BBAW: Day 1

Today is the official start of Book Blogger Appreciation Week…

…in which over 1000 blogs get together to celebrate books and blogging (The Book Smugglers’ most favorite things in the whole wide world). As you probably know by now, there are suggested daily topics that everyone can follow, and today, bearing in mind the Awards, we are encouraged to write about blogs that did not make the final ballot. There are many, MANY blogs that we love (just check out our blogroll *points to the left*) and these are just a few of the many that we think deserve a shout out:

Author blogs:

Some of our favorite authors also have ridiculously awesome blogs:

• Karen Mahoney
• Diana Peterfreund
• Meljean Brook
• Sarah Rees Brennan
• Patrick Rothfuss

Ana: Yes, they sometimes talk about serious, writerly things but mostly they are just great fun to read; these authors are like, our author crushes because they are SO cool in their geekyness and it’s no wonder we love their books. I mean, Sarah Rees Brennan writes GREAT movie parodies, Karen Mahoney is a total geek, Meljean Brook is full-on a Batman/Wonder Woman shipper and Diana Peterfreund went to DragonCon dressed as a clockwork can can dancer and Patrick Rothfuss, well, Patrick Rothfuss is just made of awesome and he loves me.

Thea: What Ana said! On top of writing kickass stories about unicorn slayers and equally venomous ivy league secret societies, Diana Peterfreund also writes an awesome blog in which she divulges the history of the unicorn, the love story Ballad of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, and Zombie Bo Peep/Steampunk CanCan/Zombie Bride chic. I don’t think it gets any better than that! Meljean Brook is my moviegoing soulmate, with her love for horror, for Mulder and Scully, Nazi Zombies, and everything Dark City, not to mention her kickass Wonder Woman love posts.

And Karen Mahoney, ahh dearest Kaz! Book pimp, honorary Smuggler and all around cool lady who loves Neil Gaiman just as much as Ana and I do. She’s so full of awesome that I can almost forgive her for writing about books that I want but cannot afford in her addictive Friday Five posts…

Most chatty:

This is one of our favorite categories – just check out what it is all about:

This blogger has a very “chatty” style. You feel like you could be sitting together, sipping wine, and chatting about life.

We feel that way every time we visit Carolyn Jean’s blog Thrillionth Page, Christine at The Happily Ever After, and Kris from Kris ‘n’ Good Books.

Best Speculative Fiction Review Blog:

Ana: Definitely Fantasy Book Critic, our Go-To site for all things Fantasy. Most of the Spec Fiction books we want to read, we found out via this blog.

Thea: I think this is the category where I’m the most disappointed in the final ballot – probably because my reader is chock-full of SF Review Blogs, and I’m really sad to see some of them didn’t make the shortlist. In addition to the incredible crew at Fantasy Book Critic (seriously, I have MAJOR blog envy for the folks that run that site), I also highly recommend:

• Fantasy Cafe – Kristen writes some of the very best reviews out there, in-depth without spoiling. And her taste is impeccable! I’ve picked up many a book because of her awesome recommendations.
• Fantasy Debut – Tia and Mulluane do a fantastic job of running this smart, savvy niche blog that celebrates debut fantasy/speculative fiction authors. Their debut spotlights are the reason for many of my bookstore picks.
• Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review – I don’t think they make bloggers any cooler than Graeme. He posts reviews and contests nearly every day, and he has a great variety of coverage. One of the few SF bloggers I know that reviews horror, I can always count on great titles and fun, engaging posts from Graeme.

Best Collaborative Blog:

Ana: (And also one of the coolest blogs EVER): Alert Nerd – Matt, Jeff, Chris, and Sarah are 4 supergeeks that talk about all things awesome: comics, TV Shows, Movies, Books, etc. We lurves them.

Thea: What Ana said! Alert Nerd is effing sweet, and I can’t believe we only discovered it this year (after their wonderful “What’s Your Scott and Jean” bonanza). And of course, I gotta add Fantasy Book Critic to this category too.

Best YA Blog:

The shortlisted nominees are all wonderful, but I can’t help but wish that Presenting Lenore made the ballot. She has some awesome coverage of YA titles.

AND two of my new favorite blogs that I think should be included on multiple categories including this one are Angie of the superb Angieville and new to me blogger Rhiannon Hart, who has wicked good taste in dystopian YA lit.

What about you? Which blogs do you think deserved to be shortlisted?