The Content
This blog was originally created as a way for me
to rant about books. It’s evolved into a therapeutic “reading journal” of sorts,
mostly comprised of book reviews/comparisons or character analyses. They tend
to be longer than the average blog post, sometimes veering more toward essay or
article format. Sometimes the subject matter is weighty and dry, other times
I’ve approached with a lighter tone, writing parodies of works such as H.G.
Wells’ The War of the Worlds.
Early posts often include a section at the bottom
with information on recommended reading age, available adaptations to TV or
film, and other information. Somewhere along the line, I stopped doing this, and
recently have decided it’s a better use of space simply to provide my usual
information-finding links in the Favorite
Links page so that readers can access the information they want to without
having to read it after every blog post. However, I will still occasionally use
an asterisk * to point to a footnote—usually an aside comment—at the bottom of
the page.
My reviews try to take note of any material a parent
might consider objectionable, and include an appropriate age guideline. It’s
not like I’m a prude or advocating any censorship: I’m just trying to facilitate
parents’ helping their children find the best books for their age and
maturity.
Part of growing as a reader (for me, anyway) is expanding to
unfamiliar genres or subject matter, from nonfiction to magic realism to
picture books to ancient poetry. While my favorite “genre” is Classic
Literature, I also have a soft spot for modern children’s novels and Young
Adult fiction. I’ve also tried to review books that don’t have much coverage on
the internet—it always saddens me when some of my beloved books don’t seem to
get the appreciation they deserve.
The
Format
At first, I wrote a blog post a day; this was to populate a very
blank canvas as soon as possible. Now I aim for once a week. Sometimes I miss a
week—I try not to be too stringent if this happens, since after all this blog
is supposed to be a fun activity, and if I am sick or stressed out or otherwise
not in the right frame of mind, that forced attitude will be reflected in my
writing.
As I’ve learned more about blogging, web design, and internet
courtesy, I’ve been trying to adapt my blog to be more accessible, possess more
integrity, and provide better quality content. (That’s the plan, anyway.) As of
2018, I’ve been gradually overhauling everything: updating information, testing
links, and adding feature images.
My feature images are created in Canva and are either sourced
from Canva, are personal photos, or downloaded from another free stock image
website, Pixabay. If an image is not from one of these sites (such as older
images), I have included the source URL to that image in the caption below. As
far as I’m able I avoid using images without permission (though this is not
something I knew back when I started, and I’m retroactively cleaning up my
older posts), and from plagiarizing (I try to mention the author and/or work if
I quote something, for example).
Speaking of copyright: This blog and any of my original content is
written unpaid and for recreational purposes. It should be read for enjoyment but is not proper material for use in, say, a book review assigned by a
literature course.
Discussion
I welcome comments below the individual posts to discuss books or
characters or even compare with other works. Should you feel inclined to
comment, my one request is to “keep it classy”: I want to have a
“family-friendly” blog, so please keep the language clean and the discussions
civil.
Thank you so much for reading this blog! I hope you enjoy it!
Come With Me If You Want To Read © 2021 by Laura Strommen
