Feeling Thankful

So, I've been thinking about this for a few days now, in between bouts of being sick. I started reviewing books several years ago, inspired by several friends. To be able to talk about books I liked and didn't like with people who were actually interested was, and is, an idea that I love. Most of my family and real life friends at the time (and even now for the most part) had very different tastes and it was rare I could find someone to talk with about my favorite books and authors. Then I started hanging out online, found some discussion boards, and that went a long way towards easing my frustration. Thanks to the people I met online I could discuss books and authors and I found new ones.

When I started blogging it was a mix of my own books and library books. A friend of mine who had a book blog told me about NetGalley so I went and signed up and after a bit began receiving books. For a while I was part of a communal blog; it was excellent experience and I'm grateful for the opportunities they gave me. Now I blog here and occasionally review books at BookTrib. I still review a mix of books I own, books I get from the library (thanks to yesterday's mailbox posts, I requested another dozen book) and review books but the currently the mix is more skewed towards review books.

This blog has been up and running since September 2010 and every day I'm thankful for everyone who helps make it possible. I'm thankful for the people who read, the people who comment, the people who share their expertise and time, the people who have stuck by me through ups and downs. I'm especially thankful for the authors, publishers and publicists who ask or send me books to review.

I still get a thrill when a book shows up in my email or post box; I still get a thrill when I get an email requesting a review. I still get buzzed and excited. I may not review that book, I may delete the email without answering, I may review the book and then hate it but it's still a thrill that someone wants me to read and review their book. Someone thinks my thoughts are worthwhile. When someone comments on a post, review or otherwise, it's exciting that they were inspired to respond.

I could blog and have few people reading, have few people requesting reviews, and still enjoy it, but it's a lot more fun to share this with all of you. So thank you for sharing your love of books with me and I hope we'll be doing so for several more years.

ETA: I forgot to mention how awesome it is when an author responds to a tweet or an email. I have several authors that I chat with regularly via email and twitter but even just the one time response makes me happy. Yes, I'm easy, but you knew that already. :D