Book Blogger Love-a-thon || Love-a-Thon Awards

If you haven't signed up yet, YOU STILL CAN! Just visit this post and fill out the form. After, contact us via Twitter or email so that we can add you to our official participant list. You can also check out the full schedule for the 2014 Book Blogger Love-a-thon here!

We've finally come to the last of our mini-challenges (*cue sobbing*). Thankfully, it's a really fun one! We're inviting all of you to participate in the Love-a-Thon Awards. This is our version of the Grammys, the Oscars... and your high school senior superlatives. 

Note: I tried not to pick my usual choices (a.k.a. the blogs that I stalk regularly) for this post! I tried to pick newer blogs I'd discovered, as well as older blogs I've known of but never gotten to shout out to.

I really love the vibrancy and colors of Pop! Goes the Reader a lot. It's a feast for my eyes, and I'm loving it! The design is clean, carefully executed and has the overall effect of leaving a lasting impression for visitors. Plus, I truly admire the way Jen takes time to really make her posts visually pleasing, especially when it's for her covers feature or Top Ten Tuesday.

I might be slightly obsessed with checking out The ABCs (hosted by Andi's ABCs) lately. It's a feature that I've just recently stumbled upon, thanks to the two Rachels in my life (Rachel D. & Rachel K.) The goal is simple: to create a post that features accessories, books and clothes! I do love shopping (though I do mostly window shopping now), so this is pretty fun for me.

I've encountered a number of amazing discussion posts already this year! The two that have stayed with me the longest? Judith's post on Arc Envy, which echoes a lot of my own sentiments about ARCs, particularly this year. Maggie's post on Honesty, Criticism and Blogging, which thoughtfully discusses those topics and her take on them.

There are so many friendly bloggers that I've been fortunate enough to meet lately, so I'm going to have to give more than one shoutout here: Danielle @ Love at First Page, Lauren @ Lose Time Reading, Ellice @ Paperiot, Karin @ Life of Karin, Wendy @ Book Scents & Cee @ The Novel Hermit.

This is probably the only occasion where I'll break the mandate set above and speak of old favorites. I usually find the reviews on Rather Be Reading, Hello Chelly, Paperiot, Snuggly Oranges, The Book Barbies and Realm of Fiction most helpful when I decide which books I want to read or set aside. These ladies have all earned my trust with their impeccable reading taste and thoughtful remarks on their reads.

If we're referring to a solo author, it will come as no surprise that I highly endorse Susan Dennard. Not only does she update readers on her series and works in progress, she also shares writing inspiration, advice and encouragement. Even though it's only through blog posts and Twitter, it kind of feels like Susan is cheering me on while I find my way back into writing - and it's amazing!

If we're talking about a collaborative blog, however, I'm a little bit obsessed with Publishing Crawl. It's run by a group of authors and publishing industry insiders, offering a venue for them to discuss books, writing and the industry itself. I love the variety of posts you can encounter on there!

My favorite author to converse with these days is the wonderful Jodi Meadows. She's funny, sassy and just plain awesome. She likes to share photos of her ferrets, books and yarn, which I love! I also like chatting with Katie McGarry, Miranda Kenneally, Susan Dennard, Erin Bowman, Marissa Meyer, Kat Zhang & Sarah J. Maas.

I fangirl and flail a TON over Twitter. But lately, there are a few people who have seriously been keeping me company as I indulge in swooning, sighing, crying, laughing, yelling over the books I've read. Judith has been my source of comfort via WhatsApp, while Rachel, Hannah, Kelly, Racquel & Jen have seriously held me up via text. I love flailing to these girls because they just get it. I would like to say that there are SO many people I flail with -- it really depends on the book in question!

While these are MY top choices for these categories, I honestly can't wait to see who everyone else picked. It's going to be a great way to discover more new blogs -- so don't forget to hop around!

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Since this is a mini-challenge, there's going to be a giveaway!

[Note: Depending on the winner, the remaining "extra" prize will be added to the major giveaway!]

PRIZE: 

(US winner) signed copy of Cress (Marissa Meyer) + poster

OR

(international winner) e-book of choice up to $10

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