Contest Guest Post Winner: Moira from For the Lover of Books

Today, we are bringing you the winner’s post from our contest on who had the most books: Mandy vs. Sha, and how many you think the book princess has. Moira was the closest guesser after our first guesser missed the deadline sadly, so we are bringing you a guest post from her today. And for those wondering…Mandy for sure has the most books, but it was a lot closer than first expected between her and Sha??? We would share with you today the exact number, but let’s just say that she’s already gotten like 7 more, and the numbers are all skewed.

Now, if you don’t know who Moira is, she’s an amazing blogger that I (Mandy) have known for a while. For the Lover of Books is her fantastic blog, and it’s always full of great reviews, tags, and posts like the post below. I always love reading her reviews, because I know if she likes a book, I will like it too and she hates a book, I’m going to hate it too because we share a book mind. Make sure to go check her out in any of her socials below (her tweets are always so much truth)!

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Books That Mean Something to Me

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the books that mean something to me. They aren’t exactly all books I’d recommend to people, but they’re books that got me into YA, or were the first book I reviewed. These books all hold sentimental value, whether I enjoyed them or not.

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Haunting Violet was the book that really got me into YA. I read it for the Red Maple Awards in grade 7, and I loved it so much my mom bought me the author’s other books. And I didn’t stop there. It wasn’t even really a conscious choice to read specifically YA until I started For the Lover of Books, because I didn’t really know it was a thing, but if I had to find the cause of my YA centric reading habits, I would have to say Haunting Violet.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

I talk about it a fair bit, but for those who don’t know Grave Mercy was the first book I reviewed on For the Lover of Books. That review is so awful it physically pains me to read it, but I keep it readily accessible on the reviews tab of my blog for transparency’s sake. I may not have loved Grave Mercy, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnson

Exit, Pursued by a Bear was the first book I got signed. I had already owned signed books before that from an Uppercase box and finding signed copies at Chapters (major Canadian bookstore), but Exit, Pursued by a Bear was the first book I took to a signing, met the author, and got signed. It was a relatively local signing too, which was odd since most authors just go to Toronto.

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller

Mask of Shadow was the first ARC I ever read. I remember being near tears when I got the email from Netgalley saying I had been accepted for it. While I don’t exactly recommend Mask of Shadows (which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to buying a physical copy), I’ll always remember how much it meant to me to have a chance to read it early.

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Finding Audrey was the first book I really saw myself in. It was so weird to find a character that I could see a piece of myself in. Since reading Finding Audrey almost 3 years ago, I have found much better books that focus on mental health, but Finding Audrey really helped me figure out some major stuff about myself.

There are a ton of other books like Six of Crows that helped me through really dark times, but if I had to list all of them we would be here for an eternity.

What are some books that mean something to you?