Who I Am And What I Read - And What I Will Do For You

                My name is Susanna. I'm nobody special. I was just born with this voracious appetite for books, a love of language and knack for editing. It's a pretty well-focused skill set, actually. And now I'm going to take a momentary break from my story/knowledge avarice to share with you daily some of my humble observations and opinions on the works I am inhaling, picking at or savoring.

          With the help of my beloved Kindle and such websites as BookBub, BookDip, KindleNationDaily and OneHundredFreeBooks, I've been reading more than I have since that summer in third grade! It also seems that my reading palate is expanding. I've been tasting new genres and finding them to be good. Though fantasy (particularly high and folk fantasy) is my first love, I've found myself devouring self-help and spirituality books, classics, biographies, children's fiction, YA paranormal, comedy, romance, contemporary fiction, books on religion, history and cooking. Life is good.

          Yes, J. R. R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, Lord Dunsany, Madeleine L'Engle, Ray Bradbury and Roger Zelazney will always live in my heart, and more recent favorite authors are Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, Kevin Hearne, Charles deLint, Patricia McKillip, Meredith Ann Pierce, Jacqueline  Carey, Philip Pullman, and any anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. I must keep up on their latest work, for sure. But that won't stop me from picking up the best and most interesting other new releases in various categories. What this will do for you, dear reader, is give you the info you need to find that next amazing, absorbing read!

          Since I got my Kindle, I've been doing my best to support self-published authors. There is some amazing work out there (and some that needs a lot of TLC before the second edition is released), and I'm going to continue sampling, devouring and reviewing every bit of self-published work I can. I intend to do this with compassion for the difficulty of the writing process, but also with my sharpest observational skills, to seek out each book's strengths, weaknesses and potential. Authors' comments are welcome! I will be sharing at least some of each review with Amazon and Goodreads, as well, to help these authors.

          So what do YOU like to read, dear reader?

          Savor your books, everyone!

P.S. Let me know if you are an author (traditional or self-published) and would like me to review your book. I'm also available for proofreading!