Foreword

Greetings, bloggish book world! …Or is that bookish blog world? Either/or.

Many books have Forewords, Prefaces, Introductions… Little notes before the book starts. That’s what this is. An introduction to this book blog.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first.

There is nothing more wonderful than a good book.

There. I hope we can agree on that…

I love reading. I at times enjoy sharing my thoughts in reviews, but I am not a critic.

I don’t analyze books, I enjoy them.

(If I can, of course.) Many people who are book reviewers are critics in some form or other. There is perhaps a place for that, but it is not mine. If you are looking for a critic, you had best look elsewhere.

Consider this favorite quote of mine from the animated film Ratatouille:

“But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.”

And not only that, but every book is precious to SOMEONE, somewhere, even if it’s only the author, and purposefully tearing it apart is not a goal that I have.

I’m not a book basher, if I can help it (occasionally I can’t but we’ll get into that later) and I try to read books that I feel I’ll enjoy. I try to enjoy the books when I read them. And if I review a book, I am normally quite focused on the good. I will point out problems I had with it, but in general, books are for enjoying. I hope that my thoughts, un-critic-like as they are, will be of some help or interest to somebody out there.

This is not my first foray into the world of blogs, as I have been blogging for over two years on my writing blog, The Road of a Writer.

I have there shared many bookish posts, and several reviews, and shall probably continue to from time to time, especially with books I receive for review. But The Road of a Writer is (or is supposed to be) primarily a blog for writing and my life. And while books are intimately connected to both (at least in my mind), that’s not the primary point of the Road of a Writer blog, although it at times may seem that way…

But I wanted a place where I could just post bookish things whenever I feel like it.

• A place that is entirely dedicated to my love of books.
• A place I can review books whenever I wish.
• A place to talk about books, ramble about them…
• A place I can post lists of books (because lists are the best thing ever — besides books).
• A place where I can go to share the thoughts of my bookwormish heart with other bookworms.
• A place to dream of ink, pages, and bookshelves together.

This is that place.

What should you expect from this little blog? I’m not sure, yet, exactly. Probably random-ish reviews, ranging from well-thought-out long ones to brief notes of a few sentences. Maybe some posts of bookish quotes. Or bookish lists. Or bookish… whatever! Basically, if it’s book-related, it may end up here.

Many of the reviews may be ones I’ve posted elsewhere, for awhile at least. I wanted a place to keep all of my reviews in one spot, so that’s another use for this space. Reviews from Goodreads, and perhaps even my reviews from The Road of a Writer, which I may repost here. To keep things tidy, you understand…

Oh yes. I should mention that…

(pinterest)

I’m a perfectionist. Which is often why I don’t actually get around to writing reviews. I’m going to try to be less perfectionisty (that’s totally a word, hush) around here, but I’m unsure if that will be successful… But an anything-goes, just-review-the-books-and-talk-casually-about-books sort of thing is what I’m going to try to go for.

How often will I post?

My other blog is a bit structured, and I try to post there every week… This blog will I think be more casual, less planned out. I may post a few reviews in a day, or several days in a row, or go weeks without showing up at all. Only time will tell. But casual is the order of the day. I don’t want to stress myself out about it, because I really love and enjoy books and I don’t want that love to be smothered under expectations from myself!

What sort of books will I review?

Anything and everything that I happen to read, in all of my rather odd, eclectic bookish taste. We’ll have to wait and see…

If you do happen to glance at my list of books-I’ve-been-reading-lately (my 2015 page is here, and my 2016 page — currently empty — is here) and are particularly interested in hearing my thoughts for a particular book, feel free to ask, and I might get around to it! (No promises… This perfectionist is also a procrastinator. A lethal mix, I know. But if I know someone is interested in what I think about a book, I mayyy be more likely to actually post about it. May.)

I also sometimes read books I receive free for reviewing from publishers/authors. Those are normally of a fantasy-ish, young-adult, maybe Christian sort. I think I mostly like reading fantasy and younger sorts of books. I like my books teen-friendly, please.

Reviews will have the following distinctions, star-wise:

(Hopefully none in that last category… *cough*)

I also may have to designate a special distinction for books that really deserve a SIXTH star… Something to show how special my favorite-favorite books are… Or possibly a page dedicated to favorites. But we shall see.

I think that’s it. There’s my ramble of an introduction to this book blog. Basically, I’ve no idea what this blog will become, and I’m very much looking forward to playing with it, enjoying it, and finding out! Thanks for dropping by and I hope you’ll come along with me on the journey. 🙂

Meanwhile… dream away in those pages, readers!

And welcome to The Page Dreamer.

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