About

I am a book addict. In every spare moment I have between working, running and conducting my life, I have my nose in a book. That usually means I finish anywhere between one and three books a week. My biggest regret in life is that I never kept a definitive list of everything I have read, but despite the fact I am now in my 30s, I thought there is nothing wrong with starting now.

I love reading book reviews and book blogs and I want to improve my own reviewing ability, which is one of the reasons I have started this blog. Another is as a record of everything I read. Although I have an extensive list of books on librarything.com, these only record the books I own and read. This blog now provides space for me to review all of the other books which I don’t own, but have still read.

I run my own business consulting and teaching blogging and social media to companies, so I know the power (and fun!) of blogging. My taste in books is small-c-catholic to say the least. I read almost anything, from almost anywhere, and will give anything a try at least once. My favourites, however, are crime fiction, historical fiction, business, history, philosophy and art. But that doesn’t stop me from trying anything that comes into my hands or is recommended to me…

Small disclosure – I am adding Amazon affiliate links to each of the books I read in case anyone wants to buy any of the books that I have reviewed. I’m an Amazon addict myself (I am sure I keep them in business) so I suspect most of you are too.

What and how I review

I am happy to accept books to review, but over the past year I have developed a system which a friend suggested I explain. My system is not infallable and I don’t adhere to it strictly but it is pretty close.

If I have been asked to review a book, I will make a distinction between those books which are self-published and those which have been published via a main stream, independent or established publisher. For self-published books, I am aware that I am talking directly to the author. In most cases, they won’t have been at the mercy of an editor. As such, I will keep my criticism as positive as I can, and I won’t ever dismiss a self-published book, even if it hasn’t worked for me. I think an author will appreciate constructive criticism more than an outright dismissal. To that end, I won’t put a mark out of ten rating on those reviews.

For those books which have been through the editorial process, I won’t hold back if I don’t like it. I feel then that it is as much the fault of the editor as the author. These reviews will all have a rating, and I reserve the right to not be as contructive in my criticism. I know that not every book in the world will be ‘my kind of book’ but an editor should know better.

I disclose all books that I have been asked to review – they can all be found under the category of Requested Reviews. I don’t get paid to review in any other way other than receiving a free copy of the book, so that gives me the freedom to write honestly.