A page from my reading journal featuring poetry by Mary Oliver and Kafka on the Shore. I’m currently knee-deep into the fifth draft of my current #WIP, but I also don’t want to abandon my streak of blogging once a week since March 2025. This week, I wanted to do a (late-ish) round-up of my … Continue reading Five Favorite Reads from 2025 (The Books That Stayed With Me)
Books
Books To Curl Up With This Winter
Since I’ve been in a Victorian mood lately, with working on my literary scholarship about Dickens and researching the Victorian era in general, I wanted to focus on winter books with some of the same themes you’ll find in Christmas at Hembry Castle, stories about love and loss, memory and redemption, the pull of history … Continue reading Books To Curl Up With This Winter
My Bookshelf Aesthetic: Why I Keep Murakami, Morrison, and Thoreau Next to My Penguin Classics
Explore the bookshelf where Haruki Murakami meets Toni Morrison, Thoreau, and Penguin Black Classics. Discover the aesthetic and philosophy behind mixing surreal fiction with literary tradition.
The Evolution of Vampires in Fiction: From Monsters to Mirrors
Fans of the Loving Husband Series know that I’ve written about a vampire or two. Maybe three. Four? To be honest, I still don’t read anything bloody or violent since I’m not into the horror genre. I won’t go into how I came to write Her Dear & Loving Husband (it’s here if you’re interested), … Continue reading The Evolution of Vampires in Fiction: From Monsters to Mirrors
Embrace the Cozy: My Ultimate Autumn Reading List
I've made no secret of the fact that autumn is my favorite time of year. After a rough summer of 100+ degree heat, the cooler weather and pretty-colored trees in my neighborhood are a welcome relief. While we're not quite in autumn yet in Southern Nevada, even 89 degrees Fahrenheit feels cooler after such hot days. … Continue reading Embrace the Cozy: My Ultimate Autumn Reading List
The Allure of Dark Academia: Why This Genre Casts a Powerful Spell
One of my most popular posts is this guide to the Dark Academia genre. I wanted to look a little more closely into the topic since reading Dark Academia novels has become one of my guilty pleasures. I’ve said before that I must live under a rock since I heard about Dark Academia maybe two … Continue reading The Allure of Dark Academia: Why This Genre Casts a Powerful Spell
Top Summer Reads of 2025: My 5 Favorite Picks
The Joy of Summer Reading It goes without saying that I read a lot during the summer, especially these days when I’m hardly leaving the house because it’s so hot outside. I know you’re thinking but you live in the desert…of course it’s hot! True, but the heat hit us sooner this year and we’ve … Continue reading Top Summer Reads of 2025: My 5 Favorite Picks
Annotating Books for Research and Enjoyment: My Personal Methods
The Joy of Annotating Books I’ve been a bookworm all my life. I started reading at a young age, which my mother attributes to my watching Sesame Street. Ernie and Bert and ABC songs aside, books were my first and best friends. I lived in books. In books I saw that there were other worlds, … Continue reading Annotating Books for Research and Enjoyment: My Personal Methods