1st Blogoversary & Giveaway Ever!

Hi guys! It is 17th February 2014 and this signifies it has been exactly a year since I posted my review of Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (and a whole slew of other reviews because I stupidly did not understand posting too much per day is annoying) on A Page of Heaven! I will admit that I stumbled through various blogging platforms (Weebly, Tumblr, Blogger) before settling on WordPress.com so today might not be an accurate date of when I first started book blogging, but it’s the date I felt my blogoversary should be on as it was when I – finally – settled on a blogging platform I felt comfortable with.

I’ve mentioned about a gazillion times how I started A Page of Heaven in a pretty inappropriate and crazy year seeing as how I had been preparing to taking my ‘O’ Levels Examinations (which is a ridiculously big deal here in Singapore). Despite that, I definitely do not regret it because reading, book blogging and reviewing has been such a fun and (sometimes) relaxing hobby that helped me work off the stress of studying. One thing I do regret though, was my inability to post regularly. I don’t mean irregular one-post-per-week posting; I would sometimes disappear for 2 weeks without notice.

But for those of you who stuck with me through all that unpleasantness, here’s a big virtual hug from me to you! You’ve got to put those imagination skills to use.

In November last year, after my ‘O’ Levels Examinations, I finally started blogging more consistently. Since then, A Page of Heaven’s views has – thankfully – been progressively increasing (that joy I get at seeing my views per month getting higher and higher!) and so has my number of followers. Although I would not be mentioning any numbers for now as they are still below average as compared to other blogs that have been running for the same amount of time, I’m definitely incredibly delighted with the progress I’ve made these past 3 months!

If I’ve recalled correctly, I’ve never shared my reason for starting a book blog. Well, I shall share it today seeing as how I’m revealing a bunch of other stuff about A Page of Heaven I’ve never revealed before. Around the end of 2012, I realized that I had a severely awful case of short term plot-memory, especially with series and trilogies. Having read book reviews on first Amazon then Goodreads for almost a year, I figured it could help me with my non-existent ability to recall book plots for long.

Of course, there were quite a few other reasons, like:

• I needed an outlet for my fangirling over books that does not require bothering those non-bookish people around me.
• The appeal of ARCs. (I’m not proud of this one but at least I’m honest!)
• A way to practice my writing skills that were getting ridiculously rusty at that time.

Throughout the past year of blogging, I’ve learned so much by making mistakes, making new friends and also discovered a whole new way to look at various books. Reading has definitely brought me more enjoyment since starting A Page of Heaven as I had began to study the plot, characters and basically every aspect of a book more closely. And yes, I’m also remembering book plots a lot better now. :D

In this next year of blogging, I hope to be more interactive (does it make sense that I’m a more awkward person online than in real life?) in the blogosphere and go around commenting on other blogs more. I also hope to make more blogging friends because I’ve not really put myself out there. But I do really appreciate the friends I have made so far, albeit some only recently, such as Richa @ City of Books, Emily @ Constellation Chronicles, Christine @ Fathomless Reads, Shanelle @ The Art of Escapism, Kezia @ Chapteriosity and Mitchii @ Aeropapers. The latter 5 and I would also be starting a group blog sometime soon so do stay tuned for that!

Well, about now, some of you might be wondering about my co-bloggers, JZ & Dee. They are both still on hiatus but JZ would be back with some reviews really soon, likely by the end of this month!

Anyway, seeing as how this is my very first blogoversary, I also decided to host my very first giveaway! In the giveaway, you would find an option that says ‘Leave a Blog Post Comment’. This was specifically made because my co-bloggers and I have been dying to write some discussion posts but we simply couldn’t decide what to name our discussion features so we would like some suggestions from all of you out there! I’ve thought ‘Heavenly Rumination’ could work but there’s something off about it that I just can’t put my finger on, hence, we are open to other naming ideas.

I think I’ve gone on for long enough so here’s to a greater and better year of book blogging!

Adelena

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Giveaway

Prize: Win any 1 book of your choice below US$15 from The Book Depository

Rules:

1. Giveaway ends 17 March 2014 at 11:59 PM SST (or UTC+08:00).
2. Open  internationally as long as The Book Depository ships free to you, no purchase needed.
3. Entrants below the age of 18 must have parental consent.
4. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected.
5. I, and any other bloggers on A Page of Heaven, will not be held responsible for lost mail.
6. By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone. I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.
7. VOID where prohibited by law.

Without further ado, click here for the giveaway!