Let's Talk: Your Favourite Book Blogs

Friday, July 5, 2013




Let's Talk is a weekly feature here at i swim for oceans. I think it's important that we all have our say, and there's something to be said for raising our voices. Simply put, here on the little old blog, I like to host some of my very own discussion posts because, well, I like to converse with you all.

And so, Let's Talk will feature questions or prompts, which I will answer, too. Love it or hate it, weigh in or don't, it's my hope that Let's Talk will at least get you thinking...and maybe even get you discussing with the rest of us!
What are some of your favourite book blogs, and what makes you continue going back to them time and again?

When I first started blogging three years ago, I can honestly say that I had absolutely zero clue what I was doing. Frankly, I probably still really don't, and I'm just fooling myself, but I have come to realize that I do have a series of blogs and bloggers that I can turn to time and time again for the best and most honest book recommendations. A lot of these bloggers have been around for a while. They know how to review these days. Not all of them, however,ave been. Some are newer, but their individual voices really stand out from the crowd, and that's what makes them most unique to me. 

Now, first of all, let me make this clear...this is in no way a measure of the best blogs out there. I want bloggers to share their favourites because I tend to get wrapped up in the blogs that I've always known, and I'm always looking to find new blogs to follow and learn from. It is my sincere hope that by doing so, I can expand the realm of blogs that I visit every day and, perhaps, do the same for you! So, in no particular order, some of my absolute favourite blogs that I cannot help but visit every day are: 


Supernatural Snark has been an absolute favourite of mine for almost three years now. I kid you not. I visit this blog without fail every day, and even when I took an 8-month hiatus from the book blogosphere, you better believe I kept visiting this blog for fantastic recommendations every single day. Jenny is a hilarious blogger full of opinions, fantastic insight and, yes, snark. I don't know what I'd do without this blog...seriously. I'd probably wither away and die. Melodramatic? Yes. True? Hell yes. Proud to call this blogger a dear, dear friend. 


I'm a fairly new follower of The Reader's Den, but I have to say that it's an incredibly impressive blog. Rachel and Jasprit have insightful reviews and features every single day, and I'm never disappointed. I know I can count on these girls for their true opinions on books and, most of all, they challenge me to push my own reading boundaries, convincing me that there are titles out there that I might be prejudiced against, but I should probably read. Stat. If you haven't visited them yet...do it. You will love it!


I think that Into the Hall of Books is one of those blogs that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. I'm not kidding. I don't even remember how I stumbled across Asheley's blog, but I was immediately blown away by the depth of her reviews. Colour me nuts, but I have a penchant for long, thorough reviews, and you will find plenty of those on her blog. She's been hard at work convincing me to try NA, and I think she might just have finally convinced me to do so. (Well done, Asheley!) But seriously...if you want to stretch your reading horizons, visit her blog.

Now, there are a million other great blogs out there that I want to mention, as well, but to keep from over-professing my undying love for you all, some other great ones you must try are YA Book Queen, Nick's Book Blog, Anna Reads, Alison Can Read, GReads, Words Like Silver, The Book Swarm and a zillion more. Guys, not all these bloggers review solely YA, and that's why I love them. Some of these bloggers convinced me to try contemps. Some of them have mentored me from the start. And, some of them are new finds that I really hope will endure for a very long time.

What about you? What book blogs do you love to visit time and again? Sharing is caring, and I need more blogs to visit and learn from!


22 comments:

  1. I love all these blogs too! I always find new books on them and their reviews are just gorgeous, are they not? Wonderful post, Melissa! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Keertana! I know what you mean though...that's how I felt when I found your blog, too...I was so, so excited!

      Delete
  2. Melissa, thank you so much for the mention! I'm relatively new to your blog, but you've become one of the blog I make sure to visit every day even though I might not comment some days.
    Jenny and Rachel/Jasprit are some of my favorite bloggers as well. They are such sweethearts!
    Jenny's reviews are always gorgeous and I love the little snippets of conversations she has with her hubby! Plus, that girl is hilarious!
    Jasprit has become one of my closest blogging friend too. She and I do a lot of read-alongs together and I can always count on her to recommend me great contemporaries and chick-lits!
    Rachel too is simply awesome! I'm excited because I might be meeting her next year at ALA! We've already started making plans! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's no reason to thank ME, Nick! Thank YOU! Seriously...I love your blog! :)

      Delete
  3. There are SO many great blogs out there! And I'm excited to find some new blogs via you! I look for bloggers who are fun and interesting, who aren't afraid to give their opinions but are nice about giving negative reviews (they don't slam the author, they're thoughtful and well-reasoned, explaining why it didn't work for them). I also look for bloggers who are going to talk to me via comments or Twitter or whatever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree with that, Mary! I love discussions, and I love it when bloggers aren't afraid to speak their minds. It's really refreshing.

      Delete
  4. Hmmm... favorite blogs? I don't think I can name them all! xD I do have blogs that I frequently visit because I love the content and interaction, like yours, Ink Skies, and Snuggly Oranges :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, trust me, Ellie! I have a million more favourites, and yours is definitely on my list, too! Blogging is so wonderful :)

      Delete
  5. I love you. Desperately. And yes, melodramatically. I think that kind of love just works for us:) It was a sad, sad day for me when you went on your hiatus. They're may have been pining. Okay. There was definitely pining, but more than missing your blog, I missed you. You make me laugh and you listen to me have my pity parties, and having you back in my life is a gift:)

    I adore all the blogs you've mentioned above, and I love that each month I find a handful of new ones to explore and compare reviews with, and my fellow bloggers just serve as a constant reminder of how awesome this community is.

    *massive hugs*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *there* not *they're* Don't ask me to be grammatically correct on days off from work:)

      Delete
    2. Hahahaha I have typos all day erryday. You know this. That's why we get each other. Love your guts ;)

      Delete
  6. I always having a hard time picking my favorite blogs, I have been a follower of both Jenny's and Jasprits blogs for over two years now and they both are fantastic. I need to go check out your third pick! I also love The Nocturnal Library and Christy's Love of Books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing, Heidi! I'm always looking for fabulous new blogs to visit, and I haven't visited Christy's blog before!

      Delete
  7. Oh wow, Melissa! Such kind words! Thank you! I really enjoy your blog as well. I'm glad you came back from hiatus because it gave me a chance to get acquainted with you and I love you take on reads. :)

    I adore Jenny's blog as well. I have very similar tastes to her and she's even roped me into reading a few I wouldn't have considered and then ended up loving. Iced is a perfect example of that. We had lots of emails back and forth on that one! Nick is another wonderful blogger, and I'm excited that I might get to meet her at the next ALA.

    Having trusted blogs really helps to weed out or hone in on reads worthy of time. Lovely post, Melissa!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eeeeeeeeee! I LOVE Jenny's blog - her blog posts never fail to make me laugh! And The Reader's Den is amazing as well<3 There are so many books I've bought/decided to read thanks to their reviews and/or feature :) Thanks for some awesome blog recommendations up there! I'm off to stalk them now :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Melissa. I love your face. Also Jenny is so hilarious and I love her snark. Such a great blog. I've never heard of The Reader's Den so thanks for mentioning that one - and goodness what a beautiful banner they have! Speaking of banners, I may have borrowed that idea from you yesterday. Um, thanks?!?!?! xo

    I'm SO THRILLED you're back. There was a hole in the bloggy world while you were away!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I adore Asheley's blog! I love seeing her thoughts on books, whether or not I've read them, and she manages to bring to my awareness titles I might not have heard of otherwise. I've never heard of The Reader's Den, so I'll definitely have to check them out!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for mentioning me! I'm so happy you're blogging again. Yours has always been one of my favorite - even if I've been a lazy commenter as of late. I know some of these blogs. Jenny's of course. But I'm going to have to check out a few others.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Glad you liked it. haven't read it but it's definitely been on my list!



    Abstract

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for the mention, Melissa <3 love your blog, too!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I actually left a comment on here the other day, but I just realised now it didn't post! I juts wanted to say a big thank you for the lovely mention! I absolutely adore popping over to your blog too Melissa and reading your gorgeous reviews and of course adding all the books to my tbr pile! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Supernatural Snark! Jenny's blog is so amusing and her reviews are fantastic, SS is definitely one of my favorites.

    Thanks for the mention! I adore your blog, too :D

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! I always do my very best to return the favour :)

Please note that this blog is an award-free zone!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pin It button on image hover