It's My Blogoversary - Reflection and Giveaway!

Well, that snuck up on me. Two years ago I did this whole big planned out blogoversary thing and last year I didn't do anything. I don't know why, I even wrote something up. But this year I did want to do something because this marks three full years of blogging. That to me is significant.

I also wanted to do something this year because my thoughts on blogging have changed so much in the past year. I think for me blogging has really just become a part of my day, a part of my life, and I love that. It's honestly the best part of my day. My Thoughts Literally has existed as a site for six years now. I started this blog at a time when my love for reading was rekindled but it wasn't until I moved that I really became serious about it. I was watching a lot of BookTube videos and I wanted to talk about this book I had hated. I then remembered that I had this blog I was terrible at updating and decided maybe I should do that more. So I returned to it and found this whole blogging community.

Photo credit: Becca

It was that community that drew me to blogging again and it is the community that keeps me blogging. I started this so I could interact with people to talk about books and I finally feel like I have reached a point where that is exactly what I am doing. We're talking and sharing about books that I loved, books that I hated, books that I had a lot of feelings about. These past three years I have made some really great friends through blogging. People I can talk to about anything and people who I get so excited when I hear from. I don't really want to take the time to name every one of those friends here because that would take entirely too long, but you know who you are. And know that if you have ever commented on my blog, if I have ever commented on yours, or we have talked on Twitter that I love you and you are wonderful. Don't get me wrong, there are bad moments, of course, but I enjoy this blogging community so much and I am thankful every day that I found you and you found me.

This community is also why I love attending bookish events. I was able to attend BEA again this year and meet some of you all in person. I got to see some people I met previous year and actually hang out which was amazing. I had so much fun with you all inside and outside of the event. And of course I built some great relationships with people within this world. I even found some amazing new blogs through BEA. It's hard to believe that I didn't know about certain people and certain blogs until then but that's why BEA is so great. It's such a huge event that brings all the biggest book nerds and you can meet some amazing people. I'm hoping to go again this year and despite not really agreeing with the new announcement around the changes, that will also not deter me.

I can't wait to meet all the authors too. I have been able to check so many authors off my "must meet list" since blogging. But there are also authors that I never would have found if it hadn't been for blogging. If I hadn't gotten involved with this community I'm not sure I ever would have read Rainbow Rowell, Brandon Sanderson, Victoria Schwab, Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, or Maggie Steifvater. These are now authors that I would say are some of my all-time favorites and I never heard of them until I started blogging. You all have destroyed my TBR time and time again with all these amazing books that I see you review and gush over. I have found and read some absolutely amazing books and authors based entirely on your recommendations and I know I have done the same to you. I wonder what I would be reading right now if I had never started blogging again and found this community.

Last time when I was reflecting on my blogoversary I also pointed out that I feel like I had found my voice. And I think over this last year I have refined that even more. I'm feeling more confident and proud of my reviews which is good. But more than that it is the other posts. Some of my best and most popular posts lately have been discussions. My weird little rants about how I'm romancephobic and why I never finish books before bed. I'm also doing more features regularly like my Crossing Over posts where I recommend adult or YA books which have crossover appeal. I'm still adapting and changing but I feel like I have found a place in this community. With so many amazing bloggers I think that's a hard thing to do. But I'm looking forward to the future of course! I'm trying new things and experimenting which is fun and I can't wait to continue to grow personally and within this community. It has been such a pleasure being a part of it I'm already thinking about what I can do to make more interesting content for the site, how I can make it my own, and how I can keep going strong in the future. I'm even thinking about going back on YouTube or podcasting in the future.

But enough about me. If you haven't noticed, most of this reflection is about how awesome you all are. I wouldn't have kept blogging for two years if it hadn't been for all of you. So to say thank you I have planned a special giveaway. Because this is really about saying thanks to you all. So here is a rafflecopter. There are two giveaways, one here on the blog that is international one on Twitter that is US only. No giveaway only accounts. I will disqualify anyone who has a giveaway only Twitter account. Actually engage, people.

Here's the blog giveaway: One winner will get the choice of any book under $20 that I reviewed in 2016. This giveaway is international, as long as the Book Depository ships to you. To enter all you have to do is be a follower of My Thoughts Literally, leave a comment of which book you would like to win, and then comment on that review. Simple enough, right? To make it even simpler here is a rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Again, thank you all for being a part of the blogging community and for being a part of the My Thoughts Literally community. I'm hoping for three more years going strong and that has a lot to do with you. SO thanks. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!!!!