Three of My Favorite Things about Book Blogging

My absolute most favorite thing about book blogging is the books. (Duh!) Through book blogging and book-centric websites (such as Goodreads), I've discovered so many books I never would have. Of course, this is more than a bit overwhelming, since I already don't have time to read the books I actually own... but it's still friggin' awesome. At the very least, I get to see some damn gorgeous covers!

I'm also fairly in love with the concept of reading challenges. Now, this needs a bit of qualification because in my experience, I actually suck at completing reading challenges... but that's because I have a bad habit of hoarding reading challenges the same way I hoard books. I see one I like. I see a few more I like. And a few more. And a few more. And then suddenly I'm drowning. Too many books, too many challenges, and too little time to squeeze it all into--especially since reading and blogging aren't my only hobbies! I still need to make time for watching Legend of Korra and American Horror Story, playing games like Spyro and The Sims and Crusader Kings II, rewatching old shows like Rugrats and Arthur and Digimon, checking out new (to me!) shows like Arrested Development and Naruto and Attack on Titan, and the overwhelming number of other things I want to do with my life, It's hard, dude.

But I'm getting off topic. Reading challenges are endlessly charming to me, even if I kind of tend to drop the ball.

I'm delighted to have my own space to share my opinions. I've struggled with some serious social anxiety issues since the time puberty began, and while many people dealing with the same problems seem to find it easier to handle the Internet than face-to-face interactions, I'm just as shitty with the 'net as I am in person. Probably shittier. There's no real reason to it, it's just a physiological reaction I need to struggle to stay in control of. And having my own space to post whatever I want (within the Blogspot TOS, of course) is a blessing on that front. I have more confidence being open here than, for example, I did when I was first posting at Goodreads, given that I joined the site for the cataloging feature and was initially very uncomfortable with the social aspect. Goodreads was, in a sense, everyone's space, but Amara's Eden is mine (even though, in a sense, I'm only leasing it from Google). It's great.

So, I feel like I'm forgetting lots of cool things about book blogging and the community. What's your favorite thing about reading blogs or writing one? Let me know in the comments!