Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Ten Reasons Jamie Loves The Online Book Community


For future Top Ten Tuesday topics & info on how to participate, click here!
This week's topic: Ten Reasons I Love X -- could be a certain book, character, author, your indie bookstore, a fandom, a tv show, reading, a hobby, a genre. Honestly anything you want to gush about. 

6 years ago this month, these fabulous ladies and I started planning this blog and what we wanted to do with it. While our blog anniversary isn't until the end of the month when we actually debuted the blog, today I just want to spread some love and talk about why I love the online book community so much in honor of 6 years in this great community!


1. You will never run out of things to read -- seriously being around you people makes my TBR grow exponentially! It's kind of ridiculously how many books I've added because of this community over the past 6 years.

2. When you NEED to talk about a book or some bookish problem, there is ALWAYS someone available for you: The best thing about being friends with people online is that people are from ALLLL AROUND THE WORLD. So like when I finish a show that breaks my heart into a million pieces or a book that I just HAVE to rave about -- there is always someone there for me. Like that time I watched Dance Academy and got to THAT PART at 2am and thank the lord because so many of my friends across the pond were there for me!!

3. Along with that, having friends around the world pretty much means every time I travel I PROBABLY have a friend I can visit wherever I go:  It was so nice last month when my husband and I were in London because I got to meet up with some London bloggers I adore!  FRIENDLY FACES ALL OVER THE WORLD.
  
4. Everyone is so generous and wonderful -- I see the generosity of this community constantly -- sharing books, giving advice, authors taking time to chat with fans or give encouragement about writing, rallying together around people, raising money for important causes or for our friends in the community! It's such an amazing community.

5. It's so easy to meet friends or make really great connections because of the way books are so personal: What I mean is that I find the nature of talking about books a pretty personal thing because every reader brings their own life and experiences into it and I LOVE how this easily opens us up to connecting with people just by talking how we relate to something in a book or by gushing about our favorite characters or thinking critically through a book together.

6. Creativity abounds: I've been in this community for 6 years and I am ALWAYS so impressed by the creativity in this community.

7. We are made up of passionate readers: WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD CAN YOU FIND MORE PASSIONATE PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO TALK IN ALL CAPS ABOUT BOOKS????? The bookish online community is unparalleled LETS BE REAL. I'm so proud of this community for being so passionate about reading and literacy and connecting people with books they love. I've seen that passion do many things for the publishing industry and for readers. I'm seriously so proud of what our passion has accomplished and how we champion books and authors we love and use that passion also for better representation and to fight some of the broken things in publishing. This community CARES SO MUCH about books and readers and authors and just publishing as a whole and pour soooo much time and energy into it.

8. There's so much to learn from it: I don't think I have ever learned so much from any other community I've been apart of. When I started this journey of blogging back in 2010 I wasn't aware of sooo many of the things the bookish online community has taught me. I thought feminism was stupid and in these years I learned what feminism really is and am proud to be a feminist. I didn't know much about sexism. I really didn't know about many of the racism issues that happen or the daily microaggressions I've now seen people I care about have to deal with. I didn't realize diverse representation was a problem. I really didn't know much about the LGBTQIA+ community. THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS I JUST DIDN'T KNOW. And it was humbling because I realize how many things I've said were just SO WRONG in my life because I JUST DIDN'T KNOW -- slurs and sexist thoughts and so many other things that I never knew were harmful which is something I would have never wanted to do. I'm happy to learn and do better. This community has taught me SO many things and I get to learn from such a diverse group of people.

9. I am able to get personalized book recommendations: I mean, I can't walk into many places and have someone be like JAMIE JAMIE JAMIE this book is for you. But the online book community doesn't hesitate to let me know if they think I would love a book because they KNOW me or what kinds of books I like. Or when I am looking for something super specific I can shout it out on my blog or Twitter and people rush in with very specific recs to my very specific reading needs. IN AN INSTANT.

10. Because y'all make me feel like I belong: seriously, this community has been a lifesaver for me in SO many ways over the past 6 years. It would take me forever to explain why. What I do want to say is that this community made me feel like I found my people and gave me the courage to BE the person I am rather than the person I was putting on. I embraced things I loved that I previously hid. I just really grew into my own because of this community -- because I felt like I was heard, understood and that I could be so ridiculously open in a way that I couldn't with a lot of people in my life. I was more myself HERE then I was IRL.  All of this really translated into my IRL life through the years and I finally felt like I knew who I was and I was happy with it.

SO...I love all you online book people whether you blog or vlog or take pictures of books or tweet or WHATEVER YOU DO. If we've connected over books....I HEART YOUR FACE.




Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly link-up in the community where we provide a prompt and other lovers of listmaking join in on it with their own top ten list. Feel free to have less than 10 or more if you need to at times and put a spin on the topic if you need to! Just please link back to us if you are participating :)

To join, link up below with the URL to your blog POST (not your blog), your name and your email (which will remain hidden). Then bounce around the Linky!

 Lindsay @ Lindsay's Library   Kati   Carrie @ Reading Is My SuperPower  
 AngelErin @ Angel Erin's Book Obsession   Kerr and Rachel @ Paein and Ms4Tunes' book blog   Evie @ Just Another Belle  
 Tom @ Reading Nook Reviews   Ayla @ Books & Babbles   Charlie @ A Books Eternal Glory  
 Sara @ A Gingerly Review   Amy @ Amy's Bookish Life   Sam @ Suicide By Books  
 Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog   Anna @Adventures with a Book Nerd   Ara @ Open Pages  
 Elena @ ElenaSquareEyes   Valerie @ He Said Books or Me   Chelsea @ Books for Thought  
 Vanessa @ Cross My Heart and Hope to Read   Beth @ Betwixt the Pages   Dawn @ Dawn's Dreams  
 Curious Daisy   Aly @ Of Wonderland   Lenoreo & Curly Carla @ Celebrity Readers  
 Bruna @ Bruna Writes   Ashley @ What's She Reading?   Gabby @ 500 Books  
 Ashley @ Running While Reading   jessicabookworm   Sarah @ Scheherazade Reads  
 Jen @ Star-Crossed Book Blog   Ashley   Stephanie@Don't be Afraid of the Dork  
 Jen E @ critic and fangirl   Liza @ Quite the Novel Idea   Joseph @ thoughts and afterthoughts  
 Kendra @ Reads and treats   Aliaa @ Mademoiselle Le Sphinx   Emily @ Midwestern Book Nerd  
 Jackie   Marianne @ Let's Read   Courtney @ The Green Mockingbird  
 Julie @ Keep Calm With Books and Coffee   Jacquie @ Rattle the Stars   Nori @ readwritelove28  
 Emma   Helle @ Bookish Utopia   Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies  
 Find Me at the Library   Sydney @ Singing Librarian Books   Hannah @ Broc's Bookcase  
 Stefani @ Caught Read Handed   Amanda @ Good In The Stacks   Emily @ Infinite Lives, Infinite Stories  
 Camryn @ The Writing Crafter   Kristi @ Hidden Staircase   Stephanie @ My Bookish Itinerary  
 Amanda @ Cover2CoverMom   Gillian @ Writer of Wrongs   Ely & Michelle @ Tea & Titles  
 Bettina @ sweesomastic.de   Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales   Tasheena @ Dear Reader  
 Kirstie @ Upside-Down Books   Jessica @ A Cocoon of Books   Lori @ Palmer's Page Turners  
 Caroline @ Stardust Words   Chrissi Reads   Sue @ Crushingcinders  
 Lillian @ Mom with a Reading Problem   Jim @ YA Yeah Yeah   Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse  
 Rivalie @ Forever Obsession   Miriam Michelle Gonzalez   Diana @ Little Miss Drama Queen  
 Jaime @ Two Chicks on Books   Aria @ Stuck in Wonderland   Kayla @ Sunday Morning Coffee  
 Giovanna @ BookComa   Nicole @ Reading Books With Coffee   Milka@ReadReadRead  
 Tanaya @prettypagesblog   Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads   Kelsey @ kelseyempfield  
 Mallory at Story at a Time   La La in the Library   Shayna @ The Bibliotaph  
 Akilah @ The Englishist   Sarah's Book Shelves   Debbie Rodgers @Exurbanis  
 Heather @ Feminism in Cold Storage   Diana @ Voices in my Head   Kristin @ Lukten av Trykksverte  
 Got My Book   Lauren @ My Expanding Bookshelf   Emma @ The Testy Badger  
 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd   megan @ love literature art and reason   Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook  
 Zahra @ To the Bookstore and Back   Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog   Kate @ Parchment Girl  
 Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination   Becksa @ Ranty Runt of a Reader   Bri @ Paperback Bri  
 Jade @ BookMuffin   Puput @ Unboxing My Thoughts   Bobbie @ A Page to Turn  
 Jen @ Book Lovers Alliance   Cora @ Tea Party Princess   Michelle @ Pink Polka Dot Books  
 Cassie @ Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile   Deb Nance at Readerbuzz   Islandgeekgirl @ Overflowing Bookshelves  
 Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense   Jamie @ Watch Game Read   Lois @ My Midnight Musing  
 Jenna @ Fictional Neverland   Cait @ Paper Fury   Kate @ Fangs and Fur  
 Courtney @ Incessant Bookworm   Mari @ Story and Somnomancy   Bri @ Transported By Books  
 Jordon @ Simply Adrift   Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally   Mandy @ The Reading Diaries  
 Jessica @ Peace Love Books   Emma @ Awkwordly Emma   Tanya @ Girl Plus Books  
 Maybe Books Will Be Our Always   BookSophisticate   Maggie @ The Novel Orange  
 Maggie@ Never Done It That Way Before   legolegislegimus   Alba in Bookland  
 Austine @ NovelKnight   Alison @Hardcovers & Heroines   Candace&Kattie@LiteraryDust  
 Cindy @ Oodles of Books   Ellen @ The Canon   Anushka @ Going Through Books  
 There will be books   Meggan @ Between The Pages   Reg @ She Latitude  
 Sam Whitehouse   Dashie   Kat @ A Myriad of Books  
 Lefty @ The Left-Handed Book Lover   Sheri @ Read in a Flash!   Marie @ Pages to Explore  
 Jess @ Such a Novel Idea   Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity   Amanda  
 Selah @ A Bibliophile's Style   Tracy @ Cornerfolds   Esther @ Chapter Adventures  
 Annemieke @ A Dance with Books   Amy   Jessica @ a GREAT read  
 Analee @ Book Snacks   Jennifer @ YA Book Nerd   C @ Thoughts From Libraries  
 Mia- Top Ten Oldies But Goodies!   Ricki and Kellee @ Unleashing Readers   Brianna and Angelina @Fables Library  
 Barb (boxermommyreads) @ Booker T's Farm   Jennifer @ Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews   Jess @ Little Book Heaven  
 Kristine @ The Writer's Inkwell   Erica @ Novel Ink   imyril @ there's always room for one more...  
 Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books   Eve @ Functioning Insanity Reviews   Brandy @ Random Musings of a Bibliophile  
 Rachael @ A Little Bit of Literature   Aj @ Read All The Things!   Bekah @ Will Bake for Books  
 Bonnie @ For the Love of Words   Stephanie @ Adventures of a Bibliophile   Tasha @ The Bookie Monsters  
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 Taylor @ Stay on the Page   Lisa @ Loca For Language   Jenna @ Reading with Jenna  
 Elisabeth @ The Dirigible Plum   Alice@ The Geeky Burrow   Bonnie @ A Backwards Story  
 Amy @ Pages of Starlight   Laura & Jen @ Reads We Review   Kathy @ Kathy Reads Fiction  
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 Abbi@Christian Novels   Lisa @ Captivated Reader   Amy @ Every Book You Need to Read and More  
 Deborah @ The Road of a Writer   Lynn Williams   Sarah @ Exploring All Genres  
 Jocelyn @ 52 Letters in the Alphabet   Lynn @ Smoke & Mirrors   Brandi @ Brandi Janee's Bookshelf  
 Rachael @ Parawl Perwyl   Yasmine @ Swissbookworm   Rachel Troyer @ Obsessed With Fairy Tales  
 Kourtni @ Kourtni Reads   Lindsey @ Bring My Books   Dana @ DanaSquare  
 Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know   Alyce @ Everything Alyce   Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm  
 Heather @ Based on a True Story   The Literary Counsellor   Miranda @ A Real Writer's Life  
 Marie's Reads   Martha @ I'd Rather Be Reading   Camila  
 Katey @ Read, Write, Design   Amy @ Read What I Like   Christine @ BookishlyB  
 Kelly F. Barr   Megz @ Barefoot Whispers   Becca @ The Bookkeeper's Apprentice  
 Kelsey @ librasaurus   JJ@bookloversblog   Kyra Morris  
 Arwen@ I Love A Good Book   Megan Easley-Walsh   Jen @ Decorate The Soul  
 Lauren @ Always Me   Mikayla @ Mikayla's Bookshelf   Liv @ Curlyhairbibliophile  
 Alyssa @ Book Club Babe   Pretty Deadly Reviews   Brittany @ Beauty and the Bean Boots  
 Rachel Patrick   Alexandria @ Heart Full of Elves   Mariela & Allyson  
 Olivia @ Rainbow of Books   Lisa & Becca @ Lost in Lit   Aubrey @ Aubrey's Book Nook  
 Marcilia @ The Plot Bunny   Amelia @ Keep Your Feet   Amy @ Book Babbles and Blues  
 What Aimee Read Next   Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library   stacey@books,dreams,life  
 Elien @ So Bookalicious   Wendy (Literary Feline) @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty   Keanna @KeyReadThat  
 Estefani @ FICTION JUNGLE   Ara | The Bookish Agenda   Tiara @ The BiblioSanctum  
 Beckie B.   Andi @ Andi's ABCs   Savannah @ ReadingBifrost  
 Rissi @ Finding Wonderland   Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks   Shelf Worn Books  
 Rachel @ Go Read A Book   Kate @ Mom's Radius   Serenity @ Book Charmers  
 Katrina @ Kaleidoscope of Books   Sonia @ The Book Wielding Harpie  

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)



19 comments:

  1. Great topic, Jamie! Love it. :)

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  2. OMG YES to pretty much all of this for sure. I ended up picking something similar (book events) but yeah so much fun and many of the ideas cross over. I love the bookish community!

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  3. An apt topic to pick with your six years drawing in. I really love all the reasons you've shared in your list, and in many ways you've summed up the bookish community so perfectly.

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  4. I love all of these! And I especially agree with point 8, I'm still fairly new to the online book community but I've learned so much already! About genres, tropes, (under)representation etc.

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  5. This is a great list Jamie! I agree especially that there is so much to learn! I've only been doing this a couple of year and every day I feel like I learn something new! Love it!

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  6. Yes to all these!!! Wonderfully said!

    Here's my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  7. Aw that's so sweet but SO true!! I love that there's always someone online to talk to - it makes the book community feel like an entire new universe of AWESOMENESS. And omg, my TBR, the question do I thank or scowl at the community for making it so large!?

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  8. Here! Here! and Amen!

    http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2016/06/i-love-authors-and-you-should-too.html

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  9. Great list! The bookish community is the best!

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  10. I just had to add my Ten Reasons I Love Classic Literature
    and I really enjoyed reading your reasons for loving the blog and also some of the others. As always, such a great way of thinking about our reading.

    Marianne from
    Let's Read

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  11. Fantastic list!! I love the bookish community and I have learned a lot from being a part of it as well, :D

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  12. Great topic :) There are so many reasons I'm glad I joined the book community and talking about books is one of them!
    My TTT

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  13. Here comes my answer! My blog i originally in swedish but you can easily translate it into english or whichever language you'd prefer :) http://tickmick.blogspot.com/2016/06/top-ten-tuesday-vecka-23.html

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  14. Lovely list! These are some of the reasons I've decided to join in. :)

    C @ thoughtsfromlibraries.blogspot.com

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  15. I totally agree with #8! It's amazing how much I've learned from the book blogging community. I've picked up so many more diverse books and been exposed to lots of topics and issues I never thought about before. I'd like to think the online book community has contributed to me becoming a better person!

    My TTT

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  16. For anyone in the bookish community who loves Liane Moriarty please check out the #ReadSavannah event that is coming up in Sept. at www.shereads.org (may need to scroll down to find it but it's there!). This one-day event will feature a moveable feast, lots of authors, with the final headliner being Liane. It's sure to bring the book community out in force and we'd love to see you there!

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  17. Yeeeeessssss to all of this! The bookish community is so incredibly amazing for so many reasons!
    -Amy

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