Blogoversary Giveaway: 6 YEARS!!!!

Today, my blog turns 6 years old! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

I'm kind of in shock that this blog is that old. Sometimes I feel like I've been blogging forever, and other days, it feels like I only just started. Before I get to the fun (giveaways!), I wanted to take a moment to share a very quick list of things I've learned from blogging:

6 Things I've Learned From Blogging

6. The blogosphere is full of amazingly kind, incredible people. One of my goals this summer to reach out more to each of you (readers, bloggers, authors), because all of the the small interactions I've had so far have been so positive and fun. There may be some drama now and then, but the blogosphere is full of so many people with good (bookish) hearts. 

5. Book blogging is a surprisingly great learning tool, especially for anyone looking to be knowledgeable in social media. I'm going to be teaching in the fall, and I'm looking into ways to possibly incorporate blogging / social media into the curriculum, since it's such a huge part of students lives today. Additionally, blogging has taught me to learn things like HTML -  While I would never hire me to build a website, I have basic skills in HTML now, and can usually figure out how to adjust / change certain features. It's fun to be able to know how to do those kind of things. 

4. There are so many under-the-radar books I never would have known about if I hadn't of been a part of the blogosphere. I used to only read a handful of authors back when I was a non-blogger, and so I'm grateful to the blogging community for pointing out so many incredible stories and authors that I would have missed. 

3. There's no right or wrong way to blog. And that's what I've come to love - how each blogger has their own style and way of doing things. It's fun to be able to participate in memes, but also post on books or bookish topics that I want to discuss. But what's even better is that blogging allows for growth, and change. You're never stuck - you can always shake things up with something new, whether it's a new type of post or style of writing. 

2. Blogger / Reader interactions are always a highlight. Whether it's one comment on a blog post or twenty, one bookish tweet or a dozen, I'm always excited to see what other bookworms have to say, and to have the chance to fangirl over books with other people. 

1. Despite the fact that blogging can become stressful, crazy, chaotic, at the end of the day, it's an incredibly fun, worthwhile hobby that I am so glad to have. I've been around for 6 years, and taken weeks or months off here and there, but I always come back each time I step away. 

I wanted to say THANK YOU so much to my readers, new and old, regular readers who comment and silent lurkers who stop by only occasionally. You all rock, and you make book blogging such an amazing experience. I look forward to another year of blogging and growing as a blogger!

To celebrate, I'm giving away some books! 

INTERNATIONAL 
Contest Policy

One YA book, winner's choice, from Amazon or The Book Depository. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back later today for another giveaway post!