Lost in a Good Book

I spent a long time online looking up words relating to ten because aside from decahedron and decade I couldn’t think of anything fancy. A decade sounds like a lot but I do like the idea of celebrating a decennium. Rolls off the tongue better than tenth anniversary. If only I’d thought of it earlier I could have cooler sounding titles for each anniversary.

The “official” tenth anniversary present is tin. Not very exciting. But branching out the anniversary colour is silver and the anniversary flower is the daffodil. So that’s nice. I might gift myself something encompassing all three and see what I find. Very much like the Peter, Paul and Mary song about the thing that went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped. No one will know what it is but it will be The Most Suitable Present of the occasion.

I bring you all these facts because once again I am astounded, astounded by the passing of lineal time and each year January arrives and I’m left to face the fact another year has passed. I had a skim through previous blogiversary posts and there’s been a few years where I’ve been caught unaware of time. My fifth anniversary was mind boggling, I started to have a crisis for my seventh and eighth about this one and it wasn’t even time yet.

This might be the longest thing I’ve ever done, especially online. The time, effort, commitment, the fact I am still happily doing it is baffling to say the least. I can’t explain it but I’ve chosen not to look at it too closely. It was even a fluke that it happened in January, I’d been thinking about it on and off for months and I finally bit the bullet and it happened to be the start of a new year. So little of everything this past decade has been planned.

I’d like to say a lot has changed in the past ten years, and it has of course, generally speaking. The internet has stayed relatively the same in my little corner though. No major developments or losses on the blogging front after the first move back in the early days. No new social media, no losses of social media. Goodreads stuck around through all of it (though I have made the move to The Storygraph and giving that a whirl). No, looking back its all changes in my writing, my reading a little bit, but I’m fascinated by the sameness. It’s reliable. Having said that who knows what things I’ve put in motion writing that down and next year I’ll be eating my words.

I am going big for this decennium occasion. I am going to have more giveaways through the year, I am mixing up my blogiversary one, partly to share some of my all-time favourite reads and partly because my Top Five is a hard one to work with this time around, and I feel like this needs to be An Event. I want to thank people who have been following my blog from day one as well as those who have only joined the club recently. I have all year to think of new fun things to do and even if they aren’t huge things, a little gift here and there is always fun.

I was initially going to pick one from each year but of course trying to pick one from every past Top Five was hard enough and too much choice is a bad thing. Instead I’ve chosen some books that really spoke to me over the years. That have stayed with me and I still think about. There is a mix of YA, adult and a bit of everything for everyone across genres.

You know the rules but I’m adding generosity this year. I am giving away THREE books to THREE lucky people. I am opening it internationally on the basis of The Book Depository shipping to your country, and there will be multiple ways to enter as per usual.

The Selection

Boys R’ Us by Scott Monk

The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Once and Future (#1) by A. R Capetta

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Looking For Alaska by John Green

The Martian by Andy Weir

Northern Lights (#1) by Phillip Pullman

There were so many I wanted to add but I couldn’t find a place where they could be bought which is a shame. So many of the self-published or small publisher books I’ve loved over the years have disappeared. Thankfully I snagged a copy when I could because it’s incredibly depressing they’re now impossible to track down. having said that this is by no means my reject list. But I really wanted to highlight some amazing books and having to choose between amazing books and fantastic books was incredibly hard. I had to pick books that are my go to faves when I think about. That live in my mind and I think about often. But please have a look through past Top Fives and blogiversary posts and even random posts to find some gems and see if you can track them down. It will be worth it.

To enter: For a chance to win one of the listed books simply enter here and complete the Rafflecopter form.

Please note: This giveaway is international on the basis the Book Depository ships to your country. To see if you are eligible you can check their website.

Thank you for helping me celebrate and if you entered the draw I wish you the best of luck!

Giveaway runs until midnight AEDT on Friday 24th February 2023