Hey bookish friends,
I’ve had today’s date stuck in my mind and I thought it’d be nice to do a post marking my 3 month anniversary in the blogging world. While it’s flown by so quickly, it’s been a fun journey and one I’m excited to continue. I’m forever grateful to those who take the time to read, comment and share my blog posts. It’s reassuring to know someone out there is reading and hopefully enjoying my blog.
Last month, I received two notifications that put a huge smile on my face:
Today I have 134 followers, a total of 4,000 views, and almost 900 likes. I know some of you hit that target weekly but shh, let me have my moment haha! I’ve discovered some great blogs along the way and made some new friends. Shout out to my blogging BFF – Sam at Clues and Reviews, we talk almost daily, her blog is slightly newer than mine and it’s been lovely to have someone to talk about this journey with, recommend books to each other and generally keep each other sane in this crazy book world!
So here’s my mini shout of session:
Kate at Bibliophile Book Club (blogging goals!), Kate knows I stalk her book post and reviews, if you’re not following this blog, ask yourself – is this the life you really want to live?
Renee at It’s Book Talk, another newbie like me to this blogging world but a blog I’m enjoying watching grow. Renee has recommended a few books to me, and she shares my love for Criminology! I particularly like her Throwback Thursday feature of books she has previously read – books have no expiration date so it’s great to see older books getting some love too.
I could work my way through all the blogs I follow as I think they all bring something great to the book community, but in the interest of keeping this short and sweet, I’ve given you 3 already – lets go for a Top 10, so here’s 7 more must-follow blogs:
Annie at The Misstery
Jo at My Chestnut Reading Tree
Jo at Jo’s Book Blog
Jill at Jill’s Book Cafe
Emma at Damp Pebbles
Lorraine at The Book Review Cafe
Cleo at Cleopatra Loves Books
Wendy at Little Bookness Lane
Megan at Bookslayer Reads
Amy at Novel Gossip
Okay, I’m well aware I’ve exceeded 10… O I forget, Kerry at Chat About Books…. clearly it wasn’t smart to start this as I have no self control and would be here listing the 100+ blogs I follow…. But Tam at Mystereity Reviews needs to be on the list too! Basically there’s loads of fantastic blogs out there in the world for you to find and follow! If I’ve missed you off this list, I apologise, but I follow your blog so that must tell you I think it’s awesome 😉
Books
I continue to reach crazy excitement levels when I receive a physical book from a publisher/author and I’m so grateful for each one I have received. I’ve got a few more on the way and every time the post arrives, I’m like a fiend running to the door to feed my book addiction! Bloggers, we know about Netgalley, when I get that email saying your request has been accepted, I feel I can breathe a little easier haha, although I rarely ever request more than two books at once, I’m not a pro yet.
Mystery Thriller Week
I will be participating in Mystery Thriller Week next year in February (12th-22nd), which I’m super excited about, you can read all the information on their website. In short, it’s an annual celebration of mystery, thriller, crime fiction books and bloggers share a number of posts (reviews, Q&A’s, extracts, etc) during the week. Sign ups are open for authors and bloggers now.
Two of the books I will be reading for sure are: Portraits of the Dead by John Nicholl and Medea’s Curse by Anne Buist – hopefully I can fit in a few more.
Blog Tours
Am I ‘official’ now that I have a few blog tours coming up? I love telling my friends about blog tours as they have no idea what they are and I just allow them to believe I made it, I am a celebrity in this book world – they come to my house, see my mounting TBR piles and fully believe it haha!
Some blog tours I’m featuring in, in the coming months are: Scared to Death by Rachel Amphlett, Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson and Porcelain: Flesh of Innocents by Lee Cockburn.
End of Rambling
In the hope of not going on and on about how much I love blogging and being a part of the bookish community, I have to remember this is a rambling, not my life story. I just want to thank each and everyone one of you, who has taken the time to read, comment, share any single one of my posts – THANK YOU!
What a great post!! I’ll be checking out the blogs you mentioned for sure! I am already following Renee she is just awesome! I also enjoy her Throwback Thursdays..
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Thanks, I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone, it feels like just the other day I was trying to decide on a blog name and theme lol. And yes Renee is awesome!!
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Thank you Debby, I feel the same about you and your blog:)
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you are welcome! and thank you!!
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What a lovely post! And thanks for the mention. You’ve got off to a great start so the only way is up from here! 😘😘
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Thank you! & you’re welcome. Now I have my own blog, I can truly appreciate all the time and effort it involves so it’s only right I shout out the pro’s 😉 xx
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I don’t think anyone realises how much time it actually takes to prepare blog posts etc! My blog will be one next Feb and it’s been a fantastic experience. So glad you’re having the best time and enjoying it xx
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Awesome post!
So glad I have you as my official book blogging advice giver and sounding board!
I’m going to follow all these other blogs ASAP! You always have the best taste 🙂
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My WP feed put this in the spam pile 🙈😂 It’s only now I’m on the actual dashboard, I can see how many comments I’ve missed 🙈
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That three months went very quickly and you’ve really hit the ground running – well done (and you’ve already overtaken me for followers)! Thanks for including me in your blogs to follow, I’m among some very good company there. Here’s to the next 3 months – onwards and upwards xx
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Thanks Jill! You deserve to be among said company, your blog is lovely! And you’ll forever be the person that first made me feel welcome & at ease blogging lol ❤️ Indeed onwards &upwards 🎉xx
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Aaaaww thanks Janel xxx
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Thanks for the mention, Janel! I can’t believe you’ve only been blogging for 3 months. You’re a pro 😍
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Thanks Emma, you guys set the bar so I knew I had to bring my A game 😂 xx
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What a wonderful post! You have such a smashing blog, I do love stopping by. Huge thanks for all your support too and the lovely mention, it’s much appreciated. xx
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Thank you! And can I add – as well as your content, I love the name of your blog!! Xx
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Aww, that’s such a kind thing to say – thank you xx
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Congratulations on three months! What a great job! So glad you are participating and enjoying the Mystery Thriller Week. You have chosen some great books to kick off your reading. Can’t wait to see your reviews in February! Really appreciate the mention!
You are off to an excellent start for just three months!
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Thanks! I’m really looking forward to it, hoping to read more but I thought, read these two first then request more rather than overload lol.
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That’s the way I am doing it too, so that I am not overwhelmed and stressing. 🙂
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Congrats on hitting that 3 month milestone. I am new to the blogging world as well. My blog hit 4 months at the beginning of this month and I am loving every minute of it. I will definitely be checking out the blogs you mentioned. I am already following Megan’s blog and it is amazing.
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Thanks! And congrats to you too for hitting 4 months, your blog is so well presented! The time flies by right, it feels like only the other day I was starting out, worrying no one would read my posts lol.
And Megan’s blog is 👌 – I’m loving her bee Standalone Sunday feature
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Thank you! I wasn’t sure what I was doing when I started my blog. Yes it does fly by so fast. I can’t believe I have already been blogging for four months. When I started out I was so scared no one would even read my posts. I never in a million years thought that so many people would like what I had to say.
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Fab post. As a new blogger myself I found it interesting reading. Can you share your secret of how to get people to sign up to follow your blog? I’m doing ok on Facebook and Twitter but need more blog followers.
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Thanks! Erm… I don’t really have a secret 🙈 I think the key thing is to take the time to read, comment on & share other people’s posts. And I do my best to always reply to comments, if you don’t interact with other blogs, why should they interact with yours… it’s hard not to get caught up in followers but it’s more important to enjoy it and the follows will come. Ive seen some blogs with 1000’s of followers but if you pay to much attention to that you’ll feel disheartened, just have fun! I hope that helped 😊
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Thanks, Janel. I do as much interaction as I can with a toddler! I’m doing ok – I’ve only been at it 3.5 weeks and I’m definitely having fun. Keep up the good work – I’ll look forward to reading your posts in future.
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O not even a month yet, I’d never have guess that short amount of time as you certainly know what your doing blogging wise, you’ll be fine, I’m looking forward to seeing your blog grow, it looks very professional already! And you’ve reviewed some titles I’m desperate to read!x
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That’s really kind of you to say so, thank you 🙂
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I can’t believe you’ve only been blogging for 3 months 😱 And feeling very privileged to be included in your top blogs to follow. 😘😘😘
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Fake it till you make it – and they’ll never know you’re a newbie lol! Xx
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My life motto!
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Thank you my lovely! You’ve made me smile with this post ❤️
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You’re very welcome! & I hope you’re reading slump doesn’t last too long, but you’ve recommended me enough books to keep me busy till you’re back lol 😘
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😂 Glad to be of service! I’m sure I’ll still shout about books from time to time 😉
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Only 3 months? I’m very surprised! You’re doing a wonderful job, so many follows already and even so much bookmail, you’re really lucky and you deserve it too because I love you’re blog!
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Thank you so much, that means a lot to me, it takes me ages to actually write a post so I’m so glad to hear that. I have been extremely lucky with bookmail, but I’ve also been ignore several times 😂 so it’s balanced itself out haha. Xx
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Congrats on your 3 month blogging Anniversary Janel!! And thanks so much for including me in your top blog followings and for your kind words:) Yours was one of the earliest blogs I started following…when I saw your love of mysteries and you’re interest in criminology I had a feeling we’d hit it off! I think if we lived close we’d be having cocktails together, talking crime and sharing our books….Her Every Fear comes to mind!! I’m not sure I can keep up with the book recs I’m getting from you and Sam but I’m having fun trying:)!! Enjoy your weekend
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Did you say cocktails 🍹😍 I think that’s the only downside, you meet some amazing people only to find out they live in a different country lol. I can’t even keep up with Sam, she reads like 6 books a week! My TBR has like quadrupled since blogging lol but when the zombie apocalypse come, we’ll have plenty of books to keep us occupied (I just caught up on The Walking Dead so excuse the zombie reference 😂). Wishing you a lovely wknd too!x
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I am only reading so much because all of you keep giving me amazing recommendations!! lol
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Oh yes cocktails for sure! Like your profile pic except I’d be having a big pinot grigio. Actually that sounds good right about now…it’s 5:00 here:)! I’ve never seen The Walking Dead. I know I’m in the minority there. If you have netflix you MUST try The Killing!!
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Thank you so much for the mention – it’s really appreciated! I love your blog, and I can’t believe that you’ve only been going for three months! Here’s to the next three! 🙂
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You’re welcome! And thank you for always sharing and let me know if you find any new gems on Unbound 😊x
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❤️❤️❤️ Thank you, that made my day!
Congrats on 3 months and all of your success!
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You’re welcome Tam & thank you! I only got the notification for this post now, it was putting your comments in the spam pile so I apologise if I’ve not replied to any of your comments on earlier posts.x
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Congrats on all your views, likes, and follows! Well deserved! And thank you so much for the shout out!! I know and love a lot of the blogs you mentioned, but I also found some new blogs to follow! Which is awesome. So thank you!!
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You’re welcome and thanks! 😊 x
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Awwwww, this is such a lovely post 🙂 Thank you so much for the mention and for your support. x
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You’re welcome 😘
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Huge congratulations for your blogging accomplishments! I think we started around the same time (I created my blog in late July but started blogging mid-August) but I’ve had 1700 views so far so I need to catch up to you 🙂 I was actually looking for some information by which to gauge how I was doing and this post really helped. Don’t worry, it didn’t demoralize me to learn I’m trailing you in viewership 🙂 Made me feel like at least based on the timing I’m in the ballpark of what makes sense. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, I really have no idea if my stats are anything to go by. I think if you post often (daily) your likely to have way more views so as long as you’re seeing improvements in your stats every now and again, I’d call it a success. O and I love your Links I Loved This Week feature!
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Congrats on your three months and fab stats there. I’m just coming up on my halfiversary so you’re not alone in your newness but it’s a great community isn’t it?
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The best! I didn’t realise so many of the blogs I’m following are new to, they’re all so we’ll run with great content! We must be the new generation of up and coming bloggers haha!
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Absolutely. I know exactly what you mean. There are so many feel like they’ve been around for ages and yet they’re only started in 2016. I still feel like a total novice but I’m getting there. Actually remembering to share my posts on more than twitter now which is a start 🙂
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Ooo where else do you share them?
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On a few group pages in Facebook – Book Connectors, Crime Book Club. I have a FB page too which I’ve finally started to plug so have follower on that now too.
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I’m debating getting a Facebook page but I’m not sure, maybe I should give it some more thought 🤔
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It’s easy enough to do. I’ve set up WordPress to auto publish to that and Twitter so it really takes no more time. It’s then easier to share on fb by reposting
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Thank, I’ll check it out and hopefully broaden my horizons lol
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Brilliant post! Didn’t realise you’d only been blogging for 3 months! I’m kind of a newbie too, I’ve only been blogging since July (I think). I’m also on a few blog tours soon. I spy What Alice Knew in your book pile – that will be my first ever blog tour (exciting!) I love your blog 🙂
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Thanks! You’re blog is awesome too! Oo I’ll keep an eye out for your stop on the blog tour, I haven’t read it yet but I’ve heard good things!
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Ah thankyou! It’s really good – it’s not quite what I expected and there’s a MASSIVE twist right at the end. Highly recommend it to you 🙂
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What a brilliant celebratory post – so glad you’ve enjoyed your first three months and I’m thrilled to have made it to your list of ten bloggers – thank you 🙂
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You’re welcome 😊 You’re blog is fab!!
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Aw thank you 🙂
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Happy anniversary ❤ You're one of my fave blogs!!!!
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Thanks!
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Great post! Your blog is super wonderfully bookish 🙂 I am gladly following you and reading your reviews. Nothing compared to mine! Yx for suggesting your favourite book blogs
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Thank you! I’m certainly enjoying my blogging journey. O yh, they are wonderful blogs, I’d recommended definitely giving them a follow 😊x
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