling and I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

So with that thought in mind, I wanted to take a few minutes to showcase some of the blogs I'm thankful for. I should say that I follow a bunch of blogs and this list in no way reflects every single blog I love. It's just a complied list of a very few blogs I love. There are countless more.

Blogs that made me start blogging:

1) A Lush Budget Production: Tales of a Ravenous Reader- I came to this blog before I ever spoke a single word for all the latest updates on what was coming out and what this blogger loved. Vivacious, witty and engaging, this blog is definitely one of the reasons I started mine!

2) The Story Siren- This is another blog I followed along silently with. I was always amazed at how she knew the next great thing coming out and loved watching Kristi's IMM vlogs. Still, to this day, every Sunday morning, I click on her website and settle in to watch her talk about books.

3) La Femme Readers- Eleni always finds the absolute greatest books for her weekly feature Tantalizing Future YA Reads and bloats my wishlist every week. Knowledgeable, snarky and full of fresh ideas, this blog gave me something to aspire to.

4) Page Turners- I remember hopping onto this blog and being blown away by how beautiful the site looked as a very young blogger. They always have great, to the point reviews and awesome interviews. Totally addicted to their site!

Amazing Blogging Friends (Blogs I've loved after I started blogging):

1) Candace's Book Blog- I've been following this blog almost since the beginning and really enjoy it. All the features and fun events have me hooked!

2) I Am A Reader Not A Writer- Kathy is one of the busiest bloggers I know. She is always hosting amazing hops and her blog has a large variety of reviews for every genre under the sun!

3) i swim for oceans- Thoughtful and articulate reviews, fun memes and intelligent posts make this a blog I keep coming back to. Plus, Melissa takes care to respond back to almost every comment with and is so super nice.

4) Midnight Bloom Reads- Liz always has wonderful reviews that I tend to agree with and os just the sweetest person. She's one of my Canadian blogger friends!

5) Reading Angel- I've had the immense pleasure of meeting Angela recently and really couldn't believe she was as sweet and smart as her blog is. Seriously, it's a bit unfair! I tend to always love her reviews and her events most definitely make me keep coming back for me. Plus, how can you not enjoy her vlogs iwth her adorable accent?

6) Pure Imagination- Lori is seriously one of the sweetest people in the world. Her reviews are always so insightful and I love her passion for the books that she loves. For instance, she fell in love with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin and made Mara Mondays until the novel came out. Plus, she's responsible for my lovely blog design and was so patient throughout the entire process.

7) The Bookish Brunette- How cool is Ashley? Seriously, all of her reviews sound like your her best friend and she's dishing to you about the cutest guy in the world! I love the causal tone of her blog and how freaking sweet she is!

8) The Bookish Babes- Andrea is my book twin. We went an entire month literally reading the same novels and agreeing on them for the most part. The reviews are always excellent and she is so passionate about blogging. It inspires me!

9) Stories and Sweeties- Becky always has wonderfully insightful reviews and we generally agree on what we read. I love going to her site because it's so happy looking and she is always taking the time to comment on other people's blogs.

10) The Book Swarm- Mary has a lot of great posts. She just started this new one up called Hype-Worthy or Not that I'm sure I'll be addicted to. Always insightful and honest, her reviews are generally spot on and she is so very nice.

11) Confessions of a Bookaholic & A Life Bound By Books- I feel like these two blogs go together. All of the events these ladies work so hard to put together are incredible. I had a blast at this year's Haunted Halloween twitter party and both of these ladies were just so amazing. Their blogs always have amazing reviews and equally awesome author interviews!

12) The Reading Housewives of Indiana- Both Jacinda and Jasmine are so sweet and I love how they both review books sometimes. Always enlightening and fun, this is a blog I come back to again and again.

As I said before, these are just some of the blogs I absolutely adore. Coming up tomorrow, I'm going to be naming some of my Up and Coming Incredible Blogs and New Blogs I Can't Wait To Stalk More.