Welcome to the first post in our Book Blogger Appreciation Week topic series. Today, we’ll talk our favorite book blogs and bloggers.

Readers who come to our site each time they read a blog post will notice on the right hand side of the blog, there is an RSS collection of 80+ book bloggers. That’s just one of the collections I peruse each day in my feedreader. But while I like to read a lot of blogs, some really stand out to me as either having good reviews, a nice mix of topics, or the great writers with whom I connect with not only in blog land, but also in Twitterland or in person.

First and foremost, no ya book blogger can ignore Kristi at The Story Siren. She’s a great example of being a great community member, as she’s always putting things together to help new and established bloggers continue to get better. Even non-YA bloggers will find a lot to learn at her blog.

One of my favorite bloggers to interact with both on her blog and on Twitter is Alea Pop Culture. Alea blogs on books, movies, and more recently, crafts. I love that she’s always posting something unique and she is always a blast to talk with on Twitter @mint910. I can’t wait to meet up with her at the KidLitCon this year, since we narrowly missed one another at BEA.

Two of my favorite librarian bloggers include Abby (the) Librarian and Sarah at YA Librarian Tales. Both always produce well-constructed and thoughtful reviews that help me as a librarian and as a reader. I’ve had the chance to hang out with Abby at BEA and soon at the Anderson’s conference, and she’s always a fun time. Plus, it’s hard to run out of things to talk about when you can talk books.

And lest I forget, Janssen is always going to be one of my favorite bloggers. She’s the one who really inspired me to get this blog going and she’s always a great person with whom to just chat books. I know Janssen from graduate school, which makes her that much more special — you know you’ll get along just fine when you can simultaneously walk one another through complicated web design assignments from your (mutual) work supervisor and still have time to dish on some girly reads.

There are so many bloggers I haven’t mentioned, including GreenBeanTeenQueen, GalleySmith, books i done read (which has literally had me peeing my pants laughing at the reference desk on more than one occasion), and many, many more. Because the book blog world is SO huge, it’s hard not to find hundreds of wonderful things worth a few minutes every day.

One person I need to bring up, despite her NOT being a blogger, is the wonderful Jen Petro Roy, who is a fantastic person I like to talk books with. Check her out on Twitter for great book chat in all genres and age ranges.

Kelly has covered most of the book blogs I tend to peruse, but there are two she hasn’t mentioned that I think have done a really great job of finding their own little niche in the blogging world.  The first is “Smart Bitches, Trashy Books,” which speaks to my deep and abiding and very open love for romance novels.  This one’s pretty well-known in the blogosphere, but deserves a mention because it always makes me laugh and allows me to poke fun at romance novels while simultaneously declaring my love for them.

The second (and more recently-discovered blog on my part) is Forever Young Adult, whose target audience is “YA readers who are a little less Y and a little more A.”  I have a hunch this applies to a lot of our readers.  It means that the writers can feel free to bandy around a few swear words and more than a few blatant sexual references, such as in this guest post they did on “Sexy is for Everybody,” a post which involves the unbeatable trifecta of sex, literature, and alcohol: The Sex YA Up Drinking Game.  Another favorite: What’s Your YA Deal Breaker?  And they have a dedicated “WTF” tag.  And yes, many of those posts are about Twilight.  There are so many awesome things about this blog, I cannot possible sum them up in this single paragraph.  Since most of my conversations about YA lit occur at work, with people of an impressionable age, it’s nice to immerse myself in a setting with actual adults and still be able to discuss my love for YA lit without feeling any twinges of shame or the need to be so careful about what I say. 

(Also, ever notice how when you say something is “adult,” it always sounds skeezy?  For example, “Our children’s movies are on this side, and our adult movies are on the other side.  Oh wait…um…our regular movies are on the other side?  Our non-children’s movies?  Oh, you know what I mean.”)

So, now it’s your turn.  Tell us about your favorite blogs and bloggers!