Bookish: End of Year Wrap Up 2018 (Part 1)

Hello everyone! I hope all your holiday festivities were wonderful and you spent it with people you love/ doing things you love. I was lucky enough for both of those things to have happened. I am also about 5 pounds heavier in weight but we’ll skip past that.

This post is my 2018 wrap up aka Mega Wrap Up and as this is a book blog I’m going to do my wrap up on two things:-

1. Books
2. Blogging

No, probably not original in terms of subject matter but this is a book blog so I’m not going to deviate too much from my interests. 😉

Get a cuppa in. This is lengthy. Part 2 will follow. It will also be lengthy.

I started The BookNook UK at the end of March this year so I’m still a wee baby blogger! But you know what I like looking at? Stats. Sexy, sexy stats.

If you want to take a peek at those top 3 posts the links are here (The Sisters of the Winter Wood, Favourite Villains and The Liebster Award).

But these Sexy Stats wouldn’t be nearly as sexy if people didn’t read my blog and encourage me to put out more nonsense. I am truly grateful and thankful for each and every person who follows, reads, likes and comments. 

There are some people who have been mega awesome (and my WordPress account stats tell me you keep coming back and comment the most) so I want to highlight some mega awesome bloggers who have mega awesome blogs and made my 2018… well… mega awesome frankly!

Marina @ Books of Magic not only has a gloriously beautiful blog from a visual perspective but she also produces posts of amazingness and everything she does is quality. Marina is also an incredibly supportive and knowledgeable person and it’s because of Marina that I actually have a clue as to how things work because she found me wandering in the blogging woods and knew I needed help.

The treats you will get if you follow Marina: well thought out reviews on all things YA and fantasy with a healthy dose of Gothic, historical fiction and horror thrown in; Top Ten Tuesday; brilliantly answered tags and thoughts on non-bookish topics such as TV show reviews and game reviews.

Cynic on Wings may currently be on a hiatus because life happens to us all but I for one am eagerly waiting her return because we are aligned on all things snarky and I need snarky in my life. She is also one of the few book bloggers who truly appreciates The Bartimaeus Trilogy for the piece of underrated gold it is.

The treats you will get if you follow Cynic: sharp and witty posts; someone who won’t beat about the bush on reviewing books she didn’t like but who will take the time to explain why something didn’t work; the best snark and rants on Sarah J. Maas books that will fuel you for days. 

Kathy @ Pages Below the Vaulted Sky is just dynamite at every post she does and every time there is any book discourse or discussion I think to myself, “what would Kathy think?” Then I ask her and then Kathy responds with her succinct and thoughtful answers regardless of how ridiculous the concept. Kathy shy away from odd questions and rigorous debate and I am so pleased she doesn’t.

The treats you will get if you follow Kathy: articulated analytical reviews that really look deep at the themes of the books and the motivations of characters (and whether they work); Top 5 Wednesday; hilarious rants and musings on a range of subject matters; honest and heart felt open discussions on mental health.

Sara @ The Bibliophagist puts in the most effort to her blog than anyone else I know. She is also a book reading demon and owns a time turner. I may have made the last one up but she definitely is a book reading demon and puts in the most effort to her blog and believe me it shows! She also loves cats and that’s A+ in my eyes.

The treats you will get if you follow Sara: a chocolate box of variety posts to select from; reviews on every genre under sun but especially on YA and romance; hilarious reviews on books she doesn’t enjoy; someone that will actually read your recommended hate reads just because; reading challenges; thoroughly answered and honest tags and succinct weekly wrap ups.

Aurora @ Aurora Librialis is, I think, someone I would like to be when I grow up (though I have a sneaky suspicion I’m older than Aurora). Not only does Aurora have features on her blog that I adore but they are also features that I wish I could do half as well. Aurora and I have a fascination with magic and witches and in an alternative universe somewhere we have our own coven.

The treats you will get if you follow Aurora: a whole ton of book recommendations and many pictures of their beautiful covers; tags with honest answers; Top Ten Tuesday; fun and original content and features including ‘My Mom Predicts My 5 Star Reads’ and character libraries (which are just stunning).

I was going to have my End of Year Wrap Up be one post but as I realised a lot of content was going in I decided to split it into two. This part is focusing on the ‘blogging’ side of my year and the second part is going to focus on the ‘book’ side of my year.

I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you will enjoy part two. Which will probably be loaded tomorrow. When I have written it. If I haven’t fallen into another food coma.