Two Book-tastic Years!! (and a giveaway)

Today, July 12th, marks two years of blogging for me here on My Life in Books. It has been a great two years. I've "met" so many wonderful book lovers from across the U.S. and the world! Books themselves may take you across the world, but so do the friends you make through books. Those listed in the blog roll to the right margin of my blog hail from Ohio, New York, Connecticut, and Virginia, to North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, across the way to Texas and Colorado, and back up to Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Not to mention those in Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, and South Africa! And before you scoff at my use of "friends," realize I converse with these bloggers constantly, we know what's up with each other often, we share one of the most passionate things of our lives (books), and many of us have met each other in person at different times in the past couple years. I absolutely love the uniting factor books provide between you and people you might not have known otherwise.

What else? I've had the opportunity to read countless books before publication, which is always a thrill when you're in a bookstore and see a new book out on its first day and say, "Oh, I've read that already." Because of my blog, I am finally a competent Twitter user and I have increased my Pinterest use slightly, although neither have became a habitual use yet...and I don't mind that really. One of the best pluses, I've had the chance to converse with so many authors through Twitter! It's awesome! Oh, and the graphic above is the first one I ever made myself! I went ahead and attempted picmonkey. It's nothing great, but I learned how to get words and a background on there, so I'm content for now!

I know there is more I could do to improve my blog and gather a larger reading base, but really the blog is serving its purpose for me. It was meant to keep me writing until a time in my life when I can pick writing up seriously. (At the moment my family and career are time consuming, as they should be.) But this purpose seems to work quite well, as I was asked to apply for a writing gig for a website at one point. The job is temporarily on hold for the company, but it's exciting nonetheless. As it is, the blog has exceeded my expectations, so can you imagine the possibilities in the next year? I have a few things in mind and some bookish goals I'd like to meet. I'd love to attend a book-related workshop/convention, meet authors at book signings, and meet some of these wonderful book blogging friends of mine in person.

Well, let's make a jump into those possibilities with my first ever giveaway! For some reason I've always been so hesitant and nervous about doing a giveaway, but I had some awesome advice/help from the ladies on my blog roll. Besides, two years warrants a celebration of my readers, followers, and fellow book lovers. So enter below, good luck, and thanks for all of your involvement with My Life in Books.

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