Happy 12th Anniversary to everyone! The site started on 31 January 2005 with a review for Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn and for The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann, and what a long strange hot pink journey it has been over the past twelve years.
WOW. I’m sort of stunned by that, and I’ve been working on this post for a few weeks now. Twelve years! That’s a long, long time. Thank you for hanging out with us for so many years!
As has become tradition, I went and had a look at the traditional gifts for a 12th anniversary, and behold! Linen! So I played online and shopped for several hours (SUCH A HARDSHIP MY GOSH), and came up with some fun prizes to celebrate our anniversary with a giveaway.
This year, my goal is to accessorize your favorite reading location with adorable pillows that include linen or a blend thereof, and that celebrate reading the books we love.
Ready? We’ve got six to give away!
Have a look!
A typewriter pillow! How cute is that?
But wait, more pillows!
This one has embroidery to make it look like looseleaf paper – I love it.
When my house was staged and it looked like stylish chevron-obsessed aliens lived there with us, this pillow was added to a small grey sofa, and I loved this pillow like mad. I am so excited I found it online and can give one away! The alphabet is embroidered on the front, and it’s just adorable.
Do you read past your bedtime? Of course you probably do. We’re all members of The Bad Decisions Book Club.
It’s always Book O’Clock, right? No question.
And of course, one more pillow:
Can’t leave out The Ladies, right? The front of this pillow has The Ladies – Original Recipe, and on the back it says, “You should be reading.” Because obviously.
To enter to win, leave a comment and tell us your favorite thing about hanging out here at SBTB. HaBOs? Cover Snark? Reviews? What’s your favoritest thing?
Standard disclaimers apply: We are not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and ready to lounge and read. Pants are always optional. To keep with the theme of twelve, we recommend reading in two twelve-hour blocks to most efficiently fill your time. All blankets and all readers welcome. Keep books and read on. Comments will close Monday February 6, 2017 around noon ET, and winners will be announced shortly thereafter.
Whatever it is that keeps you coming back to Smart Bitches, thank you. It’s an honor to hang out with all of you from each part of the globe each day, and I’m so glad you’re here. Happy anniversary to us!
Update: Here are our winners in order!
Thank you all so much for being a reader of Smart Bitches! You’re what makes this community great!
Happy Anniversary!
I love some good Cover Snark.
I love the honest reviews and love to read out loud the really bad ones to my co-worker. I love the sales!!
Cover snark lured me in. As a side note: if high schoolers were encouraged to do the kinds of reviews you do our kids would be endlessly reading just so they could do book reports.
So, it’s the ongoing inspiration you supply by applauding or dissing books that keeps me here. And the cover snark!
Woohoo! What a great cause to spill more champagne!!!
What I love about this site & your daily newsletter is the honesty! Its everywhere, in your reviews on books, TV, movies and your podcasts… & I absolutely love the cover snarks. I spend way too much money on books – but you’re recommendations have always been spot-on!
Thankyou ladies, and happy anniversary.
My favorite thing on this site is the book recommendations. I’ve been turned on to so many great books thanks to my fellow bitches!
I am here for all you snarky, clever ladies! Can’t get enough.
The sale books and the comments. The Bitchery is full of smart, funny women (and some men, I’m sure)!
The Bitchery. I’m not that active in the comments, but I love listening to the podcast and interacting with the crew on social media.
Happy Anniversary SBTB!! Oh jeeze, deciding what I love the best about this site is kind of like trying to pick your favorite child. I love the recommendations and have found a lot of great authors I’ve come to love through this page. I love the Daily Deals, HaBO and interviews. And whenever I am having a bad day, I know I can read some “D”or lower reviews on here and they will always make me laugh. But what first attracted me to the site were the smart, snarky, critical reviews from women who unabashedly love romance and were not afraid to say it. I don’t feel ashamed here to gush over the latest Courtney Milan because I know there are like minded people who feel the the same way, as compared to my RL book group. And that amazing camaraderie is why I stay.Thank you for creating this wonderful space and community. Here’s to the next 12 years!!
I found SBTB at a time where I was really self conscious about pretty much everything. I was obsessed with romance and made fun of for reading it, on top of several other insecurities. Finding a community of bright and amazing people sharing their love of romance helped turn me around and made me feel stronger. There is nothing like opening my email or my web browser and feeling immediately better because there is a new post that makes me smile and laugh or think of things in a new light. I don’t know what my life would have been like if I hadn’t accidentally stumbled upon SBTB 6 years ago, but I’m glad I don’t have to ever find out.
Oh, so many things! The reviews, the cover snark, the HABO… it’s my favorite read, besides my trusty romances!
What do I love? When I tell my friends I want a muscle car driving tattoo artist/volunteer fireman Seattlite with a pony tail and big dog, they roll their eyes and say first, I need to move to Seattle.
The Bitchery tells me the title of the book/s.
Mwahhhh!! Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary, SBTB. I enjoy the book and movie reviews the most, but also love HaBO to see if I recognize the book.
Learning about some new releases and what’s on sale!
I think my favorites are Cover Snark, HaBO, and I hate to admit this, I love Elyse Watches The Bachelor. I work with women who watch that show and they do not make it sound near as entertaining as Elyse does.
Still not watching it, but wevs.
Celebrating our anniversary with all of you is the best. I love it – thank you so much for all the kind wishes and all the massive warm fuzzies! Y’all are the best part of SBTB.
I’ve been a member of the b*tchery for a looong time (back when my on-line handle was Mama Nice). I came first for the cover snark and stayed for the savvy content. From reviews to news to tracking trends, the Pink Palace has been my romance retreat. Where honest opinion was more important than playing nice. Where romance of all kinds was celebrated (even cuttlefish shapeshifters). Where I learned that a duck’s penis is corkscrew shaped and discovered that anal sex might save someone’s life. Thanks for the insight, the laughs, and all the authors and stories I would not have discovered otherwise. Cheers to another dozen years! Mazel Tov!
I love the Books on Sale posts. I always end up buying something, even when I tell myself I have way too many unread books on my Kindle app.
Cover Snark is the best! Plus the Bachelor reviews – I don’t watch the show anymore, but I love your reviews of it!
Happy anniversary, Smart Bitches!
I love getting smart and sassy reviews every day, and the Cover Snarks make me snort out loud at work, but my absolute favorite thing is just the sense of community and belonging you guys give me – it feels like a family, where I can be unapologetic about my choice of books and writers. Before you, I always felt a bit ashamed of the trashiness of my reading material – I am supposed to be a scientist, dealing with deep concepts and logic, but irrational happy endings warm my heart and is a part of me I am now learning to accept.
So, thank you so much for everything you do!
Happy 12th! I come for the reviews and the books on sale. I’m loving the mid-week link posts of late as well and the Bachelor recaps. So hilarious.
Picking a favorite thing is so hard. I love the cover snark as well as the DNF reviews (they’re usually kind of hilarious). I also love the HABO! I’m convinced that I might actually know one at some point. It hasn’t happened yet, but you never know. All those books I read throughout my lifetime…surely I will use that knowledge someday…right?
I’m here for everything! But I appreciate the fact that you (Sarah) have a similar reading style to me, so I can always trust your reviews!
Reviews to keep my to read list fresh!
I think my favoritest thing is that everyone is happily able to say their piece as if they were talking over coffee or other potables. It is like a friendly get together with snark.
The reviews!!! especially by grade! Whenever I am craving a new book (which is basically always) I hit the review section and know I will find a winner!
Happy Anniversary, to this amazing site!
It’s been a great twelve years, Happy Anniversary!
Cover Snark and your bitchin’ F- reviews!
You cover books that I would never think of reading and you have totally cool giveaways! Keep up the good work.
Although I like most everything about the site, what keeps me coming back most would probably be the reviews and recommendations. If there’s a book I’m unsure about whether or not I’ll like it, any review or recommendation I can read on this site better informs whether I’ll enjoy the book (better than most Amazon or Goodreads reviews). Keep on what you’re doing here on SBTB!
I love that my Amazon book list has almost tripled in size. I keep coming back because I frequently have tears coming down my face from laughing (or trying to hide the fact that I’m laughing while at work not working). A few other friends follow the site, and if swimming or the ocean is discussed, then we always remind the others to watch out for weresharks.
I’ve found so many great authors through your reviews, so I have to say those are my fave!
I love the reviews, but the book sales are fabulous. The SB smart, but inclusive attitude keeps me coming back.
I love everything, but I’ll especially note discovering new authors via reviews and Whatcha Reading? which I never miss. And I adore the snark, and when authors I know and love pop up in the comments section!
Came for the Cover Snark, stayed for the delightful reviews AND for the community that finally let me say with confidence that _fuck yeah_ I read romance novels. <3
1. All the Smart Bitches
2. Bachelor recaps!
3. HABO
4. Coversnark
5. Book reviews
6. I have a love/hate relationship with the book sale posts since I only have so much money to spend!
I actually enjoy the site quite a bit, but I must say that the cover snark, makes me laugh out loud. Oh my gosh, they are so funny!
I also always try and guess the HABO question. I never get it, but I always Try!
Thanks for being great! Have a super day!
My favorite thing about Smart Bitches is the variety of awesomeness. I love romance books but I love how Smart Bitches expands out into general bookish-ness as well as book-adjacent-ness. I have discovered a lot of great books and sites and items here and not all of them are strictly romance-related. This is such a fun bookish community and I am so pleased to have found it.
Reviews, sales, and interviews with my fave authors!!
I just love being a part of a community of romance novel readers. I used to feel pretty isolated in my romance reading, and would sometimes keep it on the DL. That is not the case anymore!