That’s right!
THE NOVEL HERMIT CELEBRATES ITS FIRST BLOGOVERSARY! (AKA THE DAY IT WAS BORN!)
YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS.
I can’t believe it’s been a year. It feels like I’ve been blogging less than that (especially since the first six months were pretty lackluster for my blog in terms of post and interacting in the book community). It’s pretty amazing I lasted this long talking about books. I was apprehensive about sharing my thoughts about books because I didn’t think I’d be able to convey my thoughts and feelings clearly, but I did and it’s awesome.
In the beginning, I hadn’t put on my blogging cap. I had recently graduated college and was utterly confused on what I wanted to do. I’m no stranger to blogging; I’ve had a personal blog for a while, but I wanted an outlet where I could talk about books. Creating a book blog made sense. For the first four months, I only did a bunch of memes (mainly Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday, and Stacking the Shelves) with the occasional review. I’m not proud of those times. I just wasn’t comfortable doing anything else. I hadn’t found my voice and I was feeling distant to the book community. But thank you for Armchair BEA. Discussions really help me open up. I slowly eased myself into a regular schedule and started visiting other blogs, but I feel like the turning point was August. I became more active than I had ever been the previous months. (I essentially traded tumblr for twitter and it was a good choice.) It makes me incredibly happy that I’ve met incredibly people – authors and bloggers.
I have to give a bunch of shout-outs to fellow bloggers (who I really consider my friends) for making this community frickin’ awesome.
Kelly (of Effortlessly Reading) | Christine (of Oh Chrys)
Stacie (of The Shy Book Nerd) | Arial (of In Italics)
Stormy (of Book.Blog.Bake) | Nikki (of The Paper Sea)
Claire (of Bitches With Books) | Nikki (of There Were Books Involved)
You’ve all been totally awesome to me when I feel like I don’t deserve it. Thanks for putting up with my jokes and my squealing about fonts and narwhals. And I have to thank every one of you who tweeted me or commented on my blog. You do not know how much I appreciate your comments. They brighten up my day. Every one of you make this book community more awesome! *hugs all of you*
For me, blogging will forever be an intricate part of my life. It has allowed me to be vocal about my opinions on books and to create surprisingly decent graphics.
Here’s to another year of The Novel Hermit! I hope to get to know everybody (and this book community) better! *cheers*
In honor of my first book blogoversary (and my appreciation to fellow bloggers and readers), I am giving away a book of your choice ($20) from my favorite author list!
Diana Peterfreund | Rainbow Rowell | Daniel Handler | Rachel Hawkins
Melina Marchetta | Kasie West | Marissa Meyer | Victoria Schwab
Susan Ee | Brandon Sanderson | Sarah J. Maas | Sarah Rees Brennan
You can decide to get one hardcover book OR two paperbacks as long as it’s $20. It can be a pre-order (if you want and are willing to wait until the publishing date).
The rules:
- This contest is opened internationally (as long as The Book Depository delivers to you).
- The giveaway will run from December 19 to December 31, 2013.
- You must be 13 years (with your parent’s permission) or older.
- You will be disqualified if you pick up entries you haven’t done.
- If the winner does not respond to my e-mail within 48 hours, I will have to choose another winner.
- I am not responsible for any items lost in the mail.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: Since my discussion post about annoying comments, I’m quite strict on comments. If I see a comment that’s a couple of words and doesn’t say anything substantial, that entry will be disqualified. I’d like you to be considerate of my feelings on those annoying comments.
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For Arial & Christine —
the ribbon is from “Beragarmont Ornaments” | “The Novel Hermit” – Amatic SC | “1 Year” – Su | “blogoversary” – Callie Hands
Congratulations! I hope you continue blogging. :)
By the way, I love your blog design! It’s adorable.
Congratulations and here`s to many more blogoversaries! I don`t really have a set number one but I really love the author P.J. Parrish because they write great crime fiction novels that always have interesting plots with a great lead detective!
Happy blogoversary! Marissa Meyer and Leigh Bardugo as my two favorite authors! Thanks for the giveaway. :)
Happy blogoversary, Cee! :) Love your author list! Especially Susan Ee & Brandon Sanderson <333
Congratulations! :D On to many more years!
CONGRATS!!! Happy Blogoversary! *throws lots and lots of confetti & does book shimmy*
I love your blog and your blog design. I didn’t think narwhals were cute until I saw your header. I mean look at it who wouldn’t love it! I hope you have another great year of blogging! CONGRATS again :)
Happy blogoversary! Like you, I also consider Marissa Meyer & Sarah J. Maas my favorite authors. But no one can top JK Rowling in my opinion ;)
Thanks for this giveaway!
Congratulations! Your blog is one of my favorites, not just because every time I see it I go “NARWHAL TIME YESSSSS” but also because I know that whatever post I’m reading will be honest and frank and funny. Not to mention, I just have a thing for your font choices and graphics. They’re quirky and I love the colors and they always make me happy.
As for your giveaway question…That’s a very cruel thing to ask a bookworm. I mean, J. K. Rowling will always be a goddess in my eyes for creating Hogwarts and the ministry and all these unique little details like chocolate frogs and wizard’s chess that built this incredible world, but I also love Jane Austen and her sassmastery, BUT then there’s authors like Malinda Lo and Suzanne Collins and Steve Kluger that I just want to chase after screaming, “LET ME LOVE YOU!” It’s really impossible to choose because I love so many authors for so many different reasons. Tolkien for his vision, Ally Carter for the fun times, John Green for his quirky way of looking at things, Shakespeare for his never-ending barrage of original insults…They’re all equally awesome.
But anyway, congratulations again on your first blogoversary! I hope there are many more to come!
Happy first blogoversary, Cee! =D Blogging is amazing and I’m glad to have found you through it. I love talking book stuff with you and so, here’s to many more years of blogging. You be so cool. <3
Now, let's do a #NarwhalPartayyy!
And oh, my favorite author will always be JK Rowling but I also love Sidney Sheldon and Enid Blyton a lot. Those three really did make reading more than just a habit in my life and for this, I’ll be always be grateful to them.
My favorite author is Beth Revis because her writing style is just superb and her Across the Universe trilogy ROCKS! I love that trilogy TO DEATH. And happy blogoversary! WOOHOO! I really love reading your posts. :-)
Congratulations!! :D 1 year is such an awesome milestone!
I know what you mean about those first few months of blogging. It was the same for me. it can take a little while for you to find your stride!
WOO HOOO!
Happy Anniversary!!
Happy blogoversary! I’m a relatively new follower, but I look forward to seeing more posts from you in the future. :) My favorite author of all time is Louisa May Alcott. Little Women is one of my favorite books and I did an independent study on LMA in college. I finally got to visit her house in Concord, Massachusetts last winter and it made me love her even more. I guess I can’t really explain my love for her, I just feel a kinship with her and her characters.
Congratulations on 1 year!! I just found you today because of your anniversary. Excited to see where your blog goes in this next year. Have a great day :-)
Happy Blogoversary Cee!!! It’s so cool that you accomplished a big milestone. You’re one my favorite blogs that I visit frequently because you are so unique and your style is different. You even convinced me to love Narwhals lol! I hope you continue to have more years of awesome books blogging! Cheers!!! <333333
Oh and my favorite authors are JK Rowling and Richelle Mead! They're the ones that opened up a whole new world of reading. Love them!
YAY FOR ONE YEAR! Congrats, Cee :D I will forever love your narwhal, and if you ever change it, I think I may cry tears.
As for your giveaway question: I REALLY DO NOT KNOW. I mean, if I was forced at gunpoint to tell you, it would probably be Juliet Marillier. She’s the author of two of my all time favourite books – Wildwood Dancing and Heart’s Blood. She writes amazing fantasy, and her words always comfort me. So I guess that’s why she’s my favourite author. Her stories stay with me, and I have loved them for a very long time, and I guess I will always love them.
*HUGS BACK*
Congratulations, Cee!
I love all the times we talk fonts (by the way, A+ on your banner. It looks really good) and I absolutely love the cool cards you make. Thanks so much for always being welcoming and willing to talk over on Twitter. I love all of your discussions, and I know what you mean about the first few months of blogging being rough. I completely agree that meeting new book blogging friends really makes blogging so much more fun and worthwhile.
I am really excited to see what the next year will bring on The Novel Hermit!
Oh, and P.S. my favorite author is Melina Marchetta. She writes really beautiful and complex novels. I highly recommend you read Jellicoe Road if you haven’t already!
Melina Marchetta! She’s my author crush! Her books always blow my mind and leave me in awe. She’s an amazing writer. <3
Thank you for the giveaway!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Thanx so much for the give away!! :)
Happy blogoversary Cee! :D<3<3<3
-throws all the things in the world at you- (at least the items I can lift up and throw)
I was planning on spamming you today, but my eyes are closing and not behaving. Two finals + 3.5 hours with kids will do that to you. But whatever, my eyes must be wide open and I must not fall asleep while typing this to you! (You will not believe how many typos I've written so far, grrr.) #iamdetermined
Anyways, I hope you last A LOT more years with me Cee so we can continue talking in #hashtags, fan over Charmanders (and okay, Squirtles), obsess over the rudeness of the world, fangirl over the awesomeness of our favorite authors, and many more conversations we have not discovered yet, but are lurking in the future for us to discover. :D
P.S. Read Steelheart asap so we can both fangirl over it! I have SO many feels for it.
P.P.S. Sorry if some of these things aren't making sense, my brain isn't working! D:
Congrats, Cee and ALMOST-blogoversary twin! I wish you many more blogging years filled with narwhals & ampersands, of course.
It definitely took me awhile to find my voice, too. I don’t think I even felt like I had a good grip on my blog until like 7 months in, but I’m so glad we both found our strides eventually! *throws confetti*. I’m SUPER excited that I found your blog–or you found mine, not sure which–through armchair BEA!. Here’s too many more twitter conversations.
Congrats on 1 year! My 2 year was just last month and I’m still celebrating lol =P
Picking a favorite author is so hard! Like picking just one favorite color when I love all the colors so much…right now I am really in love with Maggie Stiefvater and Sarah Rees Brennan though. Both of those lovely ladies know how to pull my heart strings and make me love a character I shouldn’t even like.
HOW DID I MISS THIS??? Happy Blogoversary!! And I am so honored by your shout-out, but I have to correct one thing – there was no “putting up with”, only “having fun with”!! And you always deserve all the awesome that comes your way. So congrats on your year of awesomeness, and here’s to another!! <3
PS YOUR NARWHAL IS SO CUTE IN ITS PERFECTLY-POSITIONED AND -PROPORTIONED HAT. ;D
Um also I commented before I saw the “comment” part of the rafflecopter – Favorite author right now is probably a toss-up between Victoria Schwab and Brandon Sanderson. It might be slightly leaning toward Victoria though because I’ve actually interacted with her a little more lately, and she is a sweetheart, and I’m just so excited about ALL HER PROJECTS, and of course because Vicious was my absolute favorite book this year. <3
Your…
your…
your narwhal has a santa hat on…I WANT IT. Please can somebody find me a plushie like that? Yes? Pleaaaase?
Congraaaaats. Time passes so quickly, I mean I can’t believe it’s been 4 months of blogging for me! I still feel like it’s been only a month. I actually haven’t had the problem with the memes. I feel like they kind of restrain me, because I’d have to post at certain days about certain things and I prefer to do something similar but add whatever I think is necessary and just sticking to myself. I just get bored with them.
Okay, and I’m sooooo happy you added Susan Ee to the list of fav authors. I might start screaming about Angelfall again so I’m keeping it short.
A hundred points to you for adding a Leo aka Gatsby gif.
Happy blogoversary! x
Ooooooh and I forgot to add my fav author of all time. Weeeeell, there are lots but the one I’m currently obsessing about is Patrick Ness (obviously). Because COME ON he’s a master at feels. I read four of his books and I cried on every single one. And I cry rarely when it comes to books so I guess that says something about his writing. His characters are incredibly realistic and somehow he can always suit the language into the character, to say something more about him/her. Besides every book is sooo different and all of them are great. Another thing why I love him is outside the books he’s really smart and funny so yeah. That’s it.
Congrats on your first year of blogging! I just finished my first year in November, and realized that it was SO much harder than I thought it would be when I started! I love it though! :)
My favorite author (in response to the Rafflecopter question) would have to be either Jodi Picoult or Ellen Hopkins. Neither of them shy away from hot topics – while Jodi Picoult’s books make me think about certain things from a different perspective, Ellen Hopkins’ books tackle tough problems with teens in a head-on and creative way.
Bree :)
Happy blogoversary! My fav author is J.K Rowling. My book obsession started after reading the HP series.
Happy Blogoversary to you!
I have so many favorite authors, it’s really hard to choose only one. I like Tammara Webber’s books, from the paranormal genre my favorite is Jeaniene Frost, Rachel Vincent. These authors rocked my world! They write amazing novels and they are all on my auto-buy list. :)
Darn, I’m a day late! HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY to you! It is so funny that our blog stories are almost similar. There were certain events like Armchair BEA that were a springboard for interaction for me. I always interacted, but those mediums made me do so more. I am very proud of your acclomplishment, and I wish you many more of these celebrations! As long as you are happy doing it! Thanks for being such a great friend and font sleuth. :)<3
PS. That Narwhal is rocking that cap!
Happy Blogoversary!
My favourite author of all time is Julie Kagawa. I will read anything by her. Thanks so much for the giveaway.
Happy blogoversary! :)
Cynthia Eden-simply I love,love all her books and Nora Roberts,she is amazing writer! :)
Thanks for the chance!
Happy Holidays :)
Happy Blogoversary and thanks for the giveaway!! Jane Austen is my favorite author of all time. <3
My favourite author at the moment is probably Sophie McKenzie, or John Green! I’m reading my first ever Rainbow Rowell book soon, Attachments, but I’ve wanted to read Eleanor and Park, and Fangirl, for AGES! :) Happy blogoversary!
HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!!!! Here’s to another year *raises glass*
I’m glad we met and I hope we can talk more in the next year!
My favorite author is J.K. Rowling for the obvious reason. She wrote Harry Potter lol
A HUGE congratulations to you on your 1 year blogiversary! That’s such a wonderful accomplish, and I hope you continue on to see your second year blogiversary too. :) Happy reading and blogging!
Yay! Congratulations on one year of blogging Cee and hope you have many more! Would hate to see you go.
By the way, LOVE the santa hat on your narwhal. It’s so cute! :)
Wooo! Happy Blogoversary! :D
Umm, my favourite author…so many options to choose from :/
Well Rick Riordan because he wrote the Percy Jackson series- love those books :D
And John Green, because TFIOS.
Oh, and we can’t forget J.K. Rowling because of the Harry Potter series….
GAH I CAN’T CHOOSE! Let’s just say I have many favourite authors :P
Ilona Andrews!!! I loved and enjoyed a lot of different books but I’ve never re-read other books as much as I’ve re-read the Kate Daniels series. The world they created is really interesting and I love the different mythology. Of course, the main character Kate is likable and I love the secondary characters as well. They grow and develop so much over the series. :)
Happy Blogoversary first of all! :D
And I love Maggie Stiefvater for her amazing, gorgeous writing style and rich characterization, but my all-time favorite might have to be Sarah Dessen–her books are like comfort food to me!
Other than the obvious answer, JK Rowling.. I have to say I have a couple and they include Tahereh Mafi, Michelle Hodkin, Cate Tiernan, Jenny Han, Stephanie Perkins, Kasie West, Veronica Roth, Veronica Rossi, and Katja Millay!
thanks for the awesome giveaway and HAPPY BLOGVERSARY!!!
– Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf
Morgan Rhodes because her book, Falling Kingdom reminds me a lot of Game of Thrones in a way. It is fantasy genre which is my favorite :D
Congratulations on your 1 year Blogoversary!! I wish you many more and many new and awesome books to read!! :)
My favorite author has to be Meg Cabot, her Princess Diaries series really helped and comforted me through out my tough late teen years and high school and later college. I could identify myself the main character she had created I felt awkward in my body and had few very close friends and my parents were going through a brutal divorce. So I escaped into a world of books and her’s really comforted me. I actually met her not long after my High School graduation when she was doing a book tour, she was so sweet and funny.
My favorite book is One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I’ve read this book at least 20-30 times and I love completely
I love the storyline, characters, events… all.. I cried, laugh, was afraid..
It’s an amazing book
Congrats in your bloganiversary
Happy Blogoversary and more power to your blog!
Congrats on 1 year!!! I am just a recent follower, and I really love your blog, something about it pulls me in straight away, don’t know what it is at the moment haha.
Thank you so much for the giveaway.
My Favourite Author of all time this is really hard. well…
For my Childhood, for me growing up it has to be J.K Rowling, she just has a way to captivate me every time I read the Harry Potter Series, no matter how many times I read them. She takes me to another world.
For my teen years Richelle Mead and John Green, they are both different authors but they both do the same thing to me. They take me to another world, they help with things that teenages might have to go through in different yet the same way.
Congrats again for 1 year.
My favourite authors are JK Rowling and Rick Riordan. I love them both because their books were the first ever series i’ve read and mainly because they’ve been part of my childhood <3
J.D Robb aka Nora Roberts! Let me tell you something she’s AMAZING! I love her books so much.
Tolkien. Fantasy.
Nice giveaway!
My fav author is most probably Richelle Mead. I also like Veronica Roth, Cassandra Clare and Rick Riodan.
Congrats on your first year of book bloggery! :D It’s really hard to choose single favorite author of all time, but right now the authors who invoke the fangirl in me are: Brandon Sanderson, Marissa Meyer, Victoria Schwab, and Laini Taylor. Three of them are also on YOUR list! High five! :D
Congratulations! One whole year! That’s awesome! :D
It’s very hard to select only one favorite author… But at the time I think it might be Richelle mead – I just really like her books, and she will always be kind of special to me because The Vampire Academy was the first books i read in English, and now I only read in English :D
Happy Blogoversary! Hm, hard question, I don’t have A Favorite Author, but I love Alexandre Dumas, Benjamin Alire Sáenz and Jane Austen a LOT :)
Happy Blogoversary! My favourite author is John Green. I love how he can make me laugh and cry so much. It’s hard to explain… His writing is just perfect.
I’m a huge fan of Gena Showalter! Her Alice in Zombieland series is awesome! Along with her LOTU books.