It’s Top Ten Tuesday again, and today’s topic is “Favorite Book Blogs/Bookish Web Sites”. For today, I’d like to take a journey back in time… back to some of my favorite bookish web sites to the present, with a few blogs. While I can’t really say that I’ve developed a list of absolute favorite bookish blogs yet, I’ll randomly include some that I’ve seen and tend to visit regularly. As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
If I didn’t include Amazon.com, then I’d be leaving out one of my favorite bookish web sites. They have some amazing Kindle deals… like the other day, I got One Thousand Perfect Notes for just $.99! I still haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I cannot pass up sales like that. I love to pre-order books from my favorite authors and see them sitting in my mailbox on release day.
Archive of Our Own (AO3): Several years ago, I had just finished the Divergent Series. I read most of the three books in three days, and I went to bed devastated… but even that night, I refused to believe the ending. The next morning, I started looking for alternative endings to Allegiant, and I stumbled upon AO3… and fanfiction in general. Never mind that I had actually written two fanfic novellas in high school without realizing it. But AO3 started me on a journey that has taken me on the path to where I am today. At the moment, I keep two AO3 tabs open on my browser almost all of the time.
My local library: While I’m sure that the Pikes Peak Library district is not of much interest to people outside of the Colorado Springs area, I would be dishonest if I made a list of my favorite bookish web sites without including it. I’m here almost every day. I currently have about a dozen books on hold, and check to see the progress of these holds regularly. Plus, there’s so much that goes on at the library.
While theoretically, I could place Goodreads right after Amazon.com on my bookish journey back into time (I’ve been a member since April of 2013), I’m placing it here because I didn’t take advantage of its amazing goodness as much as I should have until earlier this year. I had just finished reading The Fates Divide and was looking for another fun book to read, and I ran across their Listopia list of YA Novels of 2018. You mean there’s 960 YA novels coming out in this year alone? And they already know that Marie Lu is coming out with another book next year? I was blown away. So… I started clicking around, finding some of the popular books to read… but some of them are the third or sixth in a series, so I have to start with the first one (of course)… and I’m finding all of these new books to read… and I still haven’t recovered yet. Like Amazon and AO3, I almost always have a Goodreads tab open now.
Now we’re almost to the present day, where I can talk about a few really nice blogs that I’ve found. I found NetGalley shortly after I was blown away by how awesome Goodreads actually is. You mean that I can actually read some books before they’re released to the public? I don’t even have to pay for them? It was around that time that I decided to once again start posting regularly to this blog and focus on book reviews. After all, if my book blog is doing well enough, I’ll be able to read some of these really cool books early!
In the process, I’ve discovered that this book blog might also be able to help me as an author. I’ve been a writer for nearly my entire life. I went to the Young Author’s conference in my local area in both 3rd and 5th grade. I won NaNoWriMo in 2014 with my fanfic, Dauntless. But all of this reading and being around book bloggers and authors has inspired me. Yes, my planned NaNoWriMo novel for this fall is technically a fanfic of a fanfic, but it’s really exciting me, and unlike Dauntless, which is basically an alternate history of Insurgent where Tris chose Abnegation instead of Dauntless, this is morphing into a brand new story.
All of the above web sites are leading me into dreams that I haven’t thought much about since high school (or perhaps before that, even).
Which leads me to the last five bookish web sites for Top Ten Tuesday. These are some awesome blogs I’ve been reading. There are so many more, but I can only pick a few… so please realize that I might love your web site as well, and not have room for it here. These aren’t even a top five, they’re just some that I’m thinking about at the moment.
We Live and Breathe Books (WLABB) always has some great posts. Plus, Sam (who I think tends to write most of the posts over there) has some pretty good taste in books. I tend to see her Top Ten Tuesday posts almost every week, and I sometimes will run into some of her other posts at other times throughout the week.
I think I see AJ from Read All the Things all over the place. She has excellent taste in books and is constantly updating her site with new content. If you haven’t taken a look at her blog, you should.
It Starts at Midnight is another blog that I see all over the place. Maybe it’s because I read a lot of the Top Ten Tuesday posts and she usually writes them, maybe it’s because I don’t get home from work until around midnight, so her blog opens up right about the time I get home (okay, probably not the last one). At any rate, this is another blog that gets updated regularly that you might want to take a look at.
I’m always over at That Artsy Reader Girl‘s site. She hosts Top Ten Tuesday, and it’s a great way to find other people’s blogs. I usually keep this tab open all week long, because I’m always taking a look at what other people are posting and her TTT linkup is a great way to find other people’s blogs.
I visit The Candid Cover‘s web site regularly as well. This summer, she’s been sponsoring a Summer TBR Wipe-Out; it’s pretty fun to link up with all of these other amazing readers to talk about the books that we’ve been reading over the past few weeks. She also sponsors contests, various reviews, and keeps her web site regularly updated.
So, that’s a stroll through a little of my bookish history through the use of web sites! Stay tuned for the next episode of Top Ten Tuesday, where I talk about books to get out of your reading slump (even though I’m not sure if I’ve ever had a reading slump… but I have some ideas anyway).
Goodreads has so much, and I don’t spend nearly enough time there taking advantage of it. Same w/ Netgalley… I don’t request ARC’s so I don’t go there much, but I should just to keep up better on new stuff coming!
Archive of our Own is pretty new to me, and I’m pretty new to fanfic, but I want to spend some time checking that site out! I might even post over there, who knows? Sounds fun.
It Starts at Midnight is awesome- love Shannon’s blog!- and The candid Cover has been a regular stop for me lately too. AJ and Sam are amazing as well.
Greg recently posted…The Bookshelf Book Tag
I’m always surprised at how many great new books are out there. Edelweiss is good for finding out what is new as well.
I agree with you about Goodreads and Amazon. Both wonderful bookish sites! I also enjoy the bloggers that you’ve mentioned!
🙂 I don’t really get the Amazon hate all that much. They get my auto-buy authors to me on release day (sometimes the day before, if I’m lucky), plus they have some great deals where, honestly, I probably would just borrow the book from the library if I couldn’t find it for the really cheap price. I’ll buy a “hmmm, sounds interesting” book for $1.99. The books I pay full price for are the ones that I’m going to buy no matter what.
Awww, I didn’t expect to see myself on a list, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have a bunch of the blogs I stalked on you list too – Shannon, AJ, The Candid Cover. I did a blog post about my GR love. The platform is not perfect, but it’s a wonderful place for readers to convene. NG and EW have both been huge sources of upcoming books and books for me to read, so I got nothing but love for them as well.
🙂 I love your Top Ten Tuesday posts, plus you have good taste in books.
Fun post! I like that you posted bookish websites you love as well as book blogs. 🙂 I do love Goodreads!
-Lauren
ShootingStarsMag recently posted…Show Us Your Books – Books for All Age Groups!
Goodreads is great. I can’t believe that I haven’t been taking advantage of it for all of these years!
It’s great to see so many libraries (as well as Hoopla and Overdrive) getting love today. We have to support our libraries!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks!
Libraries are great. Even if I was a bajillionaire and could buy every book I wanted to read, they have a lot of events at my library.
I love so many of these resources! Also, I bought my copy of A Thousand Perfect Notes before the sale, and I’m not even sad, except I should’ve gotten a physical copy. xD That cover’s just too pretty, though. I love that you mention AO3! Someone else had mentioned FFN, and I hadn’t thought of either of them until they were brought up by others. 🙂
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I LOVE the cover to A Thousand Perfect Notes! Although you’d really have to buy two, because who would want to open their book all the way open like that?
I’ve tried some of the bigger fanfiction sites, but for some reason (at least in the fandoms I read) there’s a lot more trash in there that isn’t really good. There’s fewer people on AO3, but the ones that are there tend to write better stuff, IMO.
Goodreads is an amazing website! I go through fanfiction ‘moods’ and when I’m in the mood for fanfiction, AO3 is my best friend 🙂 That said, I think I need to check it out again, haha 🙂
I also love the bloggers you mentioned!
There’s some really good writers on AO3. I love it when you find someone that is really good, and you find out that they’ve written lots of other things as well! Thanks for visiting today!
Goodreads & Amazon made my list this week too!
Here’s a link to my TTT post this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/08/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-book.html
They’re great web sites!
People associate Goodreads with reviews, but their lists are essential when I’m building my TBR, especially one that lists future releases. The site is a life saver.
I think their lists are the best! I read enough reviews on blogs now, but the lists really help me find out what’s popular in general, and what’s coming out. I also like to check release dates from there (sometimes it’s good to know when planning out my ARC reviews, because they don’t necessarily say on eARCs)
Thanks for the shout-out. I am all over the place 🙂 . Amazon is dangerous. I have to stay away from it, or I’d 1-Click EVERYTHING. I’m not very good at being realistic about how much I can read.
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You’re welcome :-).
Amazon has just too many good sales. But I guess if I buy 5 books at $1.99 and only read 3, then I’ve read more for my money than if I buy 1 book at $10. Although there are a few authors that I’ll pre-order months in advance no matter what they write, and I don’t mind paying full price.
Controversial or not, I always like Amazon. Their book deals are too good to pass up. 😀
Also, I like the sound of a TBR wipe out! I need something like this to hold me accountable for reading all those TBR books.
Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland.
Rissi JC recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday | Favorite Places to Visit for a Book Nerd
Amazon+Book Twitter is a great way to score some amazing deals! I’ve bought quite a few books that I might never have bought, or maybe just would check out of the library, because I saw it was on sale.
So many excellent websites here 🙂
I have my local library saved as a favourite on my browser.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
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Have to love the library!
Aw your recommendations are amazing Hun! Gorgeous post, have a lovely day :)x
Grace Louise || http://www.gracelouiseofficial.blogspot.co.uk/
Thank you! You too!
I love exploring my library website, especially for new to me ebooks and audiobooks. 🙂
Check out my TTT and celebrate my blogoversary with a giveaway
Fortunately, my library has almost all of the books that I keep hearing about when I read other blogger’s reviews!
Ah…my local library, how did I miss that?
🙂 With all the other good choices for Bookish Web Site Week, it would be easy to do.