Bookapalooza Scavenger Hunt

A good Sunday to you all! If you're at all familiar with Bookshelvers Anonymous, you'd know that Sunday is my review day. However, I've decided to postpone reviews this week for a very special reason. The lovely Jenna from Making the Grade is celebrating her one-year blogoversary!

By way of celebration, Jenna is hosting a Bookapalooza Scavenger Hunt, and this is one of the nine stops. The theme of the scavenger hunt is our shared love of reading. What you as participants must do is read each post and gather each of the secret words. There is one word per post, and we've highlighted them in red to make them easier to find. Each time you collect your word, you enter it into the rafflecopter at the bottom of the post. Once you've collected all of the words, string them together to form the quote that you'll need for the BIG ENTRY.

Now I know it's tempting to search for the secret word and skip off to the next page, but be dears and linger a bit if you can, because I'm going to spread some love around here.
For my post, I give to you my Top 10 Things I Didn't Know Before Blogging.

10. Goodreads. Before I started book blogging, I'd never heard of Goodreads. A site that lists every book ever made (that's how it feels, anyways), where a reader can meet other readers and win giveaways and join online discussion groups and even find out about releases years before they come out? Wow.

9. The Book Depository (TBD). In the same vein, TBD was just another puzzling acronym a year ago. Bloggers would write about getting a book from "TBD" and I'd just shrug. If there are any new bloggers out there, listen up. TBD is amazing. It's the absolute best way to buy and ship books, especially if you or your readers live abroad. I give you two words: Free. Shipping. Amazon Prime (which includes free shipping) costs over $70/year, and it only covers free shipping in the U.S. I love TBD so much that I became an affiliate (which you can read about here).

8. New Adult. Yeah, yeah, some of you aren't thrilled. I've said all I feel like saying right now on that topic (here and here), but I didn't even know there was such a thing as the NA movement before I started blogging. Where NA takes off or not, it's been fun watching it grow.

7. Hardbacks. Clearly, I knew that hardcovers existed. However, before blogging my preferences always skewed strongly toward paperbacks. They were cheaper and lighter; therefore, they were superior in every way. And then I started blogging. I was reading spectacular books from work that were new and were only sold as hardbacks. I was also taking my books everywhere to squeeze in an extra minute of reading, and they were wearing out faster than I had anticipated. Enter hardbacks! I'll still pick up a paperback when it's prudent to do so, but otherwise I've found myself falling head-over-heels for these sturdy wonders.

6. BookExpo America (BEA). Every May, authors, bloggers, agents, and publishers from all over come together in New York. They hold panels, set up tables, give talks, and sign books. I've never been to BEA, but it sounds like Comic Con for book-lovers. I'd only heard bits and pieces about BEA before blogging, but last year I was flooded with mouth-watering details of all flavors. If I can't find a way to go to BEA this year, I very well may cry.

5. All the debates. Whitewashing and lack of diversity and the "darkness" of YA lit and think of the boys! My oh my, it seems like there's always a debate raging, either a new one or a rehash of an old one. Before book blogging, I had no idea. I just read what I liked and toddled along happily. Maybe some people would like to ignore all the debates, but I love them. I like the way they make me brain expand like a multiplying amoeba. Even if I don't agree, I get to think about WHY I don't agree.

4. Authors are really, really cool. I mean, really cool. It's one thing to know intellectually that authors are down-to-earth introverts like you. It's another to find out that Author X is as big of a Megan Whalen Turner fan as you are or to spend an hour on Twitter squealing over the latest episode of Doctor Who with Author Y. Also, as a whole, authors are genuinely kind individuals and were a great boon to me as a newbie blogger.

3. Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs). Once upon a time, there was a girl named Shelver. She liked to read books before buying them, and so spent her life in the local library. Unfortunately, her library was small and slow to order books. When she read new books, they were many months old, if they came at all. Then, one day, she became a blogger. All the other bloggers were kind and wonderful and told her many secrets, including the Great Tale of the ARCs. In the far-off land of New York, the wise and powerful publishers, in an effort to promote their books, would bestow advanced copies of not-yet-released books to bloggers everywhere. Shelver couldn't believe her ears. To read book before they were released seemed like a miracle beyond compare. And yet, several months later, she found herself reading books before they were released and knew the tale to be true. She passed on her knowledge to bloggers even newer than herself, and they all lived happily ever after. (Seriously, ARCs are magical.)

2. Book giveaways. You all can't even imagine how my mind was blown the first time I came across a giveaway hop. There are literally hundreds of people all over the web giving away free books, and I'd had no idea! It wasn't very long after discovering giveaways that I decided to host one myself, and haven't looked back. It's fun to win, but it's just as much fun to give.

1. All the readers! I love my friends. They're wonderful people, but for the most part, they are not readers. The ones who are readers usually read classic tomes, not YA lit. I had all of these great books I wanted to talk about and no one to talk about them with. Enter blogging. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by literally hundreds of people who not only like to read but also like to read the things that I like! When I read a great book, I don't have to sit and stew by myself. I can hop on Twitter or the blog and squeal to my heart's content. It's FANTASTIC. Thanks to my blog, I've even learned about similar reading preferences in friends closer to home that I never would have suspected. (You know who you are.)

~~*~~

Thank you all for sticking around and for being the #1 best thing I didn't know before blogging. Now make sure you found the secret word (remember, it's in red), and enter it into the Rafflecopter below to win a box of ARCs, a signed Beautiful Creatures poster, and more, as well as an additional Rafflecopter to win 12 SIGNED books!

To keep hopping to the next Secret Word, make sure you check out the fun at the cleverly named Book-Marks The Spot. 

If you've lost your place or just want to touch base, you can head back to the Bookapalooza main page at Making The Grade.

Complete the hunt to win great prizes!

By completing the Hunt you will uncover a 9-word phrase that can earn you up to 35 bonus entries in the two EPIC giveaways being offered as part of Bookapalooza! (Giveaways are listed below.)

"But how do I complete the Bookapalooza! Scavenger Hunt?"

Nine blogs are listed below - each with their own unique post that includes a Secret Word you will use to complete a special bookish phrase. The completed phrase will allow you to earn 35 bonus entries in the two giveaways also listed below. In addition, each blog will likely be offering a giveaway of their very own! Instructions:

• Visit each blog below in the order that they are listed. Read their unique posted created just for you!
• Keep an eye out for a Secret Word highlighted in BOLD RED somewhere within each post.
• Continue to visit each blog in order until you have collected all nine Secret Words.
• When put together, the nine Secret Words will build a special bookish phrase.
• Enter the completed phrase into the two Rafflecopter forms located below for 25 bonus entries!
• Name the author or book from which the phrase is taken to earn an additional 10 bonus entries!
• Be sure to check out the giveaways offered by each blog on the Hunt for more great prizes!

Got that? Good! Then Let's Go Hunting!

The Book Life Fic Fare Ed and Em's Reviews Ketch's Book Nook Read-A-holicZ Bookshelvers Anonymous Book-Marks The Spot Say It With Books Writer of Wrongs

Then enter the completed phrase and answer to the trivia question into the Rafflecopter forms below in order to obtain your bonus entries!

A Big Box of Bookish Fun!

As a THANK YOU to the followers of my blog, I will be offering a giveaway of EPIC proportions: Ten books hand-selected by me, a SIGNED Beautiful Creatures movie poster + plus a plethora of awesome (most are signed!) swag. One winner takes all! Open to US/Canada only, to entrants aged 13 and older.

What's included?

SIGNED Beautiful Creatures Movie Poster (not framed) The Diviners by Libba Bray (Hardcover) Origin by Jessica Khoury (Hardcover) Dust Lands: Rebel Heart by Miora Young (Hardcover) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (UK Paperback Edition) An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Paperback) The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Rare Slipcase + Arc) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (ARC) Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (ARC) Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons (ARC) Everbound by Brodi Ashton (ARC) Beautiful Creature Swag (Shirt, Lip Gloss and Phone Cleaners) Bookmarks and Stickers (Most are signed!) Dust Lands Water Bottle

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Signed Books by the Dozen!

Twelve fantastic authors. Twelve amazing signed books. Starting tomorrow, January 2nd, I will be unveiling the first author taking part in an EPIC signed book giveaway! One author will be revealed every 2-3 days until all twelve authors and all twelve signed books are revealed by the end of the month. PLUS! Each author will share their own Appreciation Stories here on the blog as part of Bookapalooza! One winner will receive all twelve signed books! Open to US/Canada only, to entrants aged 13 and older. a Rafflecopter giveaway

HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY, JENNA!