Some words about this blog.
Greetings! Welcome to my little corner of the web. My name's Alisha and I love to read! Because of that fact I established this book blog. At the present moment, its primary function is to provide a place for me to detail some of my thoughts on both the books I read and the act of reading. Basically, I want a place to throw my musings on one of my favorite activities. Perhaps in the future I may expand and go fancy-pants, but for now I really only want to read what interests me. And my "reading mood" changes with the wind. ^_^
For the sake of trying to be organized, I'll give reviews a numerical rating (1-5 stars with half points) and list them by book title. Just in case you, dear visitor, have any measure of interest in the stuff I keep around here.
Some words about me.
Growing up I was considered a huge bookworm. As a child, at any given moment of any day I could be found reading...the first full-length novel I can remember reading by myself was Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. That book blew my little 8-year-old mind. ^_^ I was a regular fixture at our school's tiny library, and my absolute favorite place to be was the Richmond Public Library. Some absolute favorites in elementary school were the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, the many Encyclopedia Brown books, and Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain novels along with any epic fantasy I could find. I was simply addicted to National Geographic magazine, and read every issue as it arrived in the mail. And most importantly, I was obsessed--obsessed--with Roman and Greek mythology.
Middle school arrived, and I read just about everything by R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike (I was gifted some Babysitters Club books and never opened them. Give me gritty! ^_^). At that time I also fell head over heels for anything anime and manga, and started an epic collection of graphic novels. In high school I was introduced to the classics as all students are, but was really struck by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. This was a turning point for me because I found a love for general fiction; or at least, I began to actively seek out books that were outside of the realm of genre fiction. The same year I read P&P (and declared it my favorite), I discovered my co-favorite book: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Those two books represented a lot of what I enjoyed learning about: the human condition and its range of emotions.
Then came university. ^_^ I found that over those years (2000-05) my reading-for-pleasure habits slowed somewhat; instead of constantly being in the middle of a book (that was not assigned for school), I only read when I could find the time. But I certainly never abandoned it completely. I developed a love for British chick-lit (and it all began with Bridget Jones), and became more interested in non-fiction. In 2001 I took a job at the university's main library; from that point on I could be expected to have a good 100+ books checked out at once, but it was largely non-fiction. Books on language (the vast majority, given my major), major historical figures, mythology/folklore, biology, geology, physiology, film, crafting, photography, current affairs...you name it, I wanted to read it.
I like to think of the handful of years after uni, in which I joined the general work force, as my "reading dark ages." ^_^ I continued to read but there were huge chunks of time--several months, even--where I was without a book. At one point I co-founded a book club in the office just so I could push myself to read more often (and it gave some measure of success). But thank heavens for Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton for getting my butt in gear. They got me back to reading a few books a week, and I've not looked back since.
These days, my favorite genres of books are fantasy and science fiction related...especially urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I also enjoy historical and contemporary romance, steampunk and mystery. I'll read just about anything though, including various non-fiction (particularly humorous and/or travel-related). But I carry with me a long-standing love of serials; I tend to get attached to characters and enjoy the luxury of being able to follow them for extended periods.
Viva los libros!
