I am currently deep in the throes of book promotion (just in case you missed it in previous posts, you can find out more here). There have been good promotion moments – lots of them, thankfully – and a few not so great promotion moments (that early morning interview after my son was up most of the night teething… yikes.) But one of the best things about this whole process has been the opportunity to connect with the amazing community of book bloggers. These are women (and a few men, but mostly women) who read, write about what they’ve read, and post it online for the rest of the world to review and comment. They write articulate, intelligent, impassioned reviews about the books they like and, probably even more so, the books they don’t.  They have hundreds, if not thousands of followers, and are a critical ingredient in the grand mysterious alchemy that makes a bestseller. Many of them are the funniest, smartest, most entertaining voices in my twitter feed.  It appears that there’s no money in it – most have day jobs, parenting responsibilities, mortgages, complicated, demanding, rewarding lives outside their blogs. And yet, they keep reading, keep posting, keep building community based on the simple common denominator of a love for books.

Building community based on the simple common denominator of a love for books

Anyone who thinks the novel is a dying art form, anyone who thinks publishing is a fatally flawed industry hasn’t really checked out these bloggers. Because where there are passionate readers, there will be great books and great books will always need people to make them.

So, if you love to read (and I’m guessing that you do), I’d recommend checking out some of the book bloggers below. You might find your next great read, and you’ll almost certainly feel better about new media’s influence on literature.

Here (in no particular order) are a few of my recently discovered favorite book bloggers and tweeters.  And there are hundreds more out there.  So tell me: who’s your favorite book blogger?

• http://anita-womanwifemom.blogspot.com, @Anitalovesbooks
• http://deadwhiteguyslit.blogspot.com, @deadwhiteguys
• bethfishreads.com, @bethfishreads
• http://www.thebookladysblog.com, @RebeccaSchinsky
• http://classicvasilly.wordpress.com, @vasilly
• http://www.skrishnasbooks.com, @skrishna
• http://www.bookaddictkatie.com, @BookAddictKatie
• http://bookmagnet.wordpress.com, @Bookmagnet
• http://literatehousewife.com,  @Lithousewife