Best of 2008--Blogging

It feels a little strange to compile a best of list for my own blog, but why not? This is after all what I do!

And this has been a very busy blogging year. In fact, looking back, for me I'd call 2008 the year of the blog.

First an overview: This year I joined together with my mom and sister to form The Friendly Book Nook. Originally, I was going to move the bulk of my book blogging there, but it didn't happen. There was a lot for me to learn...self hosting wordpress, coordinating posts for all of us, trying to build yet another readership.... One of my favorite features of that blog is Saturdays in the Nook where we have authors share pivotal early reading moments and stories. There have been some really good ones. If you're an author and reading this or a book blogger and would like to share such a story, shoot me an email! We've been quiet there lately as we try to figure out what focus we'll take in 2009.

I also continued to work on Inspired to Action. We're still trying to carve out a niche over there. But if you are interested in social justice issues from a Christian perspective, feel free to pop on over. We coordinated the 40 Day Fast (each blogger fasts for a day and blogs about an issue or cause) again, which had a huge turnout. It's exciting to see that people care.

And then of course I continued to write on this blog, whatever popped into my head, made friends with more bloggers, kept the old friendships, hosted my first challenges (to dismal results) and worked on and hosted Book Blogger Appreciation Week. In fact, while some bloggers are posting their best traffic fetching posts, I won't, b/c I know without looking it's the intro post to BBAW. And then the next few would be the voting post and the giveaway post for BBAW. That was an incredible experience for me as I met so many awesome people, truly, and also very humbling when I faced criticism. I also started Faith 'n Fiction Saturdays as a way to help the Christian lit blogosphere connect on a little deeper level. The rest of the blogging year has felt like a blur of trying to keep up with reviews, etc.

Anyway, I thought I'd link to a few of my favorite posts from throughout the year, some that caused controversy, and others that I just enjoyed writing.

Family 8108 --about an episode of Cold Case that made me think

Loving the Unloveable --about the work of Compassion International

My Day at American Idol Yesterday
--about a dress rehearsal I went to. :)

Defending TV as a storytelling medium

The Burning of Uncertainty --where I talk about how the economic problems are affecting me.

The Question of Gone Baby Gone

5 Tips for Being a Friendly Blogger

In which I defend my favorite movie

The Tension in Book Blogging

The Right to Not Vote --This post taught me that people are timid about disagreeing with you on your own blog....I guess in the long run, I'm thankful that people would rather be polite and refrain from saying anything than be rude. ;)


That's it for today. It's kind of shocking to see I have at least 60 posts in each month. I comfort myself with knowing there are bloggers far more prolific than me. :)

Happy New Year everyone! For the rest of the week, I'll be posting resolutions, reviews, and revisions to my review policy and methodology. I also finished watching season one of Mad Men and I'm working on a lengthy review. In short, I thought it was absolutely incredible. I look forward to another wonderful year of blogging, sharing our love of the arts and storytelling, and whatever else grabs our attention!

Be safe