I had a whole bunch of ideas for what else I was going to post about this week (because I aspire to have more than one post up a week and I am so fed up of posting reviews, I love these books but it’s so hard to get a proper conversation going with folks). but then I remembered it was Thanksgiving in the US. I, obviously, do not celebrate but just take full advantage of the Black Friday sales which follow. The origins of Thanksgiving are awful, we won’t go into but come on guys, you all saw Addams Family Values, you know how that all went down, but I appreciate the sentiment of being thankful and thinking of those around us at this time of year. As such, I wanted today’s post to be all about the bloggers I love and how awesome they are. I also thought this would be a great way to celebrate things I love. I mean, I can show my appreciation for awesome games, awesome books, awesome anything really so here we go.

So Nick’s blog is both the best and the worst. She writes great reviews, she is the best at writing posts highlighting new releases and the books she’s excited about. And sometimes, she’ll have pictures of food either on her blog or Instagram which make me hungry which is totally unfair, but also great. She convinces me to spend way too much money on books because her excitement for books she loves is just contagious. Seriously, she can just give a book the nod and I’m there at the till ready to buy. She has that power. I’d like to say she uses it responsibly… but I mean, it’s questionable. I suppose she uses it for good because she is excellent about supporting the authors she loves on twitter and on her blog. She’s good people (most of the time… except when she shouts even though she lies and says I shout at her, I don’t. Honest).

I will always follow what Nick’s up to and even though my bank balance would rejoice at her taking a break… I would probably cry about it because she does what I wish I could do when it comes to blogging and on twitter and she is just the best. Also, she always seems to know what’s going down on twitter and I know I need to read up when I see a savage tweet from her on my timeline.

Sam blogs with a whole bunch of people but I honestly did not realise that at first when I first visited her blog because she is so prolific! I wish I could read as much as Sam does, each Sunday she leaves me envious with the sheer number of books she’s managed to get through in the space of a week. And it honestly feels like she is always on Twitter. I have never known a blogger so frequently like all the posts I link on Twitter (which is an auto-tweet because I am too damn lazy to set anything up to share things properly). I spend a lot of time questioning when Sam manages to sleep, it’s concerning. And finally, a blogger who gets my travel woes! If anything, I am always feeling for her because what is wrong with her trains?

I feel like Sam is the blogger who makes me want to write reviews and read more YA because she is predominantly a reader of contemporary YA and is definitely the blogger I turn to when the mood strikes for that.

If you’re looking for a blogger who is genuinely nice then stop right here (yes, all bloggers are genuinely nice but some are more obvious about it than others). I swear, every time she comments on my blog she makes me feel like I’ve had a hug from a friend and a good pep talk and gossip. She always makes me smile on both her blog and in my comments. When I realised I was quite obviously becoming a romance blogger hers was a blog I stumbled across (no idea how/when/why and no one cares about that) but I was immediately drawn in as she’s read so much romance! She also talks about new books/old books/books I’ve never heard of and she’s always talking about something new. And one thing I love is she isn’t afraid to reread and talk about a reread on her blog, that’s not something you see too often. And if you want a blogger into their sports, she’s the one. I feel like she has a team for everything and at minimum, there is one member of her family playing a sport at any one time.

So Gen is a newer blogger on my list. I’ve not followed her blog forever, and I actually think she’s a new addition to my reading list this year, but she shoved her way on to my favourites list quite quickly.

I’m not sure what made her an instant favourite. It could be her reviews, she reads a lot of romance but still has a mix of other things, but I think it’s the fact she is fun and I love the actual look of her blog (does that make me shallow). I’m not going to lie to you, I judge your blogs as soon as I first visit them. If it’s the first time I’m stopping by I get stupid judgey and then feel bad about it later, but if a blog is pretty I’m more likely to hang around for a couple posts ( I won’t stay long if it’s pretty and has no substance, though). I think she definitely drew me in with a pretty blog and I stayed just because I liked her posts. And also she posts the best pictures on Sunday, I feel like she always something to tell folks about by Sunday and I love hearing about her family (which I want to join simply because they seem to be all about parties and food). She has a super pretty Instagram feed as well. Like so pretty! If I was better at Instagram hers would be what I want to try and be like. Instead, my Instagram is for scrolling through when bored with an occasional picture of what I’m up to… like super occasional.

If there is anyone I curse about almost as much as Nick then it’s Kelly. I don’t think she knows I do it, but she blogs about some really interesting YA and a few MG reads too. She writes these fantastic reviews that are really in-depth and analyses the book (way more mature than my flaily reviews where I just sort of word vomit at you and close with ‘buy it!’ at the end). She writes all this brilliance about these books I’ve never heard of and gets me all excited to read them… and then I learn they’re OzYA books that aren’t released in the UK (or even the US) and that the only way I can get a copy is by hoping and praying Amazon gets the book in stock or paying to fly to Australia to buy it. It actually makes me want to shout at her with every review I read from her just to ask why she would tempt me with things I can’t have but her reviews are honestly so good I can’t even hate her for it.

God, this sounds like the weirdest celebration of a bloggers’ brilliance ever. Honestly, she writes reviews I wish I could. I don’t think about books in the same way she does when reading and I certainly don’t have the memory for them, She gets so in-depth, I swear, I didn’t analyse text that closely at uni… this is probably why I didn’t do better… that and really I went to uni to delay the inevitable need to get a job.

Also, she always writes the nicest comments. I can’t say enough good things about someone who writes nice comments. They don’t have to be long but if they leave you smiling and kind of wanting to give someone a hug then they must be good and Kelly totally does that.

Tania is honestly such a nice blogger. I’ve seen her blog loads and then fall by the wayside a bit as life gets in the way. She reads such different books to me but she always reads interesting books. She reads a lot of fantasy and I always enjoy her reviews. She also does recommendation posts, like Nick, and I love a blog which mixes things up with content because I am terrible for just posting review after review interspersed with some discussions. I always enjoy stopping by and seeing her thoughts on things and reading her life updates (never forget the importance of a good life update in blogging, we all love to read them as it feels like a good catch up).

So… I don’t follow a lot of UK bloggers (if you know of any good ones I should be following please link me I will check them all out) but Laura is one I feel like I’ve followed for a while. Like way back when I was reading more YA and fantasy stuff and I got sucked into her blog. She reads a legit mix of books and I always find myself stopping by. She is also working on writing and I love her updates where we hear about her writing/life/TV etc. You get a full update and it’s great. And she's one of the few bloggers I see who writes posts to help others get ideas of what to blog about. I’ve referred to many of her posts when I’m stuck in a blogging rut to get inspiration. Also, I stopped by the other day and she was talking about Pokemon. The way to my heart is simple, books, food, Pokemon and Sims. It’s like the big 4 things I love to see on blogs. There’s other stuff, like talk about travelling and share pictures and I’ll be sucked in. Talk about clothes and makeup I’ll probably be sucked in. But outside of books, Pokemon and Sims, and gaming in general, these are the things I like to read about.

Amber is another newer addition to my reading list but she earned a place for all the romance she reads. I feel like since I started following her blog has slowed down some… but she is expecting a baby (which is a dumb phrase, what else would she be expecting?) so she has been hella busy and she’s been stuck in a bit of a reading rut. But even so, she gets me excited to read and she tells folks about her travels with work, her family, etc. Her blog is always fun to visit, though.

I’m back with another blogger who is genuinely nice and always makes me smile when she comments. Veronika is honestly the nicest and she writes some excellent posts. Her reviews are good, but her discussions and that are excellent. So she did Dear Authors, Pls Stop and that post was so on point with the things we need to stop seeing in fiction. She wrote a kickass post which really hit the nail on the head about why I hate Mal in the Shadow & Bone series. She just gets it! I mean, she is not as super on the romance train as me yet I still feel like our tastes are so similar. I read her reviews and her posts about books and I’m like, I need to read that. She’s a quieter influence on my reading than Nick but she still has me piling books onto my TBR.

And one final blogger I almost forgot (sorry!). I have been following Kristen for a good long while now and I’ve seen her ups and downs but hers is a blog I will always return to (even if she isn’t getting to blog as much lately). I know I’ve featured some bloggers with very different tastes to me on here already but Kristen’s usual books don’t usually even fly across my radar. She reads a lot of fantasy/sci-fi and she has long been a champion of indie published books. She loves a good supernatural creature in her reading and honestly, she has added a whole bunch of weird and wonderful books to my TBR over the years. I just love her blog. She is open and honest on there about health problems she’s having and I always want to go give her a big hug and shout at a few doctors when she’s giving us an update but although she feels like she’s being super negative I’m always impressed she’s managed to stay pretty positive about things. She posts her own artwork (they are really good) and she plays the Sims! Like I said, gaming is always going to bring me back to your blog. She hasn’t been able to do any in a while but I loved her little sims updates and the stories she creates for them.

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I feel like I’ve missed people! I’m certain there are at least ten other blogs I wanted to talk about and I’m willing to bet I’ll post this and be like, why the hell did I forget you? And then be sorely tempted to go edit this post. I will resist and commit to my selection but feel free to shout at me in the comments and say ‘I thought we were friends’. I mean, there are plenty more blogs which should probably have been featured and I forgot but this post has been slowly developing over weeks! It’s been slow progress but I wanted to talk about the blogs I enjoy and who I visit regularly because it’s always good to show a little appreciation for everyone’s hard work.

Also, whilst putting this post together I realise how useful a blog button is for folks having something to feature and link back to. How did I not realise this? Why did no one tell me of the usefulness of blog buttons? I’d say I’m off to create one but let’s not make me a liar. Ask me about it again in six months and I may have gotten around to it.

Which blogs do you love? Give me all the blog recommendations below of blogs I should know about already and if you have a favourite UK blogger please let me know some because why don’t I follow more?