Let’s talk Bridgerton or, more appropriately, let’s talk historical romance. Unless your life has consisted of largely allowing popular tv shows to pass you by, then you’re likely aware of the popularity of the Netflix series Bridgerton. Before this was a wildly popular tv series, it was a book series by the brilliant Julia Quinn. … Read more
Readers are curious people, often with wild imaginations. The writer creates a world on the pages and the reader conjures it up in their mind. It is up to the reader to engage, see it, and understand it. Readers tend to be patient people. How often does it take to be “all-in” on a book? … Read more
There are many factors that cause the so-called “reading slump.” Be it work-related stress, daily time constraints, or being rocked into a slump after reading an entirely-too-good book, we’ve all experienced putting a book down and taking a very long time to pick another one up. There’s nothing wrong with experiencing a slump, but many … Read more
Every reader loves the feeling when they are recommended a book they end up falling in love with. The book matches their reading taste and is everything they were looking for. Without that recommendation, they possibly would have never found out about it. That’s why book recommendations are very valuable. They get us to learn … Read more
Simultaneously gender-bending and genre-bending, books, such as Outlawed by Anna North and Upright Woman Wanted by Sarah Gailey, offer a much-needed reprieve from the overly masculine literary south. In these pages, gangs of women ride across harsh desert lands in search of a better and more accepting home. In their journey, they battle sheriffs and … Read more
I’ve only tried to contact an author once. It was when I was in fifth grade, and I had been reading The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I wrote him a letter full of shameless praise, signing it “Shelby, AKA Shelbell.” That’s a nickname I haven’t gone by for a decade now, but … Read more
Many of us have read a piece of classic literature at least once in our lives, be it by our own motivation or thrust upon us in our school days. Devout readers often feel an obligation to read the “classics” because they are the basis of many modern-day tales. Though renowned for their merit and … Read more
A Renaissance man, former University of Edinburgh law professor, and instructor of medical law and bio-ethics, prolific Alexander McCall Smith has written over 100 books, completes five or six a year, and is now trying his hand at composing librettos and operas. ‘Talented’ would be an understatement for this brilliant, insightful, one-of-a-kind author and humanitarian, … Read more
