Blog 9th Birthday!

Nine years ago, at this exact moment, I started Miss Print. I was 21 years old, looking at my final year of college and just starting to consider graduate school to become a librarian. A lot has changed since then and a lot has happened. But through the past nine years this blog and the people I know because of it have been a constant.

Blogging has brought so many wonderful things into my life including new friends, professional experiences and, of course, books.

Last year I talked about some fun things that happened to me because of this blog. This year, I decided to talk about books I would not have discovered if I hadn’t started blogging (and maybe give one or two away–details at bottom).

Books I Found Because I Started Blogging

1. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken: A few years ago there was this micro-trend with textile fantasies including this book which came out in 2010. One year later I met Alex at my first BEA when she signed a paperback copy of this book. Alex’s book won me over immediately and I’ve been lucky enough to follow her career as each new book comes out.
2. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han: If you talk to me long enough, you will learn that I am obsessed with this book series. Like make fan club buttons and stay up at night thinking about Lara Jean and JAM obsessed. It took me a full week to recover from my shock and elation when Jenny announced book three was on the horizon.
3. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman: Sometimes I don’t need much to pick up a book. A pitch about dragons in a high fantasy society is more than enough. This book got me through a very trying summer as a bookseller and my well-loved ARC has the water stains to prove it. Rachel is also an all around wonderful human and thanks to years of acquaintance I get to sometimes recommend books for her son to read. (Do follow her on Twitter if you haven’t already!)
4. Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu: Corey is another author I started hearing about from blogging friends. I picked up Life by Committee at BEA one year when she was signing and gave the copy away. BUT the book spoke to me on such a deep level that I wound up buying myself a replacement copy this year.
5. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers: I didn’t think assassin nuns would be my thing, but go figure. They totally are! I discovered this book after I fell in love with the author’s Nathaniel Fludd books–a series I only heard about because it was offered for review–which I recommend all the time. Even now!
6. The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski: Sometimes a book sneaks up on you. Such was the case here. Rutkoski’s novel about parallel worlds is a story that has stayed with me. This is the first book I read by Marie and the reason I was ready and waiting when The Winner’s Curse first came out. I even have a “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?” print (much to the confusion of many friends and neighbors) because of this book.
7. Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales: Leila is a librarian favorite so it’s possible I would have discovered this book without blogging but there was something very right and very satisfying in reviewing a title about an ill-advised road trip to hunt down a blogger WHILE being a book blogger.
8. Break Me Like a Promise by Tiffany Schmidt: Tiffany is an author I knew about through blogging friends long before I picked up her books. When I heard that she was starting a fairy tale retelling series I was, of course, intrigued. But it was the second book in the series (this one) that really floored me and wound up being so many things I needed at the time.
9. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab: When I started blogging, I also started going to book events. Victoria’s debut is one of the first books I picked up at a signing (I only let myself buy one). It’s funny to look back on that moment to now when Victoria is one of my favorite authors and I try to attend all of her NYC signings and events.
10. The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick: I request this book for review because Midwinterblood was a total dark horse for the Printz the year before and I was curious. Little did I know that this book would go on to become a Printz Honor and an all-time favorite for me.
11. Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes: I bought this book on a whim when it was on sale after hearing so many blogger friends raving about it. Turned out that was a totally solid choice as this book was excellent!
12. All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin: My love for Gabrielle’s Birthright series is no secret. The shocking thing, to me, is that I only discovered this book (which is now an all-time favorite) because I started hearing buzz from other bloggers. That buzz eventually led to me requesting it for review through Amazon Vine and the rest is history.

I was going to post my usual statistics roundup in this post but I’ve decided I’d rather focus on the things I’ve accomplished and learned from being a blogger rather than numbers.

So now we’re at the part everyone has been waiting for: The Giveaway.

I want to share the love for some of these favorite books and authors I found through blogging. Enter the giveaway to win one book of your choice by any of the authors I mentioned above.

Giveaway will run from August 12 to August 31. Winners will be notified September 1. If I don’t hear back from the winners by September 3, I will pick a new winner from the entry pool as needed.

ENTER HERE

I’m running the giveaway through a Rafflecopter giveaway.