One Year Old! It's My Birthday

Well, more specifically, it's the blog's birthday. I realized, as I was working on the blog yesterday, that its anniversary or birthday was coming up soon. So I looked it up and it's today. I had thought about it a while back. I thought about doing some big bash but decided against it. I was already working on plans for Banned Book Week and wanted to keep my focus on that. It's coming up in a few weeks, Saturday September 24 to Saturday October 1. I have guest posts, reviews of banned books and giveaways. It's my first big event here on the blog and honestly, it matters more to me than the blog's birthday. I got so busy that I forgot about it until now. Although, that doesn't mean I'm not happy that the blog has made it this long.

It's been a crazy year, with ups and downs, mistakes, and lots of challenges: no Internet access at home (some day I will), my laptop died and it was several months before I could buy a new one, learning how to write reviews (that's an ongoing challenge, getting it just right), health issues, working up the nerve to approach authors, publicists and publishers, learning how to use Blogger and take advantage of it's extras, etc.

It's been a good year too. I added my friend Jax as a part-time reviewer, made friends and acquaintances and  connected with bloggers, reviewers, editors, authors, etc., I've read many books that I might not have otherwise, even got a part-time job as a result of my reviewing (that still blows my mind). I think the best part, maybe even better than all of the books I've read, is all of the people I've met. Whether I met them on here, on another blog, or on Twitter, I've met some awesome people as the result of this blog.

So thank you to all of you - the blog readers, the followers, the people who have taken the time to comment, the people who have done guest posts and guest reviews, all of the authors, publishers, and publicists who have asked Jax and I to review or said yes when we asked to review a book, the people who have stood by me when I have screwed up, the people who have generously shared their time and expertise, and the people who have replied on twitter when I've given a panicked shout for help (some days I want to throw Blogger off of a really high cliff).

Thank You to all of you. I hope this coming year will be as good as or even better than the first.