It’s Book Blogger Appreciation Week again!

A major focus of Book Blogger Appreciation Week is the awards, but I have always kind of felt ambivalent about the awards. Frankly, there are so many great book blogs that may not be nominated for a variety of reasons, and even leaving that concern aside, I have had a rather long history of just not understanding blog awards. Still, congratulations to the nominees.

Today I want to highlight a couple of book bloggers I particularly enjoy reading, and I’ll try to explain why. Obviously, I love so many blogs, and it’s hard to write posts like these because just like on the Academy Awards, you invariably do something stupid like forget to thank your husband (who by the way, writes wonderful blog posts, but not about books—er, my husband, that is; maybe yours does, too, but I wouldn’t know that).

First, I truly enjoy Jenny’s Books. Jenny’s reviews are always well-written and quite funny. I enjoy her selections, too. Jenny is kind enough to comment here regularly. I admire so many book bloggers for being good commenters. I read all your posts, I really do! What I need to do more often is leave a word or two. Jenny has great conversations in her blog comments, too.

I also love reading Jenners’s posts at Life with Books. Her posts are funny, and I love hearing about the Little One, too. Oh, and Mr. Jenners, of course. We have similar tastes in reading, and she has influenced me to add several books to my TBR pile. Plus we sometimes wind up reading the same books around the same time, and it’s fun to talk with her about them.

Iliana has influenced me in so many ways. Her blog Bookgirl’s Nightstand is such a wonderful blog, and she has so much stamina. She is such a wonderful artist, too. Have you seen her handmade journals? They’re beautiful! I was lucky enough to win one. I want to be like Iliana when I grow up. I’m also jealous of her trips to Germany.

Stephanie at Reviews by Lola is so awesome in so many ways. She reads so many books. I cannot figure out how she reads so many books so fast, but I wish I could be like her. She has influenced me to pick up several books or at least add them to my TBR piles. I love her succinct, helpful reviews, too.

In addition to book review blogs, I also like blogs about literature and writers. One of my favorites these days is Better Living Through Beowulf. Robin Bates, the author of this blog, explores literature’s relationship to everyday life. He sees allusions and connections in everything from sports to politics to spiritual matters, and his ability to connect literature to life amazes me.

I have been a longtime fan of Jane Austen’s World. Vic covers everything from Austen sequels to life in Georgian England, and I have learned so much from her blog.

Finally a new blog that I have been enjoying is Madame Guillotine. Melanie has really influenced me more as a fiction writer than as a book blogger. I like her independent spirit, and because of her, I decided to just go ahead and put my book on the Kindle, which has definitely increased its audience over just Lulu alone (you can order it in the sidebar). Her struggles and triumphs as a writer are fun to read about. I feel sometimes like a silent cheerleader (that whole needing-to-leave-more-comments thing).