I can NOT believe it’s already been a year since I started blogging.
What got me started?
Can I be honest here? I originally wanted to start a blog because I thought it’d be fun, but I also REALLY wanted to connect into the book community. I had discovered it a year prior to blogging and loved interacting with authors. But, I felt there was so much more that I could do to get involved. So, The YA Book Traveler began. I wanted it to be The Book Traveler, but someone already own the site (boo, and they didn’t even use it).
What has happened?
I haven’t been able to make it to any book events this year. The month before I started blogging I did get to go meet Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard while they were on tour for the Heir of Fire tour. It was AMAZING! THEY ARE AMAZING!
However, even though I haven’t been able to make it any book events, I DID meet a few fellow bloggers.
I got to meet Sara Grochowski @thehidingspot and I also went to Chicago to visit Sarah @EscapingSarah, Jessie H @Jessi_Squeakers and Katie @PolishedPage! It was SO great getting to meet Twitter friends in real life!
I really really hope to meet more Twitter friends this year (I’m hoping to make it to BEA in Chicago!)
Book Trailers
One thing I started this year was making book trailers for books I am excited for! I am still in the process of making them (as they take a lot of time and I’m super busy) but I am happy with the ones I’ve made already. You can check them out on my YouTube Channel and Subscribe!
Street Teams
I joined two street teams this year. The first is the Sunday Street Team, founded by Nori @ReadWriteLove28! She invited me to participate in a fun monthly feature where I’ve had reviews for arcs, participated in an ARC tour and interviewed authors. It’s been a lot of fun!
I also was chosen to be a member of the Truthwitch Street Team and am part of the Void Clan. This has been a fun group to be a part of.
Twitter Friends
By far, my FAVORITE thing about this year in blogging has not been the posting (I actually don’t post super often) but it’s been the friendships! I’ve made such great friends (many who live outside the US!). Some of the people I’ve become closest and chatted the most with over this year are Sarah, Lisa, Carrie, Kim, Pili, Rona, Nicola, Sanovia, Brittany, Nori, Kris, Karina, Becky, Helena and MANY MANY OTHERS. Seriously, I LOVE ALL OF MY TWITTER FRIENDS!
Authors
I LOVE being able to chat with authors on Twitter. I’ve actually had DM conversations with some authors (especially with Brianna Shrum, author of Never Never. I NEEDED to DM her!) and they’ve been amazing!
Who would have thought I’d interact with authors like Jodi Meadows, C.J. Redwine, Susan Dennard, Sarah J. Maas, Brianna Shrum, Samantha Shannon, Heidi Heilig, and Rae Carson? It’s so amazing!
It’s been a great year and I HOPE to be able to go to BEA 2015 this year in Chicago. If I can, I will meet SO MANY of my Twitter friends! AHHH! That would be fantastic!
Favorite Books Of This Year
What’s a year celebration without a giveaway???
Prize: $25 Worth of Books from Amazon or The Book Depository!
Open Internationally
(This can include pre-orders)
All field must be completed accurately or the participant will be disqualified.
Happy (almost) 1 year blogiversary Sarah! I always love talking to you on Twitter and can we just talk about your fabulous book trailers? <3<3
Thanks Faith! Sorry, WordPress put this up a few hours early. Come back and enter the giveaway! 😀
Wooohoooo!! Happy Blogoversary Sarah!! I really really hope you’ll make it to BEA in Chicago next year because I cannot wait to meet you!! *squishes*
I hope so too!!!! My blog posted this a bit early, so come back to enter the giveaway 😉
Your name is up there with my friends and I wanted to personally thank you for consistently commenting on my blog. It means so much to me Pili.
Yay! Mine is in January and I’m super excited for it. Congrats on making it a year! 🙂
January will be here before you know it!!!!
Happy blogiversary! I LOVE your book trailers! Best part of visiting here!
Aw thank you so much!
Ahaha! HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY SARAH! I can’t wait to meet you! I don’t know if BEA will happen but I know we will meet someday. You’re an awesome blogger and I’m so glad we are friends Wishing you many more wonderful years!!!
Xoxo
Thank you Helena! You’ve always been the sweetest and I do hope to meet you one day as well. 😀
Congratulations, Sarah!!! I’m so glad we got to meet and I wish you all the best for the future! I really hope we get to meet someday IRL, too! Even though my apartment is tiny, you’re always welcome to visit me! You know that, right?
And OMG, your new blog design looks SO AWESOME!! (When did that happen :-D? I’ve definitely been too absent these past weeks…) I love it so much <3!
Congrats again :-)!
I completely forgot to tell you my favorite book :-O… It’s most definitely “Queen of Shadows” <3!! I LOVE this book!!
YES Queen of Shadows was AMAZING! Yes, I changed my site about a week ago? I’ve been wanting to do it for quite some time. I was starting to hate the other site. lol
Happy Blogoversary! 🙂 The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh is definitely one of my top favorites! 🙂
Happy anniversary! You have such a lovely blog 🙂 Simon VS the Homo Sapiens Agenda is also one of my top picks this year, it was hilarious and heart-warming 🙂
Happy blogoversary Sarah!
I agree that the bookish community is the best one ever! I’ve loved connecting with other bloggers and authors!
My favorite book this year? Hmm… Tough one… What have I even read this year? *goes to goodreads* Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas maybe? Or Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo… or Racing the Sun by Karina Halle… I’ve read a lot of great books okay?
Thanks for the amazing giveaway! *hugs* <3
Happy blogiversary!!!! Cheers on many more years to come
My favorite book this year is so manyyyyy! Jenny Han’s PS I Still Love You and The Selection series by Kiera Cass
Thankyou for the giveaway! And once again HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!
Congrats on the year! Hopefully this next one will be even better. One of my favorite books this year is definitely The Martian by Andy Weir. Check it out if you haven’t already!
Happy Blogiversary! I think book blogging is one of the most rewarding things to do. What’s better than being able to promote your favorite books and actually talk to the those authors?! Nothing tops that in my opinion.
Thank you so much for mentioning me! I’m truly honored. I have enjoyed all of your fangirling sessions and conversations, and look forward to keep having them with you!
HAPPY 1 YEAR. I am so happy you started blogging and tweeting. You are so amazing and I’m so happy to be twitter friends. I so hope you get to go to BEA! One of these days I’ll go. And how can I pick my fave book this year? That is soooo hard! There have been a few I’ve just loved…Illuminae, Six of Crows…the list could go on.
HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!!! Imagine that, one year of blogging! And all those amazing experiences. Congratulations!
I discovered that Anne Bishop, who wrote the amazing Black Jewels series, has another ongoing, series: THE OTHERS. I am so in love with it. There’s also the third book in the Immortal Descendants series by April White: Changing Nature and last, but not the least, Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Happy 1 Year! Sounds like it was a great year for you!
I think Uprooted was one of my very best books so far this year.
I’m still stuck on the fact it’s only been one year for you as a blogger. You are just one of those people that steal the scene and makes it there own. XD Here’s to many more years of blogging success for you!
How could you ask someone to just pick one book as a favorite? It’s like picking a favorite child. Super hard. But here goes. Favorite book I’ve read this year: Truthwitch. Favorite book I’ve read this year that is actually released: The Orphan Queen. (TOQ was nearly tied with Truthwitch.)
Happy Blogoversary!!!!!!!
Many more to come………..and thank you for the chance.
My favorite book is Confess by Colleen Hoover so far.
Happy blogiversary, Sarah! You’ve accomplished a lot in the past year. 🙂 I’ve read soooo many good books this year, it’s hard to pick just one, but Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda really stands out to me. Thanks for the giveaway!
Yayyyyy congrats on one year! Here’s to many more 🙂
Oh my God, Sarah! HAPPY BLOG-ANNIVERSARY! I’m so glad to see that you’ve enjoyed so much your first year of book-blogging and in the book community! Oh my, everything you’ve done sounds so good and so fun (for a newbie like me)! I’ve really loved your trailers (the one you did for Never Never made me go all aslkdjaskd!), so keep them coming! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the rest of your journey and thanks for everything! 😀
P.S. Thank you very much for such a nice giveaway!
~L. @ Reading Against Time ♥
Congratulations on the One Year Blogiversary! I always appreciate the hard work it takes to run a blog and share the things that you do. I love reading reviews and getting excited to find new books to add to my read list, so thank you. My favorite reads so far have been Sea of Stars by Amy Bartol and an ARC of Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins. Thank you for the lovely giveaway.
Happy First Blogiversary!!! And congratulations to the wonderful things you have done and accomplished this last year!
I think so far I would have to say that the best book I have read this year is A Court of Thorns and Roses.
So far it’s been Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.
Happy Blogiversary! Hmm, it’s hard to choose just one. I really enjoyed ACoTAR though.
HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!!! And thank you so much for mentioning me!! I’m so glad to have met you, too 😀 Honestly, this year for blogging and reading hasn’t been the greatest for me. I’ve been having more fun talking to authors and bloggers on Twitter lol. I’ve made more friends this year than my first year of blogging. I hope to meet you at BEA in 2016!! And my favorite book probably has to be An Ember In The Ashes <3
Happy blogoversary! Really love reading your blog and I am excited to see the content you post within the next few years. Congrats dear and have a great ‘nother year. 😀
~Kaitlin
Happy one year blogiversary to you! My favorite book this year is All The Bright Places. It’s just beautiful.
I loved Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson!
HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!! I would say that my favorite book that I’ve read this year is Sword and Verse. Favorite that was already published would have to be Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. Seriously awesome book!
A FULL YEAR! Congratulations 😀 😀
My favorite read this year has been the Grisha Trilogy. The covers were always pretty to me, and I picked them up one day and got HOOKED! I read the first book in one sitting / one day. I never do that. I take forever to read. I’m constantly distracted. BUT THE GRISHAVERSE TOTALLY SUCKED ME IN! Nikolai is my book boyfriend <3 <3 <3
So far The Orphan Queen is by far my favorite, I LOVED that book! Thank you for the giveaway and congrats on the blogaversary!
Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie
HAPPY BLOGVERSARY!!!! Here’s to many more years of blogging! <3 <3 My favorite book this year so far has got to be Fuel the Fire by Krista and Becca Ritchie 🙂
Eeeeek 😀 Congrats on blogging for one year sweetie. <3 That is AWESOME 😀 And thank you so much for this gorgeous giveaway. <3 You are the bestest. Two weeks ago the best book I had read this year was Illuminae. And then I read Carry On. And now that is the one, lol 🙂
Congrats Sarah! What a great post 🙂 My one year will be here in a month and I can’t believe it either! Where has the time gone? And I certainly don’t feel like I’ve gotten the hand of this LOL. It’s hard to pick a favorite book, but I saw The Girl at Midnight on your top books of the year and I have to agree! I loved that book when I read it and I can still vividly remember parts of it. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out 😀
My favourite book this year so far is The Martian. Read it in anticipation of the movie and LOVED it!
Thank you for the giveaway and congrats on the blogiversary!! 😀
Congrats!! And I heard you just got 2,500 followers on Twitter, so double the congrats!
I think my favourite book this year would have to be either A Darker Shade of Magic or Six of Crows… with Emmy & Oliver a close second.
I just realized I never commented on this. But CONGRATS SARAH!! It’s completely surreal when we hit big milestones like this. I hope you’ll be blogging for more years to come 🙂 And thank you for mentioning me <3 <3 I really hope we can go to BEA and meet!!
Congratulations on your blogiversary!! And many more to come. My favorite book so far is The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey and I can’t wait till movie hit the cinemas. Thanks for the chance!
I think it has to be Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover or An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir!
Queen of Shadows!
SARAH! That question is so cruel, how am I supposed to choose one favorite book!! My list is endless: The Orphan Queen, The Witch Hunter, I’ll Meet You There, Sword and Verse, Confess, etc, etc. My most current obsession is Six of Crows! I can’t even express in words how much I love that book (and author!!!)
Also, happy (belated, but for the second time) blogoversary!! I’m so glad I got to know you and that I can call you my friend 🙂 THANK YOU TWITTER!!!
I’m currently into the books of Lang Leav & Michael Faudet ♥♥♥
Happy blogoversary!!!!
I have so many favorite books, I couldn’t possible pick!
Umm… I totally thought I had commented on this. O_O
Happy Blogiversary, Sarah! I’m so glad we became Twitter friends! 🙂
Favorite book of the year… hmm… That’s a tough question. I’m not sure but I love Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh, Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson, and Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
Happy blogoversary!! My favorite book this year is Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo!
Congrats on one year!! That’s amazing! My favorite book this year has been EMBER IN THE ASHES!!
Congratulations!! a year, a year full of adventures and stories to tell. Oh god! my favorite book, basically is like asking me to choose my favorite brother XD so difficult but I think Lord of the rings, that book totally changed me back when I was a kid and made me fall in love with books
Happy, happy, happy blogoversary and wishing you many more amazing to come! 🙂
I really can’t pick just one.. It’s a tie between Illuminae, Six of Crows, The Wrath and the Dawn and The Anatomical Shape of a Heart.
Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
Hi, HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY. 🙂 My fav book this year has been Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda. 🙂 (Among others, ofc.)
Happy (belated) blogoversary, Sarah! *throws confetti* I have a lot of favorites this year, but my faves were probably Made You Up or Golden! Both are awesome 😀
My favourite book this year was Winter by Marissa Meyer. Definitely. Can’t get over the series has ended. I remember when it started. But looking forward to the epilogue in February!
My favorite book I read this year was The Winner’s Curse – can’t wait for The Winner’s Kiss! Happy blogiversary, and thanks for the giveaway 😀
So far this year A Darker Shade of Magic has been my favorite. Thanks for the STELLAR giveaway! Celebratory high-fives for blogging one year. It is a wonderful milestone.
Thank you so much!!!
Congrats on the one year m’dear!!! And awwwwwww, thanks for adding me to your list of friends!! Luffles you lots!! <3 now… My favourite book of the year? Don't make me choose between ACOTAR and SOC, girlie. 😉
Loves back!! 🙂
Congrats on your 1 year blog-aversary Sarah! You’re super sweet and I’m so glad I found you on twitter 🙂 My favorite book this year probably has to be A Court of Thorns and Roses. It was incredible, and I can’t wait for A Court of Mist and Fury!!
First of all, congrats on year, Sarah! Second, somehow I wasn’t following your blog and I’m so disappointed in myself because how could I not be following after your transition?! A+ on my part. Third, this is the hardest question because I read so many good books this year. Air Awakens, Illuminae, The Winner’s Crime, the whole Shattered Seas trilogy, Snow Like Ashes, The Glass Arrow…
Oh you liked The Glass Arrow? I bought that and really want to read it!!!
No problem on not following. I lost many followers when I switched to WordPress.
Eeeeep Sarah I have no idea how I never saw this post until now! First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! <3 Also, I am honored that not only did I make it onto your list of Twitter friends, but also Sunday Street Team was mentioned! *hugs* I'm so happy that you've enjoyed it so far. Also, YAAAAAAS to your favorite books this year! Grave Mercy + The Scorpio Races + The Orphan Queen + 2 SST picks <3 It just makes me super happy.
Thanks Nori! I don’t know how you missed it either. lol
Congrats on you 1 year blog anniversary I hope u have many more any my favorite book of this year has to bee queen of shadows