Welcome to the third post in our series for Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Today, we’ll talk a bit about how bloggers have shaped our reading habits and maybe helped us discover unexpected treasures.

Blogging has made me a more outgoing person. Perhaps outgoing isn’t the right word — maybe what I want to say is that it has made me more able to engage with people and books. I talk with people every day I don’t know in person about books and reading; when I get the chance to meet them in person, I am not quiet or reserved. Instead, I feel comfortable, knowing we have some common ground.

But that’s kind of off topic from where this post was going.

Blogging and the blogging world has turned me on to reading in ways I never read before. All throughout my school years, including college and graduate school, I read primarily classic literature and non-fiction. But when I began blogging (and working as a librarian), I read much more widely. I read more genre fiction now and more popular fiction. While I still love a good classic or non-fiction, I’m more apt to pick up teen fiction now. And let me tell you: a good pitch from a blogger will sell me on reading a book when I otherwise may not have given the book a second thought.

And thanks to some of my favorite bloggers, I’ve also become more aware of aesthetics of books. While we know not to judge a book on its cover, sometimes we can judge a cover for itself. Readers all do it, and when thinking about how I sell books at the library, the cover is one of the biggest elements I think of when it comes to displays.

Blogging has helped me to read more widely.  I still tend to stick mostly to my favorite genres – fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction – but since I’ve started writing for STACKED, I’ve picked up more than a few contemporaries and enjoyed them a lot.  I’ve also started to read a lot more nonfiction, something I never even contemplated in years past.  But when I read a review that makes the book sounds so interesting, then I’ve got to pick it up to see what all the fuss is about, even if nonfiction tends to make me snore.  And, surprise, nonfiction doesn’t make me snore anymore (at least not all of it).

There are even books within my preferred genres that I never would have picked up if a blogger hadn’t recommended them.  For example, Kelly raved about the audio version of Feed, by M.T. Anderson, a book I wasn’t terribly interested in to begin with.  But on her recommendation, I checked it out of the library and gave it a listen.  Sure enough, it was a terrific audio.

I also know what books to avoid thanks to blogs.  I’m so worn out on paranormal romances, and I’m glad I have bloggers who will tell it to me straight whether a new paranormal book is worth reading, or whether it’s just derivative drivel. 

My “to-read” list has grown astronomically, and I never have the problem of “nothing to read” anymore.  (Yes, I really used to have that problem, even with a library a block or two away.)  If a book I’m currently reading isn’t pulling me in enough, I set it down and move on to the next recommendation.  There’s almost always a book that I’m excited about that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet. 

What treasures have you discovered thanks to fellow bloggers?

Welcome to the second post in our series for Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Today, we’ll talk a bit about the mechanics behind STACKED, including how we got started and how we keep going.

STACKED was all Kelly’s idea.  Before she broached the idea of a collective blog, I had almost no interest in the blogging world.  I read a few friends’ blogs, and they often discussed books, but mostly my knowledge of blogs was limited to lolcats and the few librarian-centric blogs I learned about in library school.  Not the most thrilling collection.

But I was coming up on my last semester of graduate school, where I wrote constantly, and I knew that summer would probably mark the end of my school career.  As someone who had been in school for nineteen years straight without a break, that was a pretty big deal.  Those nineteen years of schooling consisted mostly of writing – bad fiction, slightly better mediocre fiction, research papers that tried really really hard, and research papers where I probably should have tried a bit harder. 

Without school, I would have no real motivation to write.  I know that’s an excuse, but I’ll be honest and say I’m a pretty lazy person when I can be.  I’d still scribble some bad pieces of self-indulgent fiction every now and then, but I wouldn’t feel any sort of outside pressure to write consistently or write well.  Since I know that at least one person (hi Mom!) will read what I write here, and that people expect me to write here, I hold myself to a standard I might otherwise not have done.

I’m so glad I got involved with writing for STACKED.  Not only does it allow me to discuss books with other literary people, it allows me to write about them and keep those writing juices flowing.  Instead of mourning the end of my wonderful English classes where I talked and wrote about books on a daily basis, I look forward to blogging, where I can read about books I love (and books I will love) and then write about that love myself. 

It’s also pretty amazing to be able to get my hands on review copies of books before they are even published.  I don’t know if that novelty will ever wear off.  As a librarian, I experienced it when I first attended TLA, but as a blogger, the number of books I receive is compounded.  Sometimes, I don’t even have to ask – people just offer me books!  To anyone who has a book blog, this phenomenon may not be new or all that astonishing, but it’s pretty special to be offered free books – and good ones! – on a fairly regular basis.  It’s a darn good incentive to keep blogging.

STACKED began in April 2009 after I decided I needed a place to write down my thoughts about books. I wanted it to encompass more than just book reviews, and I wanted to have more than just myself to blog. That’s when I asked Jen and Kim to jump in.

We began by brainstorming what we wanted to blog about, including different topics that would be interesting to explore. I still have this document and go back to it once in a while to get some fresh ideas for content.

We all go through spurts and non-spurts, and it works out just fine. We communicate via email if there’s something important to know (like a blog tour date that requires a post can’t be moved around), but otherwise, we all operate completely independently. We talk ideas still, and we take on whatever’s on our minds. We have a VERY laid back approach to blogging, as anyone who’s probably been waiting on edge to find out about the results of a giveaway have noticed. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t want to keep doing this. Our blog is, first and foremost, for us.

As far as keeping motivated, I get jazzed from other bloggers. We hadn’t been big meme participants, but getting involved with In My Mailbox has really been a blast — I’ve discovered a ton of new bloggers that way. Being involved in the Cybils YA judging panel last year has been one of the highlights of being in the blog world for me: I got to read a lot of great stuff and talk about it with other great bloggers who care about good books.

Reading and reviewing forthcoming titles keeps me motivated not only as a blogger, but as a librarian, as well. It helps me determine where to spend my budget money and where I need to be ahead of the curve when it comes to purchasing. It’s also been a tremendous tool in reader’s advisory, as many of our devoted readers have commented to us.

But what keeps me most motivated is precisely what I mentioned above: our readers. There is nothing more exciting than a comment from a blogger mentioning that your book review has made them want to buy the book or a comment from an author who says that your review captured exactly what they were going for in the book. And of course, there are bad comments, but even those are motivating. They’re challenging and sometimes downright funny, and it reminds you to keep your head up and remember your blog is your perspective.

I plan on keeping blogging until I can’t anymore. There’s nothing more fun than meeting people over something you love so much: reading.