Let’s talk books. A lot of them. And PWF.

It’s time for me to give in and just start blathering about books all the time on this blog. Because the past couple of years have seen me finally become one of those people who devours a LOT of books.

I’ve always been a reader my entire life – I grew up surrounded by books, as my mom always had a small “library” (several floor to ceiling bookcases in the spare bedroom, chock full to the brim with books & many spilling over into piles here & there). A friend introduced me to historical romance in high school, and I’ve loved Johanna Lindsay books ever since (the Mallorys!). Through college & beyond I read a bit less for pleasure, but still would read here & there. In grad school, I was introduced to the WHEEL OF TIME series, and there went several years as I made my way through that massive series (much less time for reading back then). Eventually Kindles came out, and that made it a lot easier for me to find new books to read; while I love bookstores, I learned that me buying books I have not read is just not a good idea. Pretty covers? I’m a sucker. But a pretty cover doesn’t guarantee anything other than…a pretty cover. I’ve wasted a lot of money on pretty-cover books that I never read.

My rule now is I won’t buy a physical copy of a book unless I have already read it & loved it & it means something that I want a visual reminder that it exists (because otherwise, SO MANY BOOKS in the world means I forget so many that I read!).

So I got into reading lots of books on my kindle, especially thanks to Kindle Unlimited. And I finally turned into my mom: Several times I have started reading a book & realized oh wait, I’ve already read this…ha. (My mom did that with library books, and I always wondered how she could forget a book she read…now I know!)

Years ago I saw the year’s reading challenge on Goodreads & thought hmmm…how many books do I want to read? First time I tried the challenge, I chose a ridiculously high number & never came close. It made me realize that I was NOT reading that many books in a year. I’d often reread old favs, but even then I wasn’t reading as much as I thought I was. Maybe 12-15 books a year at the most? And I’d thought it was a lot more than that.

So then I lowered my expectations, thinking I just wasn’t THAT big of a reader. Also…I realized how picky I am about books. I can see a ton of (pretty covers!) books shown on Bookstagram, but when I try a sample, I’m just…meh. Not interested. Picky, picky, picky. And I cannot read a book I’m not interested in, which is why I rarely do book clubs or buddy reads…someone else chooses what I read? Nope. Nuh-uh, no way.

Picky, picky, picky!

But then…in 2022…I stumbled across a new-to-me genre. Well, apparently it’s an ACTUAL new genre: “Paranormal Women’s Fiction.” Aka FMC who are over 40 & starting over & finding powers & having all kinds of supernatural and/or fairytale creatures show up in their lives. Oh, and a hot hunk love interest, too.

I did the whole, *blink, blink* silent stare.

As in, this is a thing? A genre? As in, lots of books like this?

And each book is a series??

*Insert heart-eyes emojis all over the place*

*Commence devouring all the books*

The first book I read was HEXES AND HOT FLASHES: THE ORACLE OF WYNTER BOOK 1 by Lisa Manifold and I was hooked. I devoured that book within a couple of days, laughing & enjoying it the whole way, and then happily dove into the next one. And the next.

Then…I found the FORTY PROOF series by Shannon Mayer (first book is MIDLIFE BOUNTY HUNTER). What a rip-roaring, crazy, wild ride (I love skeleton Robert!). More about that series is on the way, including info about a cross-stitch I’m doing of said skeleton Robert. Because when you love a series, unique merch is the BEST.

And from that series, many more…and in 2022, I read 37 books in total. For me, that was a new record!

For this year, I’m up to 26 so far by the day of this writing, so I fully expect to be well past last year’s 37 by the end of the year (or by end of the summer, the way things are going). So many great books this year so far & I can’t wait for all the next-in-series coming out later in the year (including Forty Proof book 8) & all the other new favs I’ve yet to find.

It’s like we’re in a golden age of fantastic(al) fiction.

So…yeah. What a bookish couple of years it has been! I’m reviving this old blog so I have a place to gush over all my fav books (I mean, I’ve said that before but I didn’t mean it then nearly like I mean it now)…because when you find stories you really love, you just have to have a place to gush about it. Even when you’re just gushing into the void of an unknown internet space. 😂

Back soon,