About
Welcome! This blog will be dedicated to all things book related including book reviews and recommendations, fun facts, polls, book lists, challenges, and personal musings about any book-related topic. Although I will be the primary blogger, there are two of us who will contribute to the bulk of posts on this site. As our blog has grown, we’ve also had the good fortune to be able to add a few wonderful contributors (see below). Over the course of the year we will also invite guest reviewers to cover books outside the genres that we typically read (e.g., non-fiction, etc.).
About Jen:
I’m an avid reader, coffee lover, and mom to a young daughter. I’ve loved reading (and all things book-related) since I was a child. It has developed into a full blown addiction in the last 5 years although I took a short break from reading after I had my daughter (infants are not conducive to reading). I have eclectic tastes and will attempt most genres, although I tend to prefer literary fiction. My latest reading goal is to make it through the 1001 books to read before you die list. I’ll pick plot-driven books over stream-of-consciousness books and I’m a sucker for strong female protagonists (the anti-twilight protagonist). Most of what I read falls into the genre of literary fiction although I also read a fair amount of fantasy and a sprinkling of young adult books depending on my mood.
For a more comprehensive look at the types of books I’ve read and plan to read, check out my Good Reads page.
About BookWorm: Hi my online moniker is Bookworm and I will be collaborating with Jen here in the Readers Room.
What you need to know about me:
1) I love reading
2) I will read anything and everything
3) My favourite genre is post apocalyptic / dystopian fiction
4) I am reading my way through the 1001 Books to read before you die
5) My approach to grading books is significantly less scientific than Jen’s
My grading system
1 star Bah I really hated this would not even pass this to my worst enemy
2 star I really didn’t like this but would consider giving it to my worst enemy for vengeful purposes
3 star this was an enjoyable way to pass the time not great not horrendous
4 star really enjoyed this book there was something about it that made me think
5 star wow I loved this book I am now out recommending it to all my friends, will keep to re read even though I have banned re reads 🙂
Contributor: Nicole: Somebody asked me the other day how I became a reader, and it was a really simple answer … I’ve just always read. The first book I remember loving was a book I got from the Library called The Root Children. Then I remember loving Little House in the Big Woods, and I so wanted to try that Maple Sugar! After that was The Chronicles of Narnia which I’ve read countless times and is still a favorite series to this day. I couldn’t WAIT to try Turkish Delight (I thought it would be more like caramel.) My next book memory was a laugh I will never forget, on page 107 of the paperback version of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish., what I now call “The biscuit story” and rest assured I wanted to try those biscuits.
Are you sensing a theme? I love every aspect of reading, but I particularly love to recreate experiences I’ve lived through books. I remember climbing the Tor of Glastonbury just after finishing The Mists of Avalon, and pulling into the train station near Dacau concentration camp while listening to that exact portion of the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
I’m exited to share some of my food, drink and travel experiences, with novel in hand, here in The Reader’s Room.
Contributor: Andrew (a.k.a. my nemesis and the master of snark). Note: Andrew has been a slacker and has yet to send me his photo. Until he does so, I get to place the photo of my choosing as a place holder for his profile pic.
Slow and steady wins the race. It also describes my reading style. Having two young kids and trying to get a business off the ground tends to limit my available reading time, but I put in at least thirty minutes every evening. Given that I read at the pace of a drunken mollusk, I don’t read more than a book month. Don’t judge me.
I have widely eclectic tastes, but gravitate towards books that are plot-driven and cleanly written. I don’t need pages and pages of exposition or wandering thoughts. Steinbeck and Hemingway are my heroes. And I loathe authors who gussy up their work with unnecessary prose and try to show that they’re hot shit: looking at you John Irving. When thinking of past favorites these come to mind: Catch-22, Straight Man, Cutting for Stone, and The Tsar of Love and Techno.
Since I read frequently to my 9 year-old daughter, I have strong opinions on young adult books and may post those more frequently than books I read for myself. But most importantly, I hope to bring the perspective of an upper-middle class, white male to this blog. Because that voice just isn’t heard in America anymore.
Book Worm
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 
Hello Jen! I’ve decided to read and follow 10 interesting and new blogs a day every day of May 2015, and yours is today’s #9! Feel free to come visit me when you can at http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com, and follow if you like what you read. Happy blogging!
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Hi! Thanks for the follow and I look forward to checking out your blog too!
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Hey! Just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award! If you’ve already been nominated before, no worries. I just wanted to let you know I think your blog is awesome. 🙂 http://theliterarycounsellor.com/2015/06/18/sisterhood-of-the-world-bloggers-award/
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hey, thanks!n I have stuff scheduled for the next couple weeks so hopefully it’s okay if I hold off on posting until later this month. I love your blog too!
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No worries, I do the same thing! I had to hold off on posting some of the award ones for a couple weeks because I had posts planned well in advance. 🙂
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great, thanks!
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hey, sorry for some reason I accidentally must have hit unfollow on your blog. I just realized because I was browsing and just noticed a recent post of yours that I hadn’t seen come through my notifications and then saw that I was no longer following. Don’t know how that happened. It was unintentional so now i’m following again 🙂
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No worries! I’ve had it happen myself. 🙂 I also saw a post a little while ago about a glitch in WordPress that unfollows people without you even noticing.
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hmm, that’s good to know because it’s happened many times before to me with another blog I follow. I had to keep following him again and again. First time I noticed it with your blog though. weird and I only caught it because I happened to be looking through the book tag and saw your recent guest post
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Hi! Thanks for the like on my first post – really appreciate it as new to the blogging world! P.s working through the ‘1001 books to read before you die’ list is a great idea – good luck!!
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Thanks! I look forward to seeing your future posts and exploring your blog!
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Hey Jen! I’ve tagged you to take part in the 3 days, 3 quotes tag, and heres the link: https://kerryberrybooks.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/3-days-3-quotes-day-2-tag/
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Yay! Another book lover. I’m always on the lookout for new genres and authors to read. I can always skim through page 1 of the interweb and do so, but I always come up with the same old ‘classics’ and ‘popular’ ones. Now thanks to you that I can improve and expand my reading list. Thanks for the follow.
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Thanks! I hope you find some good ones! I look forward to reading your blog too.
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Thank you for visiting my blog… I look forward to checking in on what you are reading and how you are enjoying (or not) your journey of 1001 books…
womenlivinglifeafter50.com
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Thanks, I enjoyed your blog and will be stopping by again in the future.
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Hey Jen! I nominated you for the Libester Award! Hope you don’t mind!
I love your blog, great content and I look forward to reading more!
http://musingsinmilan.com/2015/09/02/the-liebster-award 🙂 Anna
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Thanks. We actually don’t really participate in these award posts mainly because between the two of us we have posts scheduled months in advance and it’s hard to find room for them. However, I do really appreciate it and I’ve enjoyed your blog too. We will make a mention of the nomination in our monthly recap at the end of the month and I’ll link back to your blog when I thank you. I appreciate it!
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No worries, I completely understand! It is hard to find time to fit them in…I just happened to have time this month as I haven’t returned to work yet after the Summer! Blogging is certainly more time consuming than I imagined and I will need to be more organised when I am back at work! Ok, thank you very much!
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It is a lot of work – like a second job. How nice that you still have some time before returning to work!
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Can’t believe you’re attempting to read 1001 books! :O I’m going to take a look at the list and see how many I can tick off so far (not many, probably).
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It’s probably crazy but there are groups of us trying to read the list. When I first saw the list I was surprised by how many I had never even heard of let alone read. Let us know how many you have read!
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I’ve nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award!
http://josbookblog.co.uk/2016/02/02/sunshine-blogger-award/
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I’m looking forward to adventures in Discworld with Kate. I’ve only read a handful – The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, and Mort. Only 37 to catch up on, then…
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Hi Jen! Love your blog so I just tagged you in the ‘This or That’ Book Tag. If you’d like to participate you can check out my blog post: http://wp.me/p5mJCd-Rf
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Thanks so much. We don’t usually do tags although I usually file them away for possible future participation. Regardless, I really appreciate your kind words and the tag and I will check out your post! Sorry have been out of town for the last week and slower to respond that usual.
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Happy birthday, Jen. Glad to know of your site. Congrats and best of luck with it.
-“Term Sheet” reader
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Thank for stopping by and for the birthday wishes!
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Happy birthday Jen. Another “Term Sheet” reader! I think Dan likes to make you smile…as I do with my wife.
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Thank you!
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Hi Jen,
Hope you are doing well! We are a kid toys & art and craft seller from Amazon. We are trying to invite amazon reviewers like you to have a long-term collaboration regarding the new product testing and user experience etc.
When you work with us, we will offer over up to 100% off rebate for those products that you are interested in testing and submit your experience related to the product on Amazon.
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested to know more details about it, thank you!
Abdullah
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