About Me: The Girl Behind the Books

Greetings!

My name is Sarah and I am a 40-something reader/now book review blogger and this is my very first post. I am not a professional writer, just a life-long book lover. I started a book club about 3 years ago. We meet to discuss the books at a coffee shop on the third Tuesday of the month. In all honesty, we only discuss the books for about 10-15 minutes and then we socialize and gossip. It is a good excuse for friends to get together on a regular basis.

In my past life, I was a psychotherapist. I worked in many settings including crisis centers, hospitals, community mental health centers, private practices, and a youth shelter. I worked with children, adults, families and couples with a variety of social and emotional problems. This work was rewarding at times, but also very emotionally draining. I decided to make a career change after 18 years in the field. I tried my hand at Human Resources, but that didn’t really pan out. Then sadly my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly on February 10, 2014, and my mother-in-law needed me. She has multiple health issues so I became her part-time caregiver. This gave me extra time to read in hospital and medical office waiting rooms. Reading became my respite. As a result, I found myself reading additional books beyond the book club selections and I sought out book reviews online for suggestions. I started to follow several book review blogs and was inspired to write my own similar blog as a fun intellectual exercise.  

Since I don't have a background in English or Literature, my perspective is that of an average layperson reader. With that in mind I ask that you not judge me too harshly. Hopefully my style will appeal to those of you who simply enjoy reading for the sheer pleasure of it.

Because of my psychology training, I tend to enjoy books that focus on cultural and social diversity and the complexities of human relationships. I primarily read contemporary literature, but I also read some historical fiction, YA and nonfiction. As an adolescent, my two favorite authors were Judy Blume and S.E. Hinton. Some of my favorite authors now include Wally Lamb, Barbara Kingsolver, Jhumpa Lahiri, Gillian Flynn, Khaled Hosseinni, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Tania James just to name a few.

In addition to reading and reviewing books, I plan to compare and contrast movies based on books, 

and report on author readings/signings that I attend at the Louisville Free Public Library and Carmichael’s, a local independent bookstore.

Please feel free to comment on my posts as this will help me develop and improve upon my style and content.

Happy Reading!

P.S. You can follow me on Goodreads