About the Blog

If you’re looking for suggestions for good books, or just like discussing them, you’re in the right place!

This blog is based around a passion for books, writing, and talking about both.  On Mondays and Wednesdays I post reviews of marvelous (and not so marvelous) tales I’ve read.  Young adult fantasy is a major focus, but not an exclusive one.  I’ll try to point you–or a YA reader you know–to some good books, and warn you about some not so good ones.  If you’ve read a book I’m writing about, I hope you’ll tell me what you think too–and feel free to give me suggestions on books to review.

On Fridays, I share my own tales, which I hope you’ll find marvelous!  Even if you don’t, feedback (constructive, please!) is always welcome.

In between, I’ll share anything else that seems of interest, be it favorite quotes or ruminations on life.

You might wonder why I choose to focus mainly on juvenile and young adult.  For one thing, I’d like to note that I do read books for “grown-ups” too.  And I’m selective in my J and YA reading–some really are juvenile in every sense of the word.  I try to find the ones that have cross-age appeal, and the best do.  The best J and YA books are really not that different in most ways from grown-up books–except they’re cleaner, and they’re more likely to have happy endings.  Because I’m a clean humor, happy ending kind of girl, I like that.

I’m also an aspiring novelist, writing YA, so in a way it’s like research too…

So that you’ll have some idea what kind of books I recommend…I like books with strong heroines, with humor, and with at least a little romance.  I have a weakness for cocky heroes who can pull off impossible stunts.  I like a little mystery and suspense, but I don’t like anything too horrifying.  I don’t like what I call “troubled teen” books, with a few exceptions; I’m sure they have their purpose, but I’m not a fan.  I like books that tell a good story and also have a point, without letting either one get in the way of the other.  I like stories about chasing dreams.  I like that in J and YA books, you can have pirates and dragons and noble virtues, and that things tend to work out in the end.

To quote a bit more from L. Frank Baum:

“This book has been written for children.  I have no shame in acknowledging that I, who wrote it, am also a child; for since I can remember my eyes have grown big at tales of the marvelous, and my heart is still accustomed to go pit-a-pat when I read of impossible adventures…Childhood is the time for fables, for dreams, for joy…

Perhaps some of those big, grown-up people will poke fun at us…Never mind.  Many of the big folk are still children–even as you and I.  We cannot measure a child by a standard of size or age.  The big folk who are children will be our comrades; the others we need not consider at all, for they are self-exiled from our domain.”

And why should fables, dreams and joy ever be left behind?  So if you are still of this domain, and if you love tales of the marvelous, welcome.  I look forward to discussing them with you.

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Those are my books in the blog header; I tried to arrange the picture so that you could read the titles.  However, if you’re squinting and wondering what that second word is, let me make it easy.

From left, the books are: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling; The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean; Mary Poppins in the Park by P. L. Travers; Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce; Believing Is Seeing by Diana Wynne Jones; Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer; Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques; Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier; A Voice from the Border by Pamela Smith Hill; Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey.

All come recommended.  The White Darkness, Bloody Jack and A Voice from the Border aren’t fantasy, but all are marvelous tales.