Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Discoveries I Made In 2019

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is about the bookish discoveries we made last year. Most of mine will be blog related because my blog was actually born in 2019 and I’ve made some pretty awesome discoveries as a result of A Little Nerd Told Me.

Blogging has been a fantastic experience so far and I’ve found not only an amazing community full of people who love books as much as I do, but a lot of fun ways to express that love of books, too.

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That Artsy Reader Girl

I’d be remiss if I didn’t start out this list with That Artsy Reader Girl herself. Book tags are pretty much the best and Top Ten Tuesday is one of the biggest ones. Plus, it brings a lot of traffic my way and has connected me with an even bigger community of bloggers. So keep bringing on the #TTT!

Book Blogs

To be honest, before I started blogging myself I didn’t really visit book blogs all that often unless they were part of bigger websites like Goodreads or Book Riot. I feel bad about it (sorry!), but I’m certainly making up for it by following tons of other book bloggers now and reading everything they have to say. Following all of you has made my TBR list grow to epic proportions, but it’s totally worth it.

Book Tags

Oh my gosh do I love book tags. Whether they’re quizzes, prompts, or scavenger hunts, I can’t get enough of them. I really need to start doing more of them, they’re a great way to let people know more about your bookish personality and reading habits.

Angry Robot 

As a book reviewer, I’ve had the privilege of reading a lot of books from different publishers, far more than I read books from prior to putting my reviews online. Some have been self-published, some have been from the bigger publishing houses, but quite a few came from smaller publishers or imprints. Many of those smaller ones are total hidden gems, none more so than UK based publisher Angry Robot Books.

Focused mainly on sci-fi and fantasy, they have put out so many incredible publications, a couple of which topped my favorite reads of 2019. That’s not just what sets them apart though! They are extremely engaged with their authors and readers, creating a wonderful environment that really makes you feel like you’re part of their community (or their Robot Army as they call it!)

You can tell that they love what they do and honestly, that just makes supporting them all the more satisfying.

Book Twitter 

Even though I’ve had a Twitter account for at least a decade, I didn’t use it all that much except to follow a few comedians. Occasionally I’d post about TV shows, but for the most part I was a pretty passive user of the platform, often going months without logging in.

That all changed last year when I realized how many book nerds are out there in the Twitterverse. I’ve connected with dozens of other readers, bloggers, and authors, talking about anything and everything to do with books. It’s been a blast to become a part of such a global network of bookworms! It’s also one heckin’ good feeling to have an author like or retweet you.

I now have the Twitter app actually installed on my phone and use it on an almost daily basis. If you guys use it, feel free to add me! @joceapotamus

Broke & The Bookish Secret Santa

As I’ve already mentioned, 2019 was the year I started blogging and interacting with other bloggers. Not only do we comment on each other’s blogs, give suggestions, and tag each other, but we become friends too. And some of us give each other Christmas presents!

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl this year, the 10th Annual Broke & The Bookish Secret Santa was the first one I took part in. Insanely well organized, bloggers sign up to gift other bloggers books, trinkets, and treats. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I am so glad I participated. I had so much fun gathering items for my blogger and learning more about her, as well. Then my Secret Santa gave me one of the most thoughtful packages I’ve ever received. I can’t wait to take part in it again this year!

Coffee, chocolate, books, and llamas- what more do you need?!

Book Challenges

I’ve always done the Goodreads Challenge and I’ve made some sad attempts at others I came across on websites like The Modern Mrs. Darcy or Popsugar. Now that I follow more personal bloggers, I discovered just how many book challenges there are out there. It’s been a lot easier to find ones that are more attainable for me and fit with my actual reading goals. So hopefully 2020 will be the year I actually finish some book challenges!

Blog Tours

Part of becoming more active in the book blogging community is seeing that these blogs are so much more than just book reviews. People talk about everything to do with books in countless unique ways including blog tours. Set up to promote a book, bloggers tag team over the course of several days to discuss the book, all giving their own unique take on it. I’ve taken part in one and have signed up for several more so watch this space!

John Scalzi

Scalzi was my favorite new-to-me author of 2019. I knew who he was already, it’d be hard to like sci-fi books and not know the name, but I’d never gotten around to reading any of his books. Old Man’s War was at the top of my TBR pile for years and when I finally got around to reading it last year I was utterly blown away.

That led me to devour several more of his books and I learned that not only could the man write an intense military sci-fi space opera, but he could write really funny sci-fi, too. I went on to read a couple of his lighter books, Redshirts and Agents to the Stars, two books that had me laughing out loud quite a bit. And bonus- my all-time favorite audiobook narrator Wil Wheaton narrates several of his books!

The Expanse Series

Despite the nearly unanimous consensus that these books are the greatest thing since sliced bread, I’d been holding off on reading them for some reason. My husband had bought me the first book a few years ago for Christmas but I was saving it. Then everyone I knew was always talking about how great the show was, but who wants to watch a show/movie without reading the books first?

Last year I finally read the first book in the series, Leviathan Wakes, and OH MY GOD. Sliced bread can barely hold a candle to this book. I immediately read several more in the series including the novellas before finally having to exercise some serious restraint to keep me from blowing through all of them. I’m not ready to not have more of these books waiting for me.

2019 was a bleak time for humanity and these books as well as the equally stunning television show were big crutches for me. Losing myself with these phenomenal characters in their seriously mind-blowing future solar system helped me get through a lot of dark moments. I cannot promote these books and the TV show enough- they’re the best ever and I am so thankful to the authors for giving us such an compelling universe to fall in love with.

(Also, I’d just like to apologize to everyone in my life because now that I’ve read some of the books and binged every season of TV show I never shut up about it- unless I’m talking about Star Trek, of course)

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What discoveries did you make in 2019? Have you read any of The Expanse books and if so, how do they compare to sliced bread? Let me know in the comments!