As we start this new spotlight on books, I think it is important for you guys to know a little bit about me and my reading tastes. This is going to be about my favourite books or series and those that made an impact on me for whatever reason - those hangover books, those with special meaning or those cheer you up books.
So I'm a Brit, or more accurately I'm Welsh, and 34 years old. I have lived in the same town pretty much all my life, except for my University years. Where I live suits me as I'm not meant for big cities and believe me when I say that when I was looking for work I travelled the length and breadth of the country but fate found me a job in my home town. I am a qualified Librarian but spend my days now as an Information Professional and managing an information service for families as well as a number of projects providing families with additional support. I work full time and I am a single mother to a beautiful 8 year old daughter. I work hard, I look after my daughter and I read to escape and live vicariously through the books I read. Although I have a good emotional support network around me, practical support is more difficult to give as family live a distance a way.
My love of reading can be traced back to pretty more my baby years, as my mum was always telling people that I always had a book in my hand. I got my love for reading from my mum, who would spend a lot of time with her nose in a book. My dad, on the other hand, would only read very occasionally. I got told off in secondary school for not pushing myself with my reading and got pushed into reading the likes of Charles Dickens, who, while I recognise his genius, was not really my cup of tea. I did discover a gem in the school library, which, to this day, remains my most read book. If I had been volunteering in the school library I don't think I would ever have discovered it. This book was 'A Town Called Alice' by Neville Shute. I had to listen to my dad talking about both World Wars on a regular basis and I think the fact that this story was about women in that situation was what appealed to me and how they picked up their lives at the end of it.
My mum was a Danielle Steele and a Mills & Boons fan and these would be my first foray into romance books. I would sneak these out of her bedroom during my teenage years and read them sneakily late at night. Outwardly, I would be reading crime, thriller, and action/adventure books.
Ok so I was a geek in secondary school and spent most of my free time in the school library. And while I enjoyed helping out, it was more out of necessity to hide from the relentless name calling and bullying I endured. Being told that you are ugly, amongst other things, everyday has an impact on your self esteem and worth. It forced me to hide away and together with an incident where a class mate tried to force himself on me, I spent pretty much all my teenage years hiding away, seeking escape and solace in books. I was very quiet, shy and could come across as aloof. I found it difficult to trust and to make friends and talking to new people sent me into a panic.
Going away to University was the best thing that I could have done. It forced me out of my shell, not completely, but enough to make some really good friends and to learn to trust again. Through these friends, we shared a love of reading and they expanded my reading experiences across the board, sharing new authors and books. Yes, most of these were in the romance genre and I felt I could openly read these books and talk about them.
I met my ex-partner through my work in the local library. He found my love of reading amusing. We were together for about 5 years and in that time I lost my mum to breast cancer. This had a profound impact on impact me and lost a lot of the confidence that had taken years to build up. This was one of the reasons for the relationship break down - I had changed and he felt it was holding him back. My ex would constantly mock my collection of romance books and whenever he would see me reading one, there would be lots of snide comments. It got to the point where it was just easier not to read them. While its not something I want to go into in any detail here, the constant putting down, the expectations that I would do everything at home and pay all the bills, and if I objected to anything then I would be the selfish one. Just a small insight into a relationship that I could not stay in any longer and come out with any confidence or self-esteem left.
A few years ago, I invested in a Kindle and that was the best thing I ever did. For my birthday I was given an e-voucher to spend on books. In all honesty I was bored with my usual reads of crime, thriller and action/adventure and was looking for something different. After hearing lots of things about the Fifty Shades Trilogy, I decided to give them a try. After reading them in three days, I scoured Amazon for other gems and haven't looked back since.
My tastes are eclectic and I don't limit myself to one particular genre. I will willingly try new books and authors and will stretch my limits. How will you ever find new reading material if you don't do this? I would get bored really quickly reading the same types of books all the time.
How I came to be here is as a result of trawling through Amazon looking for new books, new authors and new experiences. During one of my searches, I came across a gem of a book called First Class to New York by AJ Harmon. With it being a free book, I didn't see what I had to lose. A whole new world of Indie publishing was opened to me as I devoured the entire series. As any good fangirl does, I followed her on Facebook and I paid attention to the pages that she liked. Every now and again I would take a peek at some of these pages and liked the ones that grabbed my interest. LBM Book Blog was one of those of pages and it is thanks to this page and, in particular, Tina that I have grown as a reader, discovered some amazing authors and books, but more importantly grown in confidence. This has been an incredible journey and one that still has a long way to go.
So once a week I will be sharing these books with you. Some will be well known, others less so. These are my choices. Some have been read already. Some will have been read multiple times. Some have yet to be read.
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