I believe that the more you know a reviewer, the more valuable the review. So a little bit about me as a reader.

What I read

While getting my master’s degree I realized many of the assigned books were written by men. White men. (Though I was fortunate enough to take some classes with women professors where there was a broader range.) So for a few years I made a conscious effort to only read books written by women to balance that. I still mostly read books written by women.

I enjoy delving into stories from other cultural and personal viewpoints. I can’t be anything but a white, heterosexual, English-speaking female of a certain age from the USA, but maybe I can imagine for a while.

For many years I read mostly mysteries, with the odd bit of fantasy or sci-fi. I twice went for months-long stretches where I read only British historical fiction. I went through a stretch where I alternated “classics” with genre fiction. When I lived in Finland, I read anything I could get my hands on in English! (This was well before eBooks.)

Lately I’m drawn mostly to fantasy and science fiction. I don’t try to separate the two because it’s just too hard. Sometimes there’s a mystery involved too, and I don’t want to waste my time deciding which label to apply. Where there is much overlap in genres — say, The Spare Man, Station Eternity, or the Eye of Isis series — I’ll put it under both.

How I read

I read one fiction book at a time. Once I get into a series I tend to stay with it until I’ve read the whole thing, if it’s finished. I rotate my book choices among the following broad categories:

• Books set in the past: Where technology is less advanced than now, which covers most historical fiction (say, prior to 1900) and sword & sorcery kinds of things, like The Lord of the Rings and Outlander.
• Books set in the present: Modern day or thereabouts, which includes near-future and post-apocalyptic, also mysteries and most “other.” I would put Harry Potter and The Last Policeman here, for example.
• Books set in the future: Where technology is more advanced than now, so most science fiction. Star Wars, The Expanse.

I’ve found if I read two books in similar worlds sometimes they get muddled in my brain. But sometimes I want to do a comparison and sometimes mood is a stronger driver. And when I’m traveling, or getting ready to travel, I’ll try to read books either set in that destination or written by someone from that culture.

I don’t read much nonfiction — other than travel guides, which I don’t review. (Though I will say that Lonely Planet guides have gone seriously downhill recently.) I have audiobooks for a couple of my nonfiction titles and plan to “read” them while exercising. When I don’t exercise a lot I don’t read much nonfiction either!

How I review

If it’s a finished series I review the series rather than individual books. If it’s not finished I’ll review the part I’ve read and update later. For each book I include the book description, because it’s easier than writing my own synopsis — I hated writing book reports — followed by my take. I don’t see myself critiquing books. I read for pleasure and want to share that joy with others.

I don’t include star ratings here because I think ratings are worthless without the why and an understanding of that person’s own subjective rating scale. I do rate books on Goodreads and review series on The StoryGraph as I finish them, so if you run into my ratings there, here’s my rating scale.

• 5 star: Loved it! Bring on the next one!
• 4 star: Pretty good. I’ll look for more by this author.
• 3 star: Okay. I finished it but I’m unlikely to read more by this author.
• 2 star: Ick. I’m just here to find out what happened then I’m out of here and won’t be back.
• 1 star: I’m outta here. (Probably a do not finish.)

In practice I rate most books a 4-5 because I don’t want to drag down a book’s overall rating because I didn’t care for it. My bar for 3 stars (average) is pretty low: a plot that didn’t feel plug-and-play, characters that weren’t stereotypes, and not riddled with grammatical errors. Most books easily clear that bar. Someone will like them, even if it’s not me.

These days I read on a Kindle because it’s easier and more portable. And I don’t have to leave on the bedside lamp while my husband is trying to sleep! But I still own a lot of books and when we built our house we planned a library to hold them. And to sit in and drink and listen to music …

Want to Connect?

I’m not very online (other than following authors) and haven’t tried connecting on either The StoryGraph or Goodreads, but if you’re interested in discussing books, this is how to find me.

• The StoryGraph: Here’s my profile on The StoryGraph. This is where I actively post reviews and track my reading.
• Goodreads: As I finish books on my Kindle I rate them here. Otherwise I’m not active.