ABOUT

I have loved books for as long as I can remember. In fact, if you visit my mother’s house, you’ll see a picture of me on the wall, aged 3, hugging a book tightly with a blissful expression on my face. Not much has changed. If you visit my own house now, you will leave with the general impression of your average place… hidden somewhere under a huge mountain of books. This, to me, is home.

While I was at university completing my degree in Communications and Anthropology, I was lucky enough to review books for (and eventually act as Books Editor for) Press+1, an online arts and entertainment website. It was fantastic – not only because it was a great opportunity to work with a wonderful, smart and talented group of people, but because I got FREE BOOKS! When you’re a student and a bibliophile, this is the dream.

After a while, however, I started wishing I could share some of my favourites that weren’t brand new, as well as the new releases I discovered while writing for the site. So I decided to embark on a new book project – my very own book blog where I could share reviews of some oldies as well as the new releases, talk about books, share inspiring links and photos and just generally indulge my bibliophilia! This is that blog.

I love reading and I love talking about the books I’ve enjoyed (and yes, sometimes also the books I didn’t like so much). I don’t have many readers in my real life, so I come here to share my thoughts, but mostly to engage with you, whoever you are. I want to hear what you’re reading, what brought you here, what you thought of books I’ve finished that you’ve also read. As with blog content and reading, sometimes I’m not able to keep up with comments immediately, but I do always read them and I try to reply (I’ll also try to visit your blog if I have the time!). This blog has brought me so much enjoyment, and it has helped me find my people – like you. I hope you find some posts here that you can relate to or some books to add to your TBR, and I hope you feel like sharing some of your own recommendations and thoughts with me!

P.S. One thing to note is that while I review a fair number of Young Adult books, this isn’t a YA-dedicated blog. I have wide-ranging tastes that include everything from YA to Erotica, and I’ll review any and all books that strike my fancy. This means that I’ll occasionally review books that contain adult content, though I’ll try to keep the reviews less so. I also enjoy swearing, and shit ain’t gonna change. Fair warning! 

P.P.S.  Since I started I’ve changed blog names (I used to be Backlist Books), moved to self-hosting, and have gone from full-time employment to being a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) to a great kid who, it seems, loves books as much as I do. I have also had some rough times. I’ve had mental health issues, and I have both new and old chronic medical issues that require a lot of effort and ever-changing medication and limits on what I can do to manage. Then there’s the pandemic – which still isn’t over for people with medical issues like me. Shit’s hard. I still love reading, and it’s a great way to deal with (and escape from) all the stress that these things create in my life. But there are also times when I just can’t read. Either mom stuff is intense or I’m burned out or I just straight up can’t breathe. So I take breaks, usually for a few months in the winter, and occasionally at the end of the summer. I try to read enough in the on times to float me through these without losing content, but it doesn’t always happen. If there are gaps, I’ll be back. I just need time to get back to being me again.

P.P.P.S. Except for images I have taken myself or been provided accompanying a review copy of a book, all images on this blog are found using Google Image Searches or via Goodreads. If you see an image to which you own rights on my blog and would like it removed, please contact me and I will do so immediately.