Six Years! of Blogging

The light breaks through

Z and I were sitting there yesterday morning (let's say morning because otherwise our summer laziness will be exposed), eating our cereal, when I suddenly realized that it was July and I needed to look up what date our blogiversary was so that I didn't miss it. For some reason, I can never remember it. Well, it turns out that it's TODAY, July 8th.

I never knew what the blog would blossom into.

Six years ago, I had a four-year-old preschooler who was needing less of my attention and I was finally able to start reading again during the previous months. I wasn't super familiar with anything but personal blogs (which I wasn't very interested in writing) but thought that I could probably write something about the books I was reading. I scoped out the existing book blogger community, pondered using an alias (no for me, yes for Z), came up with a catchy name (assonance, ftw), and decided to try it out for a year or so. At the time, I had a TBR stack of probably about 15-20 books.

An RIP-worthy photo!

Six years later, this is my 1204th post (in 2192 days). I've received 6231 comments. I've posted more of my photographs than I care to count. I've given away 24 books (on my own, with a couple of publisher-supported giveaways on top of that), 5 gift cards, and a necklace. I've participated in 8 read-a-thons, a couple of book/letter swaps, and lots of challenges (including 5 years so far of my favorite R.I.P. Challenge). I've also hosted three years of Diana Wynne Jones March and written about chapter books for almost two years on The Estella Society. And I now have a TBR of almost 200 books.

I'm not kidding about being lucky.

I've been so lucky to meet some real friends through blogging and to have been exposed to so many books I never would have found on my own. I really do want to thank my readers and friends for being there with me throughout this journey. I really don't want to miss anyone but I don't want to miss this chance either so, in no particular order (and with profuse apologies if I've missed you) ...

Thank you to

TifAndiHeatherTrishChrisJanetIrisNatJennersSelenaCeceliaCarlJennyTeresaJenny

(deep breath)

DanielleNatashaAnaAmandaKerryBahnreeAdamTashaKellyLeslieJenniferPatEvaAl

(gasp)

AartiKarenDianeSimonSimonRobRobinLenoreKimJillianKaiMemoryGoldeenTinaAmy

(another deep breath)

ElizabethCarolinaLaurenJeanAnastasiaChrisSusanSabrinaGraceHannahKateBelle

(and another)

MarieFrancesMichelleDebDeniseNicoleDanielleMareeGilionDanaWendyJenJackie

(one last breath)

BellezzaEmmaColleenAmandaSamanthaTrishaCherylEliseJeannePriyaKatharina

(okay, I lied)

TraceyCatherineAlexAnmiryamTze-WenVickiClaireBeccaBrianStevenJoeClaudia

... and I think I might be short a Chris and a Jenny

Thank you all for your love of books, for sharing your favorites with me and for letting me share mine with you.

Yep, I pulled out the Neil picture again.

Finally, I want to remember how lucky I've been to meet some of my favorite authors -- Neil Gaiman, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Catherynne M. Valente, Ransom Riggs. Did I mention meeting Neil? I'm not sure if I did.

What am I hoping for the year ahead? I would love to get a chance to meet more bloggers, especially if I do actually make it to the UK as planned. I would love to meet more authors (fingers crossed for a Jasper Fforde Seattle visit because I've always been too nervous to go meet him). And, well, I would like to read more books and share them with all of you. How does that sound?

Stepping out toward seven,
K