The End: Thank You

So that's it. LGBTQ YA Month is done. And wasn't it awesome?!

I have been working on LGBTQ YA Month since September 2012. It took a lot of time and a lot of work, and because of this, I think it's the best YA themed blog event I've held. I am so amazed at the number of people who got involved, sharing their own time to write guest posts or answer interview questions -awesome guest posts and answers! I have learnt a huge deal over the past 11 months, and I am so glad I decided to hold it! I have quite a lot of people to thank, so here we go.

Continue reading The End: Thank You

Thank You!

**I am posting this on both my blogs, as some people read one blog or the other, not both.**

Today is Thanksgiving for those in the US, and, although Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in the UK, I wanted to write a thank you post today as a lot of people I need to thank are from/live in America. Before I start however - Happy Thanksgiving to all my American followers/blogging buddies! Hope you have an awesome day!

I have read some amazing books this year, so I want to start off by thanking the awesome authors who wrote them (even if they don't see this post). I couldn't possibly list all the books or all the authors, but I shall name a few that have made an impact on me in one way or another. So, for writing amazing novels that have made me laugh or cry, swept me up in the story, really feel for characters, and just blowing me away with your words, thank you to (in no particular order!):


Lisa Shearin
Luisa Plaja
Cassandra Clare
Becca Fitzpatrick
Rachel Vincent
Jeaniene Frost
Melissa Marr
Richelle Mead
Karen Chance
Rachel Caine
Suzanne McLeod
Suzanne Collins
Lauren Kate
Joanna Kenrick
Laura Ruby
Melvin Burgess
Also thank you to those I'm yet to read this year, yet to enjoy - thank you in advance.

There are also book bloggers I need to thank. A general thank you to all the bloggers whose blogs I read/follow for the recommending awesome books, for the giveaways and the memes, for inspiring me with my own blogs, for this awesome community you all make up.

I only started blogging properly this year, and neither of my blogs would be anything like what they are now without the support, help, encouragement, or useful posts from specific book bloggers, so thank you to (again, no particular order):


Kristi of The Story Siren
Lenore of Presenting Lenore
Bella of A Bibliophile's Bookshelf
Natasha of Maw Books
Shesten of I Heart Monster
I also want to thank all my followers/readers/commenters. I can't explain to you how awesome it is to see my followers number go up, knowing that the number represents that many individual people who like my blog enough to want to visit regularly. I really do appreciate every one of you checking out my blog, even the lurkers who don't leave comments. As nice as it is to receive comments, I know it's not necessary to leave a comment to enjoy reading someone's blog. Those who do leave comments, thank you for taking the time to do so; I enjoy reading what you think. So thank you to all of you!

Then there are the publishers! Thanks to each and every publisher - and author, on the odd occassion - who has sent me books to review. Every now and again, I do request books from publishers, but more often the books I receive to review are sent to me after the publisher has found me first. So thank you to Yannick of Prospera Publishing, Kat and Ally of Simon and Schuster UK, Lauren and Georgia of Kids at Random House, Ryann of St. Martin's Press, Sam of Orbit Books, and Chiara of Allison and Busby. I really appreciate being contacted about opportunities to review books, even if it turns out the book isn't what I'm interested in, or I review the book and don't like it. It's like every week could be Christmas, and it's just so cool. It genuinely delights and surprises me that people would like me to review their books. So thank you!

There are a few people I have got to know a bit better via email, namely Jenny of Wondrous Reads and Jessica of Nayu's Reading Corner. It's great to connect and make friends with people who understand my love of reading, and can get excited with over each others' news. I've enjoyed our email conversations, and it's been great getting to know you both better. Sorry I don't always reply quickly - sometimes life gets a little hectic.

Finally, I need to re-thank someone. Not only does this person write amazing, hilariously funny novels, but she is also a really lovely person. She was a great help to me when I ran Sex in Teen Lit Month on Once Upon a Bookcase back in July, whether it was with ecouragement and support, advice, recommendations, or taking an active part in it. And then she takes some time to chat with book lovers, me included, even though she is incredibly busy - and she is incredibly busy; as well as talking to/advising fellow book lovers, she's also the editor of fabulous YA book blog Chicklish, AND writes awesome novels, all at the same time. She has to be Superwoman in disguise, I swear. So thank you to you, yet again, Luisa Plaja.

I believe that's all the thanks I wanted to give. If I have left anyone out, I'm really sorry, but you are appreciated as well - thank you!

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, I hope everyone has a great day!

Continue reading Thank You!

A Quick Thank You

I've just noticed that I now have 100 followers! Thank you so much to everyone who has started following me, I really appreciate it! Once Upon a Bookcase has only been around for almost five months, and it's amazing how quickly 100 people have decided they liked my blog enough to want to follow it. It took me quite a while longer to reach 100 on Ink and Paper, so thank you so much!

Unfortunately, I am jobless and money is sparse, so I can't hold a contest to say thank you, but I really do appreciate it! I do hope you continue to follow and enjoy my posts. If I think about it properly, it's amazing that 100 individual people like my blog enough to come back. Really, thank you!

Continue reading A Quick Thank You

And it Ends: Thank You!

Phew! So this is the last post for Sex in Teen Lit Month, and then we're done. It's gone by pretty quickly! I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have! I have some thank you's to make - please bare with me, this may take a while.

Firstly, a big, huge, massive, ginourmous thank you to Luisa Plaja. This lady has gone so far beyond helpful and supportive, I'd say this was partly her baby too. Luisa helped me come up with the idea originally, supplied me with a list of titles as possibilities I could use for this month, supplied me with a copy of Extreme Kissing to review, agreed to be interviewed about it, sent me her thoughts on each of the books as a reader/mother/author to include with the reviews, supplied SiTL Month with a contest, has been available for me to ask opinion on various aspects of the month as I was working things out, helped me to get my hands on some of the books, and has been generally pro everything SiTL Month! Luisa, thank you so, so much for all your help with this month, you have been amazingly awesome, and I'm very sorry for clogging up your inbox! You are a STAR!

Thanks to all the wonderful authors who agreed to be interviewed! Your answers were just so fascinating to read! It was just so fantastic of you all for taking the time to answer some questions for us all, and for your support of SiTL Month too! So thank you to Tanya Lee Stone, Luisa Plaja (again), Joanna Kenrick, Sara Hantz, Laura Ruby, Mary Hooper, Serena Robar, and Melvin Burgess! You're awesome!

Cheers to all the wonderful ladies who contributed guestposts, author Jane Eagland, Ana of Things Mean a Lot, Kay of Infinite Shelf, and Kate of Another Book Blog-Whore. You're all fantastic, and your posts just so interesting!

Thank you to all the authors who wrote the books I covered for this month, which includes Nick Hornby and Julie Burchill.

And thank you to everyone who commented! It wouldn't have worked without you guys commenting, so thank you for taking an interest and for popping over to read it all and comment! You're all amazing!

I really did enjoy this month. It opened my eyes quite a bit. I hadn't read non-fantasy YA in a long time, and I didn't think it was for me, but decided to do this anyway because it was a subject I was interested in and because it's something I feel is important. I was completely wrong, YA is for me! I love it, and will be continuing to read it. You may just find that Ink and Paper Specials becomes my own YA book review blog :) We'll see.

My eyes were also opened by the books I read themselves, and how they dealt with the subject. They effected my way of thinking, and I'm no longer a teen! Each book made an impression in it's own way, but there were some that had quite a big impact, and made me look at things differently. I was going to list the ways, but it would just be far too long. When I have children of my own, I'll be sure to recommend all these books. Perhaps handing over any copies I own - as long as they don't damage them!

So, SiTL Month is now over. There's a possibility I may do something similar in the future, so as corny as this is, would you mind giving me your feedback on the month with this short survey, please? It's only 6 questions long, it shouldn't take you long to answer, and I'd really appreciate it! Cheers.

So thanks everyone for such an awesome month! It's been fun :)

Continue reading And it Ends: Thank You!