Grab yourself a glass of fizz, stick a silly party hat on your head (you look great, honest!), gorge yourself on cake and boogie on down to the dance floor.  All in honour of my little blog.  Today, Saturday 14th January 2017 is damppebble’s first birthday.  Today I celebrate my first ever blogiversary, whoop whoop.  Did I think one year ago today that I would be celebrating this landmark occasion?  Well…no, I didn’t.  I had dabbled in book blogging before and hadn’t got very far.  (If you would like proof then please click here, you have been warned!)

To celebrate I have a fabulous booky prize bundle to giveaway to one lucky winner but more about that in a moment or two.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being a book blogger over the last year.  I have read books that I wouldn’t have had the chance to read otherwise.  I have met the most amazing group of people, also known as the book blogging community and have made some true, lifelong friends.  I have met authors on and offline, OH MY GOSH…AUTHORS!  You wonderfully talented people are my rock stars and if I seemed like a gibbering wreck when  I met you then that’s the reason why.  Utterly starstruck.  I have participated in numerous brilliant blog tours (apologies to anyone I’ve missed)…

I was voted Fahrenheit Press‘ Blogger of the Week (well, fortnight as it turned out but I wasn’t complaining!).  As well as appearing on a number of other fabulous blogs talking about my book obsession.  And I finally made it to a blogger/author meet-up in Birmingham (the first of many I hope, so I can continue to gibber at you lovely authors).  All in all I think my first year has gone rather well!

But enough of my wittering, where are the prizes you ask..?!  I have a rather lovely bunch of Orenda goodies on offer to one lucky winner.

First up I have my original copy of the phenomenal A Suitable Lie, my book of 2016.  If you missed my review then click here.  Oh, and don’t worry.  A very kind person sent me a signed copy of ASL so I do still have one on my bookshelf (phew!).  I also have a crimey magnetic bookmark with the 50 best crime novels.  I’m not sure who they asked as my list would be quite different but it’s an interesting discussion point.  And finally, being sent from damppebbles HQ, there is a pretty turquoise notebook with accompanying pink pencil and butterflies printed on the pages.  It’s lovely and one for the stationery addicts out there.  But wait, there’s more…

The incredibly lovely Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books has offered the winner a SIGNED copy of Rupture by Ragnar Jonasson (paperback published 15th January 2017) and a SIGNED copy of In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings (paperback published April 2016).  A special thank you to Karen for offering such fabulous prizes and wanting to be a part of my first blogiversary.

So there we have it.  What a prize bundle, huh?  So now all you need to know is how to enter.  The giveaway is open to existing and new followers of damppebbles.com.  UK ONLY please (sorry but postage is a killer!).  The winner will need to provide me with their postal address which I will then share with Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books, no one else.  The giveaway ends at midnight (GMT) on 18th January 2017.  Click on the link below to enter.  Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So here’s to my second year as a fully fledged book blogger.  I am honoured by the support I have received over the last year and by the way I have been welcomed into the booky community with open (warm and fuzzy) arms.  For each tweet, retweet, share or mention, each comment, like and follow…thank you!!  I am hugely grateful and still find it hard to believe that there is someone out there who is interested in what I have to say.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

One final thing before you go (if there is anyone still reading at this point!!) here are my most popular posts of the past 12 months.  I’m glad that my most viewed review is also one of my very favourite books, that makes it even more special.

Most visited post (My Husbands Son blog tour, guest post by Deborah O’Connor)
My most visited review (The Optician’s Wife by Betsy Reavley)

Thanks everyone, looking forward to the next year.

p.s. It’s ‘damppebbles’, not damp pebbles or Damp Pebbles or (OMG) DampPebbles.  It’s just like ‘Waterstones’, but better because I’d serve wine 😉