Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday: A Few Things That Mean the World to Me

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's topic is: Thankful Freebie

I've spent far too long trying to figure out what twist to put on my Top Ten Tuesday 'thankful' post. There are plenty of fun ideas, but I think this year I'm just going to get a little sentimental and talk about what I’m thankful for overall.

First and foremost, I'm honestly so eternally thankful for this book community. I don't have the slightest idea where I'd be without all of you and everyone who loves books and feels the desire to talk about and connect with others about those books. Growing up (and even in my adult life), I don't really know anyone who reads as much as I do or the same types of books as me. Sure, I know and have bonded with people who've read Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but that's usually the extent of it. The book community lets me feel like I actually have a 'group' and people I can connect with and share experiences with. Where it's here on the blogging community, on Tumblr, reddit, Goodreads, and any of the other places book people connect, I'm so thankful to have such a kind and passionate community of book lovers to be a part of.

And to be a bit more specific, I'm thankful for all of the bloggers! You are all doing incredible things and often for no other reward than simply the joy of talking about books for yourself and with others. You help people discover new worlds and stories that will change their lives--all because you love them. I'm honestly not sure that I've ever seen such a welcoming and friendly community of bloggers than the book blogging world. There's the occasional drama, I'm sure, but I think everyone has their heart in the right place at the end of the day and we're really just here for the books and friends! Thank you to every book blogger big and small for working tirelessly to create quality content about the books we love to share with everyone else. 

Lastly, of course, I want to thanks the books themselves and their authors. I know that there are a lot of people that go into the making of a book (publishers, family members of authors, etc.), but I just want to boil it down right now to the authors for having such fantastic and imaginative ideas in their heads that they somehow manage to convey onto paper in ways that make me feel so alive and just plain happy. Life is rough, I think we can all agree on that. There are plenty of activities we can partake in to try to cope with the struggles of life, but for me there's nothing quite like the feeling of opening a book and just melting away into another world, another person's journey, another new experience. I genuinely feel like I learn something new from each book I read, whether it's just some new historical or scientific fact or learning more about a certain culture, or empathy for a perspective that I'd never considered. Books have enriched my life in so many ways and I'm couldn't be more thankful that they exist and there are so many people who are passionate about writing them (often knowing that the pay for doing so isn't exactly life-changing, to say the least). Those little (or occasionally enormous) bind-ups of paper have somehow managed to change my life and bring me some sort of satisfaction and contentment in a world that I often struggle in because of my depression and anxiety. What on earth would we be without books?

I hope everyone that celebrates has a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, whether with family, friends, coworkers, or even if you're just taking the day for yourself. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for this year?

9 comments:

  1. Such a lovely post! I agree, the bookish community has to be one of the best online communities to be part of - everyone is so welcoming and it's so nice to chat to someone, someone who might even be on the other side of the world, about a book you both love.

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  2. Such a great heartfelt list! I, too, am so very grateful for other book bloggers!!

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  3. Love this post, I'm thankful for all these things as well. I love the book community so much, and my life would not be as rich if I didn't have bloggers and authors who added so much. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Jordan!

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  4. What a lovely list. Happy Thanksgiving!

    My TTT.

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  5. This is such a great community, isn't it? I love book blogging mostly because of all the fantastic people I get to "meet" through it. It's seriously so much fun to be involved in a community like this!

    Happy TTT!

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  6. My post today had so many similar themes! Books, authors, the book blogging community! It's the best and I am so thankful!

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  7. I don't have a ton of other readers in my life, either, so I love reading other blogs and connecting with other readers! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  8. I’m also thankful for the book blogging community. I don’t have any real life friends who read, so my fellow bloggers keep me sane and happy.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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