It’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in of this meme because I have a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Things That Make Your Life as a Book Blogger Easier. This is an interesting topic and took me a while to compile a list of then but here you go.
1. Goodreads
As a book blogger I want to be able to look at what is being read by others, what is trending and what people think of the books. I’ve found all the book bloggers I follow are on Goodreads as well and it makes it easier to see what books are trending so you can get onto that book before the public.
2. Twitter
Out of all the social networks, for a book blogger, Twitter is the essential one. I create lists of authors, publishers, readers and book bloggers; this way I always have my finger on the pulse of what is happening in the world of literature. Also follow me @knowledgelost or my blog @litexploration on Twitter (shameless self-promotion).
3. The Library
I know I will never be able to buy all the books I want and this year I went on a semi book buying ban (only allowing myself to buy book club books and essentials). The idea was to reduce the amount of unread books on my shelf but instead it taught me to use the library more.
4. Bloglines
It was a sad day when Google Reader died, bloglines isn’t as good but it was the best replacement I’ve found. As a blogger I want to connect with other bloggers so instead of getting bombarded with emails a RSS reader is a life saver.
5. eReader
I know paperback books are better but as a book blogger I feel I will run out of bookcase space quickly, so an eReader is a great way to store books. I also like the continence of being able to carry a lot of books around at once. An eReader will also be helpful for my next point.
6. NetGalley and Edelweiss
Both a blessing and a curse, NetGalley and Edelweiss are great ways to request digital ARCs to read and review. When I started as a book blogger, I never used these sites but I’ve started to use them more lately; just have to remind myself not to go overboard.
7. The Reading Room
I’m not sure if this is the case with other countries but as an Australian book blogger, The Reading Room has been a great source for physical and digital ARC’s. They have a first in first serve approach and all they ask in return is for you to post the review on their site as well. Similar to Goodreads but useful if you want ARCs.
8. Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin
As a self-hosted WordPress user there are heaps of usefully plugins to make my life easier but as a book blogger the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin is the biggest time saver. Takes a little extra time creating a post because I fill out the extra details but it auto updates my review list and gave me a whole lot of other useful advantages.
9. Wikipedia
I know it is probably the worst place to go for research but a quick search will give me a whole lot of useful information. I tend to use Wikipedia as a starting point for researching but if I only need a little info, it tends to be the default destination.
10. Bloomsbury Australia
I know it’s weird to have a publisher on a list of “Things That Make Your Life as a Book Blogger” but they have been wonderfully and encouraging. They were one of the first to approach me with an offer of ARCs and seem to be one of the biggest supporters of Australian book bloggers. They deserve to be recognised because they do great work.
I’m sure there are more I could list but there you have it, my top ten. I look forward to see what other people list, maybe I will find some useful tools.
Great list! The Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin sounds interesting, will have to look it up. Nor have I heard of Bloglines; there were so many RSS feeds and readers cropping up during that time period when Google announced they were closing their reader–it was hard to keep track! lol
I didn’t add it to my list this week but I definitely agree about the eReader. I definitely prefer physical books but I am in the situation where I am out of space to shelve them so yeah, the eReader comes in handy. Not to mention I have easy access to all of these classic lit titles 🙂
My TTT
I think the eReader serves a purpose to a book blogger; but paperbacks win all the time for me.
Do you know, I’ve never even heard of The Reading Room before. I’m a terrible Australian blogger, I know I know!
I’ve heard of you, so you’re doing better than some Australian book bloggers. But check them out, every month new ARCs to request; http://www.thereadingroom.com/books/free-giveaway
I can see myself getting very addicted to that site very quickly!
I didn’t know about The Reading Room. Thanks for that. I need to join in on the top ten meme by the way. Did you see the one about authors who need more recognition? I finally posted it
You do need to join in on the fun. I did see it, thanks for reminding me, I haven’t commented on it yet.
Well you must, you simply must and I will join in on the fun for sure. Bookmarked and everything
Enjoyed this – wish I had the ultimate Book Blogger Plugin, but not self-hosted. Note for the future.
Agree re Bloomsbury, but so far all the publishers I’ve worked with have been fantastic. As for my Kindle … I think I’m going to have to fill it up some more because I can’t play Bookshelf tetris much longer!
They are all great but Bloomsbury really stands out for me
This is a meme i’m definitely going to follow – especially since I have dedicated today to working on my blog. Thanks.
I look forward to reading your posts
Thanks so much for mentioning the plugin!! 😀 I’m glad it’s been helpful to you. 🙂
Thanks for creating it, I look forward to see what you do with it in the future
Bloomsbury rocks 🙂
They sure do
Yes, Wikipedia is one of the least trusted sites BUT their information is in plain English!
I’ve been considering to switch to WordPress but…I’ll need to learn a whole new posting system! When I started blogging WordPress was my first try; I found it too complicated and switched to Blogger. Darn it.
too many people stuck in that blogger trap
I’ve heard amazing things about the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin and if I was on WordPress I’d totally get that too. Never heard of Bloglines! I personally used Bloglovin’ (even though I despise the name) and use it much more frequently that I ever used Google Reader.
It is wonderful, I’m so glad for the plugin. I’ve never used bloglovin’ because of the name.
haha Don’t blame ya.
Great tips (do they make life “easier” or “busier”?), I’m going to have to check the book blogger plugin and, as usual, kick my self as to why didn’t i think of it first.
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
the book blogger plugin has been fantastic and I don’t even use it to its full potential