Welcome!
I’m Carol, and if you’re here because you love reading, then we’re already friends!
I’m a retired 5th-grade teacher, an ardent and avid bibliophile, and my favorite genres are historical fiction, literary fiction, and contemporary fiction. In addition, I enjoy reading selected memoirs and other narrative nonfiction. Occasionally, I’ll read selected science fiction, dystopian, crime fiction, mystery, or psychological thrillers. However, I do not read or review horror, vampire, occult, paranormal, or erotica. You can find me and all the books I read, rate, and review here on Goodreads. On the blog, I review 4 and 5 star reads (occasionally a 3 star read) because I want my blog to showcase the books I’ve enjoyed and enthusiastically recommend.
I love comments! Join the discussion!
The mission of my blog is to share a love of great literature across a variety of genres with an intentional focus on new releases, thoughtful themes, diverse cultures, and “own voices” authors. I desire to be a trusted reviewer for your next great read! Respectful conversations are always welcome.
***See the “Thinking About Books and Reading” tab for more posts about my reading life.
My 5-star rating scale:
5 stars (excellent) 
- given sparingly to the very best books, exceptional in every way, beautifully written, an important high impact book (lots of substance), unputdownable, ponder it for days and weeks after finishing (book hangover), always a highly recommended must-read, important themes; One Word: WOW!
4 stars (great)
- very enjoyable on many levels, important themes, frequently recommended, has a lot of substance; One Word: Wonderful!
3 stars (ok)
- an ok read…but sometimes falls into the category of easy or “fluff” reads (think vacation or beach reads), chick lit, mixed feelings about writing (premise might be good, but execution lacking in some areas), still might be recommendable for some reasons; One Word: OK
2 stars (meh)
- not recommendable, underwhelmed, unremarkable, finished but didn’t enjoy, might be rated highly by others but not the right book for me; One Word: Meh
1 star (avoid)
- usually, DNF (did not finish), lacking in several important elements, skipped/skimmed large sections, not on my recommended list; One Word: No
I read every book that I review and I value your comments and participation. Please note that I solicit and appreciate respectful comments. I’m looking forward to reading and discussing many great books together! I would be honored if you choose to enjoy and follow along and share my blog with your reading friends.
Blog Schedule: My goal is to post 2-4 times a week: a discussion post, a weekly meme, a “throwback,” and/or a review each Friday.
Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.
Book cover or author photos that appear in blog posts are credited to Amazon or occasionally from author websites unless it’s a personal photo I’ve taken for Instagram.
Mission Statement: The mission of my blog is to share a love of great literature across a variety of genres with an intentional focus on new releases, thoughtful themes, diverse cultures, and “own voices” authors. I desire to be a trusted reviewer for your next great read! Conversations are always welcome.
The goal for my reviews is to offer information and my opinion about the very best reads, especially new releases.
Unless noted, I have purchased all the books I review or I have borrowed them from the library. Occasionally, I receive free books (ARCs) in exchange for an honest review and this will be clearly stated. All opinions are my own.
A favorite quote: “Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones!” ~ Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
