Sweetest Greetings, Bookwyrms!

It’s time once again for my new February segment in which I give a special shout-out to my favorite blogs of the year. Let’s get plugging! Be sure to click each heading to see the blog itself.

Armed With a Book

by Kriti Khare

This was the home of the fun-tabulous Armed With a Bingo challenge. Kriti reviews just about every genre in the galaxy, as well as conducting author interviews and managing the Creator’s Roulette — a series of conversations with, interviews of, and guest posts by creative professionals.

Check out Kriti’s Instagram for #currentlyreading synopses, personal insights, and cat photos.

Becoming Cliche

by Heather

(not to be confused with Froodian Slip Heather 😉 )

I used to read Heather’s posts more regularly during our Insatiable Booksluts days (snark gods, do I miss that blog!). She’s a zookeeper who specializes in herpetology, often sharing delightful anecdotes about her snakes, turtles, and other rad reptiles, including a very dearly departed Komodo dragon named Khaleesi.

Also, she would like you to know that although her blog’s tagline is “My journey to becoming my mother,” she does not, in fact, have anything against her totally awesome mother.

Caffeinated Fae

by Kristy

Kristy is a blogger after my own java-pumping heart. She understands the deep, spiritual connection between coffee and faery tales. I’m still researching what exactly that connection is, but there totally is one, I’m completely sure.

Anyhoo, Kristy usually blogs about spicy romance novels, but she also has a weekly prompt that originally focused on fae-related questions and now covers a wider range of bookish topics.

Check out her TikTok (@caffeinatedfae), Twitter, and Instagram for bookish memes, #currentlyreading notes, inspirational quotes (bookish and otherwise), and random author interactions.

KristenBrand.com

Kristen Brand is an urban fantasy writer who blogs about “speculative fiction with a punch” — action-packed works of modern fantasy, particularly of the superhero variety. She does blog tags, analyzes badass book covers, pokes fun at tropes (see her list of “5 Ways You’d Probably Die in an Urban Fantasy Novel“), and plugs upcoming superhero fiction.

And she understands, as I do, that the Fae are the ultimate go-to urban fantasy beings — the Chief Alternate Officers, if you will, of the fantasy world (my fellow BSC stans will get it). Need a vampire type? Call one of the Leanan Sidhe! Need a ghost? The Fae once represented dead spirits and can haunt a house with the best of them! Need a shape-shifter?

Kristen also posts previews of her own works, including the Dark and Otherworldly series and a five-part Halloween story/prologue for an upcoming series about a hard-bitten, tattooed ghostbuster named Bea.

Leah’s Books

Leah is a close friend of Kristy, and regularly posts her own Fae Friday responses, as well as Top Ten Tuesday lists and other tags (she provides handy links to each of these segments in her sidebar!). She’s inspired three of my tag posts, including one for which she directly tagged me. As for her reviews, she mainly covers YA, New Adult and general Adult books of almost any genre (she’s not a fan of horror, tho).

Check out her Twitter and Instagram for post updates, library haul photos and vegan recipes!

Raccoon Reader Review

by Chameleonice

IRL friend alert! This friendly blue raccoon discusses anthropomorphic animal stories of all kinds, as well as his artistic and writerly endeavors. Muse with him about the various ways you can explain the presence of talking animals on Earth (evolution? nuclear apocalypse? humans simply don’t exist?)…about the various aesthetics of anthro characters (cartooney? medieval? noir? literal cats wearing top hats and wielding firearms?)…and about the seriousness of kindergarten cliques battling over Care Bears vs. Rainbow Brite (I would’ve been a Rainbow kid, sorry 😉 ).

Follow Chammy on Twitter to see more of his art and online RPG adventures!

Snark Valley

Written by a 30-something fan of retro pop culture that lets you briefly escape the grimdark world of Adulting and sociopolitical anxiety, this is pretty much the Double Love podcast in blog form.* Read snarky recaps of every Sweet Valley High book (they’re up to Super Thriller #8: Murder in Paradise), as well as reviews of all the SVH paraphernalia they can reasonably acquire (Board Game!** Slam Book! Oracle newsletters 1 and 2!)

Nostalgically squee over these old TEEN Magazine ads for SVH books and news! See this gallery of other teen paperback covers on which the SVH celebrity models have appeared (including one Jennifer Connolly, who is definitely probably the model for Lila Fowler)! Gag in solidarity as the blogger courageously attempts the “Crispy Dogs” recipe from the Oracle newsletter, Vol. One! 😛

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What blogs swept you off your feet in 2020/early ’21? Bring on the recs!

I love you and I kiss you***, Bookwyrms!

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* Snark Valley is not affiliated in any way with the Double Love podcast.

** Upcoming

*** ILY&IKY sign-off (c) Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring of The Babysitters Club Club Podcast.

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Credits:

All photos mine.
Tonight Show GIF from giphy.