What Book Blogging Means To Me

Today's prompt for Book Blogger Appreciation Week asks us to tell you what book blogging means to us. I'm pretty sure I've covered this before in a serious way, in a post where I wrote about how much I love being exposed to so many books, having the chance to make friendships, and having the chance to take about something I love with other people who love the same thing. So I'm going to skip that bit today and think about this in a more light-hearted way.

What Book Blogging Means To Me - The Bullet Point Version

1. Twitter - yeah, I know I'm not all that active on it but seriously people, where else could I go from mentioning that I'm having a party where I might end up with a massive amount of leftovers and wine to a boat load of bloggers, vats of wine, rye whiskey and our own theme song. And to think that all happened while I was supposed to be working!

2. Midnight book reviews - all of you bloggers know what I'm talking about (at least I hope you do)! I can't tell you how many times I've been racing to finish a book the night before I'm scheduled to post a review only to have to write the review at midnight. My dad used to send me emails to let me know when I'd overlooked a typo or a "wood" instead of "would." Somewhere along the way, he gave up. Clearly I write too many reviews too late at night!

3. Books in the mail - I really do still get giddy when new books arrive in my mailbox, even after three years. I certainly don't blog because I get free books - but it's sure a great perk. Plus there's the added bonus of getting to watch The Big Guy roll his eyes every time a new book arrives!

4. Challenging myself - in oh so many ways! There are the usual annual reading challenges, the readathons and readalongs, the chance to read out of my comfort zone and even the Pin It And Do It challenge. It can all get a bit overwhelming, even stressful by the end of the year, but I really do love it. As I work to take the stress out of some areas of blogging, I hope that it frees up more time to do these fun things.

5. Imaginary road trips - I am not kidding when I tell you that one of these days, many of you are going to get a call from me letting you know that I'm heading your way. Many's the day I've planned a trip south, stopping along the way to meet Tami in southern Nebraska, Molly in Kansas, Lori in Oklahoma and Trish, Holli and Andi in Texas. Or a trip west. Or a trip east. Maybe even a trip to Europe. If you would have told me three years ago that I would feel like I knew any of you well enough to even think of this, I would have laughed. Just like I used to do when my daughter talked about her "imaginary" internet friends.

Once in a while, I beat myself up a little about this blogging business and wonder if I need to take a break. Then I get in involved in a great Twitter conversation, or one of you leaves a particularly lovely comment, or I go into Barnes & Noble and realize how many of the books I've read or own now because of blogging. Then I know there's no way I'm going to be giving this up any time soon.