Tuesday, September 08, 2020

Giving Bloggers the Credit They’re Due

It used to be that every mid-September brought Book Blogger Appreciation Week. That tradition was apparently begun in 2008 by Amy Riley, the Southern California author of a blog called My Friend Amy, and was intended “to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading.” From what I can discern, this annual Web-wide endeavor had the misfortune to peter out in 2013. By then, the blogosphere was evolving rapidly, with many people who’d once thought it a splendid idea to start writing their own blogs finally buckling under the pressure of having to update them on a regular basis. As anyone who’s managed a blog will tell you, there’s a lot of work that goes into keeping these sites active. It’s far easier to every once in a while post a brief something on Facebook and be done with the matter.

Those very difficulties, though, make it important to recognize the folks who have kept at this enterprise. Although there have been many casualties in the crime-fiction-blogging world over the last few years, including a few sites that have fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic struck this last spring, there’s still a healthy crowd of people devoted to “the promotion and preservation of a literate culture.”

So, although this isn’t officially Blogger Appreciation Week, I am going to celebrate it as such. Below you will find 20 of my favorite blogs dealing with crime, mystery, and thriller fiction. Those penned principally by one person are clearly identified.

“TomCat” — Beneath the Stains of Time
Kristopher Zgorski — BOLO Books
Various authors — Bookgasm
Elizabeth Foxwell — The Bunburyist
Les Blatt — Classic Mysteries
Various authors — Do Some Damage
Martin Edwards — ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’
Jiro KimuraThe Gumshoe Site
B.V. Lawson — In Reference to Murder
“Puzzle Doctor” — In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel
Kevin R. Tipple — Kevin’s Corner
Lesa Holstine — Lesa’s Book Critiques
Bill Selnes — Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan
Janet Rudolph — Mystery Fanfare
Steve Lewis — Mystery*File Blog
Various authors — Mystery Scene Blog
Various authors — Paperback Warrior
John “J.F.” Norris — Pretty Sinister Books
Andrew Nette — Pulp Curry
Ayo Onatade — Shotsmag Confidential

This list does not feature only book review blogs, but instead takes a more catholic view of genre coverage. It also leaves off bigger sites, such as CrimeReads and Criminal Element, that aren’t strictly “blogs,” and others that don’t deal principally with works in this genre.

Applauding those resources will just have to wait for another time.

12 comments:

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Honored and deeply appreciative of making your list. Thank you.

Lesa said...

Ah, thank you. Kevin Tipple told me about this because I'm on vacation, and hadn't seen it. Thank you. - Lesa Holstine

Bill Selnes said...

Thanks for the recognition. You brightened my day.

Fiona L. Woods said...

Great list! Some I read and now some new for me to explore.

Ayo Onatade said...

Thanks Jeff, I’m so honoured to be included in this list!

HonoluLou said...

A tip of the Panama Hat to YOU J.K.P. for more than 500 site links for us to visit down the right-hand column of your blog (I stopped counting.) Truly remarkable!

BVLawson said...

Thanks for including me, Jeff! Right back atcha with a big thanks for all the hard work you do.

Kathy Reel said...

So many great bloggers in this list that I consistently follow. I hope one day to make this list myself.

Andrew Nette said...

Thanks, Jeff, deeply honoured to be on this list. I actually have been thinking lately that I still enjoy blogging, even if it seems to have gone out of favour somewhat. A great list to be in and, of course, kudo to you for continuing to helm this excellent site.
Cheers,
Andrew

Puzzle Doctor said...

Many thanks for the kind mention. I'm blushing now...

TracyK said...

This is a great list of mystery / crime fiction bloggers. Many of them I read frequently, but there are a few new (to me) blogs here I will check out.

Kathy D. said...

Kittling Books by blogger Cathy Cole is wonderful. Focuses on crime fiction.