Happy Blogiversary to Me

It is a popular thing, in the blogosphere, to celebrate one's blogging anniversary or "blogiversary" as some call it. Well, mine is coming up next week, so I guess you could say (or better yet sing) "happy blogiversary" to me.

If I had to wish for something on this, my first blogiversary, I would wish for followers. Not hundreds or thousands--just ten, or even just one would be enough for me. I hope my wish will still come true, even though I told all of you.

Since I started, I haven't just gotten another year older, I've also gotten another year wiser. In my real, live life where I interact with real people and discuss things other than tv shows and romance, I have learned a ton. I have learned how to get an A+++ on every theatre assignment ever. I have learned everything ever about ecology and physiology. I have learned how to start saying goodbye to all my friends and family and all the high school that feels so familiar and safe. This year was my last year of high school! This year was a year of last, and next year will be a year of firsts. I'm both terrified and exhilarated by that fact.

In my online life as the writer and editor of a blog, I have also come far. I have learned many, many things:

-Posts about tv shows get more hits than posts about books, because people like to search out their favourite shows after they air each week. TV has a bigger audience, and therefore more google searches, and therefore more page views for me!

-The words and writing are what work for me, but it's really the images that bring in the big bucks. About a month ago I posted some stupid, random picture of Leighton Meester and Penn Badgley while I was discussing how much I hated Dan and Blair. That post still gets 80+ posts a day because of that picture.

-It is impossible to update everyday. Life gets in the way! Homework! Friends! Family! More homework! So it's smarter to just take it day by day. I've figure out I'm comfortable with about one post per week. Maybe not the best in terms of readership or anything, but it's all that I can handle, for right now, if I want blogging to be a treat rather than an obligation.

I have made many mistakes on this blog, and looking back over some of my posts just makes me cringe. But I live and I learn, and I get better with every post, every paragraph, every word. At least, that's what I hope.

I also hope that, if you're reading this, you'll stick around and give this blog a try. Bookmark it if you have a Mac, favourite it if you have a PC, or just plain follow it if you have any type of computer. You would make all my wishes come true. Thank you :)

The Big Blog Theory

You may have noticed that this blog has undergone a BIG change in the last week and a half, mostly in the form of a BRAND NEW BACKGROUND and an AWESOME NEW LAYOUT. This has been part of my effort to improve my blog and make a big push for followers. I'm heading into exams soon, but after that I plan on making the big push by posting everyday.

My goal is to get about 100 followers. A small, tight knit community, that'll leave lots of comments and do contests and giveways with me and generally have fun. While I wouldn't mind having, say, 1000 followers, I know I have neither the time (IB takes over my life!) nor the commitment to achieve such a following. Besides the BIG PUSH that will start next month, I'm also going to try and participate more in the blogosphere. I don't know what form that will take--participating in challenges/memes, like In My Mailbox, or increased commenting (or well, any commenting) on other blogs or something else.

I have decided on my first foray into the online blog community. I have submitted myself to the Books & Chocolate Swap, hosted by One Book Shy of A Full Shelf. Here is the pretty button:

I don't know what I'm going to give or what I'm going to get. The most I hope for is a few more page views. Fingers crossed. 

I have lots more to say about what I call "blog theory", about how often to post, writing negative reviews, having a central blog theme/subject, and many other fun topics that bloggers love to talk about, since we spend so long thinking about it. But I'm going to save all that for my one year first, on my first blogaversy (I am lead to believe that is the generally accepted term. Correct me if I'm wrong), which is coming up in february. Don't worry, I don't expect gifts--just lots of page views. 

That's it. Short blog update :)

Anna and the French Kiss and Other Adventures

I had the BEST time on friday night, going out and buying a whole stacks of books at the World's Biggest Bookstore (That is actually the name of the store, not some hyperbollic randomness by me). I had been researching books like crazy ever since I found the BEST website of all time, The YA Book Blog Directory. I have been desperate for a new YA romance for a long time now, and this website provides a seemingly never ending list of review blogs to choose from. Yheeee!

I have only made a small dent on the list, but already, so many rewards. There's a few that aren't my taste at all (science fiction blogs) and there's some that just have a different taste than me, that I'm sure others would love. But I'll link you all a few that fit me really well:

Bookishly Yours

Breaking the Bookshelf

Chick Lit Teens

Chick Loves Lit

In the end, I picked out three well reviewed books to purchase (actually, I picked more, but Canada has the worst book stock, so half of them weren't available. And some of them weren't out yet.). First, Prom & Prejudice, by Elizabeth Euler, who wrote Lonely Hearts Club, which I absolutely loved. I didn't even know she had a new book coming out.

I also bought Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, a book I had never heard of, that I am mightly excited about,

And I purchased Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, a book that every single blog was RAVING about, but had completely missed my radar somehow. At first I was skeptical because the premise didn't sound GREAT. But seriously, every single blogger was going ape shit crazy about it, so I decided to give it a try

Yeah, so, I bought last night. And then I went out and got dinner and worked on some homework. And then at 8:00ish I picked up Anna, and well, I didn't put it down. Until three in the morning (which, by the way, I'm paying for now, as I am TIREDDDD). But man, it was just so good. Here's a mini review for you.

You didn't come to this blog for this, but I'll say it anyways. It was well written. Thoughtful. Anna was a very nice and cutely quirky (I love banana elephant) and felt really really real. All of the characters had real, interesting personalities, and no one felt like a cliche, which was really awesome. And, of course, Paris sounded so beautiful

Even though I didn't enjoy my time in Paris when I went there a few summers ago, I totally want to go back now and see what Anna saw.

Now, to give what you came for--THE ROMANCE, namingly a American/British/French boy who goes by the name of Etienne St. Clair (a hoitty toitty name, if you ask me). I love him. He's just so nice, to everyone. And he's funny. And unique.

Anna and Etienne have an excellent friendship throughout the entire book. It is full of tension and misunderstanding and jokes and everything a real boy-who-is-a-friend, but-I-kind-of-want-more relationship should be.

All of that made me very happy. I loved the last scene when (predictable ending spoiler alert!) they are just hanging out together. I wish every book had a scene like that. It is just so satisfying.

I love a good Getting Together scene, a la every romance of all time. And the scene where Anna and Etienne get together is really sweet. But it's so full of drama, and it's so expected and cliched. The last scene is so calm and beautifully simple. After all they went through they're just hanging out talking, enjoying each others company. One of the best endings I've read in a long, long time.

Those were all the good things which made up a mostly good book. I have a few complaints about pacing and length though. There was a lot of tension and build up, which was great, but by the end it felt like too much. Too much drama. Too much time. It felt like the author was trying to fill some page count quota, just spinning her wheels and throwing in plot points to waste time. I love some good sexual tension, but it was more than was needed. I wish a good fifty pages had been cut from the middle to end.

All in all, I liked this Anna and the French Kiss. I didn't LOVE it, like a lot of the bloggers out there seem to. But it made for a good friday night. I don't know where it'll rank in all time favourites, or even favourites of the last year. I need more time to figure that out.

Go and pick up a copy and figure it out for yourself (or, if you live in the Greater Toronto Area, borrow it from me, since I'm pretty sure I snapped up the last copy in the city. Sorry!). I'm heading back to homework (and the three others amazing books I bought!). See you later sisters!

Best Blogs 2010

So, as I mentioned my love of all things blog, I thought I would do a little tribute to the author blogs which I read on a regular basis. Also, if you're bored of my blog already, this list might give you something more entertaining. So, without further ado...

1) Meg Cabot's blog

Oh, how I love Meg Cabot. I love her books (Princess Diaries, anyone?), and I love her blog. She's such a cool person. I mean, I think this photo explains it all:

Meg's blog is everything an author's blog should be: well-written, entertaining, and smart. Plus, she makes TONS of pop culture references (any Gossip Girl fans should see this post). She also makes great book recommendations for anything and everything chick lit. Meg is absolutely hilarious, making her blog one of the best.

2) Sarah Dessen's blog

Sarah Dessen is an young adult author too (The Truth About Forever, This Lullaby, etc), but her blog is very different from Meg's. Sarah talks about more about her day to day life and her family. She does include a fair number of pop culture references, but they are all generally tied to a few topics--Friday Night Lights and Good Morning America, for example. Now, I don't watch either of these programs (do they show GMA in Canada?), but I still enjoy Sarah's blog. It's very relatable and refreshingly real. Plus, I like that she writes every monday, wednesday, and friday--I have something to look forward to when I log on to my computer! (What? It's not like anyone ever emails me!).

3) Jen Lancaster's blog

This is a relatively new blog for me (the others I have been following since middle school). I started reading it after I finished Jen's first two memoirs--Bitter is the New Black and Bright Lights, Big Ass. Jen's blog is very funny and honest, just like her books. I really enjoyed this recent post.

4) Jennifer Weiner's blog

I think I actually prefer Jennifer Weiner's blog to her books (Goodnight Nobody, Little Earthquakes, etc), except, of course:

(and for those of you who gasped at that title, the book is not nearly as naughty as it sounds). She's entertaining and she raises interesting issues. Her blogging is sporadic, but it's good when you can get it.

I'm trying to think if there are anymore, but I think that's it. I hope you found at least one of them interesting (of course, if you hate chick lit, you probably won't like any of these...).

Good night and good blogging. 'Til later.