Happy 7th Birthday Shady Glade!

It's hard to believe it.  On this day 7 years ago, The Shady Glade was born.  Let me tell you, I had no idea then what I was getting into.  I simply had this vague idea that I wanted to use what was at that time a new medium to share my reading with other people who also liked to read.  I suppose in some way blogs are passe now; everyone is more into Twitter/Facebook/that sort of thing.  But I kind of like it.  It's more journal-like, and I've never been able to keep a journal very steadily before, so this kind of a like a book journal.  It's fun to look back over everything that's happened over the last 7 years.

I don't think there's anyone from those first few months still around anymore, but for those of you who do still read this blog (or are new readers) thank you so much.  It's all because I know there's at least 1 person out there who will read this that I do this.  And I hope that there's more than 1 of you.  :)  I am especially grateful for those who stuck it out with me over the last year.  I know it was rough getting through those months where I wasn't blogging, and I am glad to be back in the swing of things, even if it's not as much as I used to be (I can't believe I tried to blog every day in 2009.  But I guess that's what happens when you are a new college graduate with a freelance job and LOTS of time on your hands...)

So as a tribute to this auspcious day, I thought it would be fun to take a look over the top 7 most popular posts of all time here at The Shady Glade.

7.  Review of Amanda/Miranda by Richard Peck - In spot number seven is this post.  This was actually the very first book review I posted, although looking back I believe it was my 4th post overall.  And the funny thing is, I originally wrote it for a different website at first.  This was my first Richard Peck book, and he still remains one of my favorite authors.

6.  Poetry Friday: Snow White - This one surprised me.  I guess a lot of people are into poetry inspired by fairy tales.  This was a poem I came across during one of the classes I was a TA for in college.  If I remember correctly, I had actually posted a poem about Cinderella the week before.  But apparently, Snow White is the more popular post. 

5.  Author Guest Post: Zoë Marriott- Ironically enough, this is another blogoversary post.  This was for my 3rd blogoversary, which was quite the spectacular event.  Again, so much time on my hands back in 2009.  But of all of my author guest posts, this is the only one in the top 10.  Hmmm... I wonder why it's so popular?  Not that I'm complaining of course, it was a fun guest post to read.

4.  Review of The Primrose Way by Jackie French Knoller - This one surprised me a little.  Not too bad, because I always see it up in my stats when I check them about once a month.  It makes me a little happy though, since I feel like this is definitely one of those "overlooked" books that doesn't get a lot of attention, and it's about a period of American history that I think gets overlooked a lot too.  Although I think a lot of people are trying to find help with their homework, because the most common search terms I see associated with this one are "primrose way book report". 

3.  Catching Fire Contest Monday - This one was not so surprising, other than the fact that it is still popular enough to be up there in stats.  Maybe the pending Catching Fire movie has something to do with it.  This was definitely my most popular Contest Monday ever, for an ARC copy of Catching Fire.  At that time I had refused to read the Hunger Game books because they were so popular.  But like Twilight, I did eventually give in and read them, and enjoyed them a lot.  If I had only known what I had in my hands at the time...

2.  Review of The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi - I've reviewed several books by Rinaldi on this blog, but this one is by far the most popular.  Again, I suspect it might be students trying to get help with their homework based on the words associated with this that show up on my sheet.  But I think this is an "oldie but goodie" book, and it's worth picking up, especially if you like American Revolutionary historical fiction. 

And the number 1 post is...

1. Review of The Falcon's Malteaser by Anthony Horowitz - This one did surprise me.  I do see it floating around in my stats every once in awhile, but I had no idea it was the most viewed post of all time.  It even outstrips #2 up there by quite a bit of a margin.  I do love the Diamond Brother books, and I don't think many people have read them, so it's nice to see that in some way it's popular.  I wish more of them were available in the US, but most people I talk to haven't even heard of them, so there you go.  I don't think they were ever a big seller here. 

So there you have it.  Kind of interesting, huh?  Here's to 7 more years of the Shady Glade, although, sometimes I wonder if I have it in me!  But as long as you are there to keep reading, I'll keep writing.  Thanks again to everyone for their continued support.  It means so much!