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Five Years Ago....

On March 13, 2008, I started my blog with this post:

Well, I've finally done it. I've been wanting to start a book blog for a long time and here I am-finally! Check back often for reviews and booklists of tween and teen books. Post lots of comments-I love to read them!:) And don't forget to keep reading!

My first review was of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (and it makes me laugh a bit at how short it is!!)

Rating: 4/5 Stars

About the Book: Percy Jackson has been labeled as a bad kid. He's been kicked out of numerous schools, has ADD, and can't seem to stay out of trouble. All this changes when he discovers he's not a bad kid at all-he's just got different wiring because he's actually half Greek god and half human! Yep, those ancient Greek gods are alive and well and living in New York. So what's newly discovered demigod to do? Spend summer at Camp Halfblood of course! But things are not perfect on Mt. Olympus-Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen and Percy is the prime suspect. Can Percy stop the brewing war, clear his name and still make it to seventh grade? 

Green Bean Teen Queen Says: This was one of my top picks for 2007. It's action packed, full of humor, and the modern twist is a great introduction to Greek mythology. This is also a great pick for all you readers who say "but I don't really like reading!" Give the first chapter a try-you'll be hooked! With three books in the series right now and the fourth coming in May(I can't wait!) this is one series you won't want to miss. 


My first comment came from my husband on a post I wrote in April. It was anonymous and I woke up to two anonymous comments asking me for book suggestions! I was so excited that someone commented on my blog and I got right to work making booklists. I then found out when Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan came back from work that the comments were from him, not a random blog reader I had thought, but the sentiment was sweet. 

Then came my first real comments from real people (not that Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan isn't real, but he doesn't count-he has to read my blog!:)

Alyson Noel commented on my review of her novel Cruel Summer, which as a new blogger having an author comment on your blog is amazing! Then I got a few more comments in September and then a few more and I started to make blogger friends. Some of the first people I remember commenting on my blog was Lenore and Jenny, two bloggers (and now both authors) that I consider blogging friends. I feel lucky to have met of them in real life! 

Then I started blogging more. Even though I started in 2008, I didn't really start blogging until the next year. Which really, when I look back on it, I don't know why-that was the year I started grad school and got married, it's not like I didn't have anything else to do!

And here I am five years later, with many more posts, much longer reviews, booklists, library programs, my random thoughts on books, reading and libraries, and readers and bloggers who have become amazing friends. 

Honestly, I can't believe I've been blogging for five years. I can't believe that people even read my blog-that still shocks me! And I'm still amazed that I go to conferences and people know me. I'll never forget the time I was waiting to cross the street at ALA Midwinter San Diego and started chatting with the lady next to me. I gave her my business card and she screamed (yes, actually screamed!) "OH MY GOSH-YOU'RE GREENBEANTEENQUEEN! I READ YOUR BLOG!" Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan was with me and wasn't sure what to make of that! It was quite a celebrity moment and he had a fun giving me a hard time that I was "famous." 

Having some fun and looking at stats, my most popular post is always my Books Review Page but I found out that my Booklists and Library Programs are popular as well, which as a librarian makes me very happy to know that someone is reading those (librarians? students? future librarians? I don't know,  but I hope they help!) I hope to write more posts about programs and create more booklists. 

So all that to say, thank you for being here. Thank you for sticking with me for the past five years. Thank you for understanding when I've had to take blogging breaks or not been able to post reviews due to committees. Thank you for commenting and not being upset if I don't always get to comment back. Thank you for being amazing readers, librarians, and authors who make me feel like I'm with my people-the people who understand what it is to love books, want to be surrounded by books and want to read books and talk about books.  Thank you for being awesome. Here's to many more years together!!




Comments

  1. Happy Blogoversary and many morrrrrree!

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  2. Happy Five Years!! That is quite an accomplishment in the blogging world. I remember finding your blog while working on my libraries summer reading program and felt like I had found a gold mine in information, recommendations and awesome book suggestions. From here I found more bloggers and so on.
    Thanks for all you've done! Here's to five more years!

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    1. Thanks for the sweet words! I'm so glad my blog has helped! :)

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  3. Congrats on blogging for 5 years. That's a huge accomplishment. I'm so glad I found your blog. Love it!

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    1. I can't believe I've been blogging five years-seems crazy!

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  4. Happy Five Years!! I adore reading your blog! Have a great Monday!

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  6. Happy Blogoversary! What a great milestone! I wish you many more.

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  7. I have a blog, well I had one that I started early Feb. but then I figured no one would read it so why bother, so I deleted it. As soon as finished reading this post I went and un-deleted it. I'm still not sure if anyone will read it, but you've inspired me. Happy blogging!

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    1. I hope you keep it up! Blogging is lots of fun and it's a great record of library stuff-and a fun way to look back at programs and remember what you've done. Good luck!

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  8. I'm completely in awe. Five years? That's amazing!

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  11. Congratulations!!! What an accomplishment-- 5 years -- wow! Hope you have cake and champagne tonight... Cheers to you! Thanks for all the wonderful book blogging you do!

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    1. Thanks! I should have cake and champagne to celebrate! :)

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  12. My 5 years is coming up April 21st! Glad I found your blog so early on <3

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    1. Me too! I love reading your blog! Happy five years to you-I can't believe it's been that long.

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  13. Congrats on the 5 years of blogging! My favorite posts are your book cover comparisons.

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    1. Thanks Kelley! I love those posts too! They are fun to put together. Cover changes are so interesting.

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  14. You are wonderful! 5 years is such an accomplishment! May we continue to celebrate your blogoversary year after year. :)

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    1. Thanks Steph! :) You were one of the first bloggers I followed as well-I'm glad we found each others blogs!

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  15. Thank you for posting your blogging story! It's encouraging to hear about. One of my librarian friends told me about your blog because I volunteer in our teen summer reading program. I love your "day in the life of a librarian" posts and your book & movie news! And hearing about your experiences on the committee was exciting, too, because I would like to do that someday. Thanks for your hard work. I bet your youth patrons love you! :)

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