Top Ten Tuesday - Feb 18, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish in which they post a book-related top ten every - you guessed it! - Tuesday.

This week the theme is Top Ten Reasons I Love Being a Blogger/Reader.

When I started blogging book reviews in October 2013, I did it because I was reading a ton of books and was getting itchy to share my thoughts on them. Some I loved and wanted to share with everyone and others I found onerous to read - if I could steer someone else clear from having to slog through them, then I would be happy!  

I wanted to discuss these books too. I had been part of a fairly serious book club before I had my first child and I missed it. So I set out to blog:

1. Exposure to books I never would have even heard of before I blogged. I have read so many ebooks that would never have crossed my radar before I started blogging and that have been *so good.* 

2. Thinking more carefully about what I enjoy and don't enjoy in a book. The more reviews I write, the more I think about how to express my enjoyment or lack of enjoyment. It's not enough to say that this one was fun and that one was a chore. I want to try to pinpoint what elements worked and didn't for me.

3. The blogosphere! There are a lot of book reviewers out there, and I'm having so much fun checking out the different blogs, reading different perspectives and picking up tips on how to keep enjoying blogging. I still feel a little bit like I'm peeking in the window at the community, but everyone is extremely friendly and I hope to make some friends.

4. Learning new things - my next project is to figure out a quick and easy way to make some graphics for my blog.  

5. Free books. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that getting review copies (particularly hard copies) doesn't make me smile. 

6. On the topic of reading - getting to experiences lives that are so different from my own. I love the escapism of reading and the opportunity to explore new worlds, new perspectives.

7. Language! Reading keeps my vocabulary growing. I love words and wordplay and the power of words. There's something so beautiful in a well-written sentence. 

8. Me time. Blogging and reading are my two biggest hobbies right now. 

Eight is apparently as far as I can get this week. I can't wait to find out what everyone else loves about being a blogger/reader.

Cheers!