Blogger Recognition Award!

Speechless.  That is what I am…along with humbled, excited, and shocked.  Thank you so much to Jen at Jen Med’s Book Reviews and Emma at Emma The Little Bookworm for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition.  Both of you are awesome and I cannot express to you how grateful I am!

Below are the rules I need to take care of, before accepting this awesome award:

Rules of the Award

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

2. Write a post to show your award.

3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.

4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.

5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.

6. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide a link to the post you created.

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How I got started

Like most other bloggers, I love to read and write.  I’ve been accused of shutting out the world when I become involved with a good book.  One day, I was looking on Goodreads for different books to read.  I came across a review from Chelsea (The Suspense is Thrilling Me) for The Butterfly Garden.  I read the book based on her review (and loved it, btw), but also noticed the mention of Netgalley and how she received the book in exchange for her review.  After doing a little research the floodgates were opened!  I not only learned what an ARC was, but also discovered the wonderful world of Netgalley.  It was then that I decided to take book reading a step further and share my thoughts on all of my books.  From there, Kristin’s Novel Cafe was created and I’ve never looked back!

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Advice 

I actually feel a little silly giving advice to new bloggers, since I’m new to blogging myself.  I’ve only been blogging for 5 months!  But, I will do the best I can and share two tips that I’ve learned.

1.  First and foremost (and I’m sure every other blogger will tell you this) learn how to say no.  It is an exciting world of books!  Before you know it, authors and publishers will be reaching out to you, asking for your thoughts on their book.  I was so excited when this starting happening, I never dreamed that I would have to limit myself!  However, when you have more books than you can handle (I’m still working on the scheduling aspect) there comes a time when you just have to say no.  I now only accept books if they are in my genre, and if my schedule allows it.  It’s really o.k. to say no too, they will understand and you won’t hurt their feelings.  Which leads me to my next point of advice…
2. Write from the heart.  Always remember why you started blogging in the first place.  For me, I love reading and I love writing.  It is a dream of mine to someday write my own book, but for now I share my thoughts in the form of book reviews.  Don’t worry if you hurt anyone’s feelings.  Be true to yourself and always be honest.  There are going to be times when you are asked to review a book that just isn’t that good.  While you don’t want to be mean about it (remember, there is a person behind the book) you still need to be honest in how you feel about it.  There have been a couple of times after finishing reading a book I’ve felt just so-so about it.  I was worried about writing the review.  However, during my writing I realized the books hit too close to home and made it difficult to face certain insecurities of mine.  That is one of the beauties of writing; it brings out thoughts and feelings sometimes you didn’t know were even there!  Always, always be honest.

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My Nominations

This is the hard part, narrowing down my choices for nominations to only 15 other bloggers.  These bloggers have helped me in my blogging journey.  They are beyond awesome, and a couple of them I am honored to actually call my friends.  Without further ado, here is my list:

1. Amy – Novel Gossip
2. Chelsea – The Suspense is Thrilling Me
3. Renee – It’s Book Talk
4. Jill – Jill’s Book Cafe
5. Wendy – Little Bookness Lane
6. Amanda – Hanging With Amanda
7. Emma – Damp Pebbles
8. Amanda – Cover 2 Cover Mom
9. Jillian – Rant and Rave About Books
10. Kaisha – The Writing Garnet
11. Claire – Brizzlelass Books
12. Lorraine – The Book Review Cafe
13. Sue – Books From Dusk till Dawn
14. Krysti – YA and Wine
15. Sarah – By the Letter Book Reviews

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So, there you have it.  I cannot be more honored to be part of this awesome world of books and blogging.  Everyone I’ve met has been beyond helpful and just plain great.  Never in a million years did I ever dream that I would be part of this world and here I am…honestly living the dream.