Following bloggers is very personal. We start following blogs for different reasons. Perhaps a single post catches our eye one day. Perhaps a blog is recommended by someone else. Perhaps a blogger follows you and you follow back. Whatever the reason, for me, the blogs I read regularly are the ones in which I feel some sort of personal connection to the content or the blogger’s point of view. That means they’re usually book related.

20170107_141947-v2So, for some Friday Fun, I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite book bloggers. Perhaps you know them, perhaps you don’t. Before I start, I want to be clear there are many great bloggers out there I follow and many I probably haven’t discovered yet. If I tried to make a list of all my favorite bloggers it would be very, very long. This list includes bloggers I really enjoy for the following reasons…

  • They clearly love books as much as I do
  • They have a YA focus (at least somewhat)
  • They read and write about interesting books
  • They make the blog personal (it’s more than just books)
  • They have a unique or refreshing point of view
  • They foster a sense of book community
  • They are very positive (essentially their blogs always make me smile)

Teacher of YA

There are many reasons I love this blog, only one of which is that ToYA uses Rainbow Bright as a rating system. The book reviews are thoughtful and always focus on the positive, while still being honest. Plus, as the blog name would suggest, the reviews provide a teacher’s perspective regarding appropriateness books for YA readers. It’s a unique point of view that I enjoy.

Books Vertigo and Tea

As you can tell by the whimsical name of this blog, it’s not your average book blog. It includes book reviews but also veers into other book-related topics. BVT also does a great job of personalizing material and bringing the blogger into the blog.  I enjoy it when bloggers don’t have straight book reviews and add in a personal element. It’s also a blog that encourages engagement of the overall book community and covers many different types of books and authors. My favorite recurring blog topic is the namesake of the blog – books & tea pairings. I want to know what tea she’d pair with The Travelers! 🙂

Live to Write, Write to Live

Alright, this one doesn’t necessarily have a YA focus, but my daughter introduced me to this blog that is community of bloggers who are writers. The topics are wide-ranging and always from a writer’s point of view. This blog reminds me that as writers we are constantly learning and growing and I still have so much to learn.

YA Author Rendezvous

This blog’s welcome page probably explains itself best “We are a group of independent Young Adult, Middle Grade and Children’s Book authors who have banded together to bring our stories to as wide an audience as possible.” What’s great about this blog? It introduces you the stories, thoughts and ideas of YA authors you may not know. It also categorizes the blog post into groups like Flash Fiction, Writing Techniques, Book Reviews and Author Advice.

Shelfie

I like Shelfie because of its approaches to reviewing books in terms of content and media. The Shelfie ladies have interesting written reviews and also very entertaining podcasts where they discuss the books and the authors.  They also don’t just cover the typical YA titles reviewed in many other book blogs. They also cover indie, smaller press books.

Devouring Books and Lattes

This blog is just so totally relatable, it’s impossible not to love. The reviews are succinct and quirky with interesting insight and personal touches. This blog gets high marks in the always makes me smile category. And I clearly also have an affinity for blogs that combine books with caffeinated beverages.

Hope you learned about some new book blogs here! Please feel free to leave suggestions of other great book blogs to follow!