Paging Miss Personality! There she is, smiling, waving, talking, and entertaining anyone in her orbit. Your baby is also ready to explore a bit more, so beware her impulse to touch (and taste) everything and anything within her reach (including dog biscuits and poop!). She’s probably able to bear weight on her legs when you hold her upright and may even be ready to hit the road, albeit at a crawl.

- WhatToExpect.com

Well, somehow this milestone passed me by last Saturday, but Adventures in Borkdom turned six months old last week!

I don’t know about “Miss Personality”, but I do feel that I have grown more in my blogging and am ready to explore a bit. When I started blogging in August, I had no idea what I wanted to do, I just knew that I wanted to be writing regularly and that I loved books and wanted to meet other people who loved books as much as I do. That goal was certainly met, and now I have found that blogging is as important to me as teaching. I feel a real need to write and publish posts regularly.

Since I started, I have taken part in a few reading events (R.I.P.,Charles Dickens Month, and Dewey’s Readathon), signed up for A LOT of reading challenges (just check out the side bar to the right! and I just signed up for another!), and have pulled away from all the memes that constituted my blog at the beginning (except for Top Ten Tuesday, my favorite!). I’ve also made some amazing friends here–I really wasn’t expecting the level of camaraderie I feel for my fellow bloggers and I am thrilled that I am still meeting new people every week.

In short, I am so glad that I started blogging in August, and I am so glad that I have joined this amazing community of book lovers. I am honored to be a part of this group of passionate and intelligent readers and writers and I hope that I am contributing as much as I am taking in. Thank you Tris Hussey for writing your book on blogging, as that inspired it all, and now, here I am! And, of course, thanks to all of YOU for reading my blog and making this hobby so very, very rewarding.

Speaking of Rewarding…

Achievement Unlocked

My newest blogging/reading buddy SJ of Snobbery has given Adventures in Borkdom its first blogging award! Yes! Achievement unlocked!

So, I have been given the Liebster Award, a Circle of Excellence award for blogs with less than 200 followers. SJ was ultra-flattering in considering that I might have over 200 followers (I wish!) and yet gave it to me anyways. She also said some very nice things about my book reviews and their influence upon her reading interests.

Thanks so much SJ! I am flattered and honored if I have any influence on anyone’s reading interests.

So, now, I shall pass on this Liebster Award to a couple of other amazing blogs that may or may not have fewer than 200 followers (I have the same problem, SJ–I’m not sure who has less than 200!).

Coffee and a Book Chick: Seriously, I don’t know how many followers Natalie has (it could be a gazillion), but I know that I love reading her blog. She is really sinking her teeth into Stephen King this year (even going as far as hosting a challenge, which I am participating in) and I am enjoying reading her reviews on King’s masterpieces. She has also recently discovered a love for audiobooks, so I actively take note of her favorites, as I am trying to fit more audiobooks into my life. Finally, I enjoy her feature “A Walk About Town”, which features pictures and descriptions of where she lives. Hopefully, I will soon be posting my own “Walk About” featuring San Diego. You’re awesome, Natalie!

A Reader’s Pensieve: Kyle is a lovely young teacher from Michigan who reads and writes a lot! If you’re trying to find the next best young adult book, Kyle is your lady, as it seems that she has read and reviewed them all! Also, she has started a new feature on her blog titled “Former Favorites” which features a book or series that she loved when she was younger. I love these trips down memory lane as I am way into nostalgia! Finally, Kyle is just awesome, someone whom I love to engage with on Twitter and even send the occasional, extremely long, ranting email to. She’s one of my first blogging friends and I am so very grateful to know her.

Shhh… Mommy’s Blogging: I love when I get a new post from Jessica in my Google Reader because I’m never quite sure what I’m going to get, but I know I’m going to love it. Jessica has such an engaging voice in her writing that her posts feel as if I am sitting at a coffee shop with her, discussing whatever is on her mind. That could be a lot of things, from a wide array of current reads (young adult to contemporary to science to fantasy to science fiction…she’s all over the place in her reading!), to her 30 before 30 goals, to her disgust at common grammar mistakes (one of my all-time favorite posts!). Jessica is also pretty special to me because she is always rooting me on in my reading–when I was reading (and, at times, struggling with) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, she kept up with me and encouraged me to keep going, through the entire experience. I’m so glad she did, as now I am reading The Wise Man’s Fear (book 2 in the series) and am loving it! And she is, of course, there with me now, rooting me on in my reading!

Tabula Rasa: I am very biased towards Priya because she has almost identical tastes in reading. She loves Harry Potter. She loves Stephen King. She loves Neil Gaiman. She loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not a book, but it says so much). Yet, recently, she’s been reading a lot of books that I’ve never even heard or thought of… a lot of German literature for German Literature Month. Going by her similar tastes, I’m guessing that I’ll have to check out some of these German titles simply if she recommends them. I’m pretty sure that I’ll enjoy them as well. It should also be mentioned that Priya was the first bookish friend I ever made here in the blogging world, and it’s been a while since I sung her praises. Priya, I still think you are just as wonderful as I did way back in September. Please keep up with your writing… I love it!

Cummings and Goings: Here is the obligatory non-book blog that is deserving of the Liebster. This isn’t the first time that Pat has been inducted into a Circle of Excellence, but it is the first time his writing has gotten some recognition. Book bloggers, meet Pat, a friend of mine who recently traveled around the world and wrote all about it on his blog. To say Pat is quirky is an understatement–as he traipsed across Morocco, France, Italy, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Australia, he got into some major hijinks and was brutally and seriously (I mean it’s all here, folks) honest in his writing. It should be noted that Pat is a huge fan of science fiction, Hall & Oates, and Jim Jams. If you’re looking for a high-flying adventure and exceptional writing that documents it, I recommend this blog. Come on guys–we’re readers, and Pat has a really good story to tell. But, you have to start at the beginning, as it is a story! I highly recommend this blog, and award it the Liebster for its story-telling excellence!

A Quick “What’s Going on with Me” Closure:

Lately, I’ve been a very good reader, devoting at least an hour a day to my reading of The Wise Man’s Fear. This book is highly addictive, and I definitely recommend the series. I’m thinking that I might write a character feature post on Kvothe (the main character) at some point this week.

Today, I will be watching a few episodes of Mad Men with my sister (we’re gearing up for the March 25 premiere of season 5) and then, later this evening, I will be tuning in for tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead. Shane’s gotta die soon, that’s all I’m going to say about that!

Have a wonderful week! Hopefully, I won’t be too sporadic in my posts here, and ideally I’ll have some sort of review to write later this week. Meanwhile, I will be announcing a giveaway today, so be on the lookout for that!


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