After deciding at the last minute to participate in this semi-annual event, I am quite pleased with what I accomplished.  I may not have written all of the articles and posts I wanted to write, but I was able to write rough drafts for all of my pending reviews.  Even better, I was able to whittle down over 1,000 unread posts in my feed reader and bring that number down to zero.  It took me hours upon hours to do these two things, but I am glad that I did.  It is such a sense of relief to be able to have caught up on everyone’s posts and have seven different reviews that need minimal work before posting.  The rest of my to-do list should not take me a long time to write. 

In addition, I made some minor revisions to my sidebars, removing completed challenges and adding them to the 2010 Challenge page, updating my pages to get them ready for the blog redesign.  I also did something I have wanted to do for a while.  I finally joined an affiliate program for Powell’s Books.  I know I have had the Amazon Affiliate link up for the past few weeks, but I never felt comfortable with that.  I rarely use Amazon, if ever, and I do want to continue to support independently-owned book stores.  I have no idea if I will ever make any money through the program, but I feel better knowing that I am supporting something other than the big-box bookstores. 

This is my second foray with Bloggiesta.  I truly enjoyed it the first time because I was able to make some design changes and add certain elements I really wanted to add.  It allowed me to feel more comfortable playing with the code.  It introduced me to the wide world of blogging.  This weekend’s event was no different.  I now know who to go to with questions about RSS codes (I’m looking at you, Puss Reboots).  I have gotten to know and fall in love with new blogs and their owners.  It is after events like this where I am so excited to be a book blogger, and this weekend was no exception to that.  We have a great community, and I truly feel that we would be hard-pressed to find another supportive group like the book bloggers. 

A huge thank you to Natasha at Maw Books Blog for hosting this event every six months.  She is an amazing hostess, encouraging, tireless in her efforts to visit everyone.  Thank you for bringing the blogging community together and for encouraging us to take the time to expend energy on blog maintenance and updating!