Ya’ll!!
 The one year anniversary of my blog is coming this weekend!! (Eeek!) I can’t believe it has already been that long! I have sooo enjoyed writing here and I have sooo much more to learn. I’m having a blast.

I began this blog so I could have a “home” for working on a reading challenge I started three years ago. You can read about the challenge here. I was reading a lot and writing some reviews on the notes section of my facebook but that format just couldn’t offer me the freedom and organization that a blog space could. I thought about it for a long time but I just wasn’t sure I had it in me to do it well. I still don’t know about the doing it well part, but I certainly have the desire to do what I can with it as long as it continues to be enjoyable.

I have met some pretty awesome people in the blogosphere. The community is tremendous and they are a lot of fun! Some have been a great source of encouragement, entertainment and “intellectual stimulation”. (That’s a Marcia Brady reference).

Here are a few bloggers that I would like to especially thank for helping me along the way.

***Katie at Words for Worms. Katie writes an awesome book blog full of humor and whimsy. She enjoys Alice in Wonderland, Zombies, Time-Travel, Classics and she has an over the top affection for Penguins. I still have not won any of her giveaways but once I messaged her and said..”Hey, if I get your facebook page to 200 likes, will you send me a prize? Pretty please??” And she said “Um, sure!” She called it the “Moxie Prize” and now I am the proud owner of socks with a penguin dressed in an Easter Bunny outfit. And she also gave me a hand-made bookmark, Now she has over 500 fans on her page. Sooo, I like to think I had a lot to do with that…. And it was in an email that she encouraged me to get the blog going, so, thank you Katie!

***Lori Harris Lori is a friend of mine who blogs over at And This is Grace. She writes such beautiful, honest pieces about her life and her faith. She is a master at painting pictures with words. She adds photography and every posts feels like a work of art or poetry or something else that makes the blogosphere more beautiful. I called her up one day and asked if she could meet me for an hour at a coffee shop and show me how to start a blog. She took time out of her busy schedule to help me and most of what you see in my format here is because of her.

I also have gotten a great deal of enjoyment and encouragement from Adam at Roof Beam Reader, Monika at A Lovely Bookshelf, James at Coyote Mercury and April at The Steadfast Reader. You guys are awesome and you make me want to keep reading more and more.

So, enough sap and on with the giveaway!
In celebration of my first blogoversary, I am giving away a special bookish prize. The winner will receive:

*** One $20 gift card to Books a Million (for in store or online use).
***One “In My Book” bookmark/note card. (see more at inmybook.com).
***One full sized bag of Smarties. Cause you know, readers are smart.

Here’s how you enter:
It’s all very scientific. Grab the nearest book to you. Turn to page 25. Find the 10th sentence and post it here in the comments. You can mention the title if you like, or not. I like a mystery. Bonus entries for you if you “Like” Lost in Literature on Facebook or share this post. Just let me know that in the comments and your chances to win will increase.

We’re pulling out a celebratory champagne glass to hold all entries. My husband will be drawing the name so ya’ll get to it. You have until Friday at midnight. I will announce the winner on Saturday, the big day!