About the Blog

couldabeenacontender

This one’s for all the books that coulda had class! That coulda been somebody! I’ve been reading and reviewing books online for the past seven years. In the process, through my own reading, serendipitous accidental finds, hundreds of conversations with many other amazing readers, and just being unable to help myself from following the white rabbit down both the virtual and physical bookshelves, I have accumulated a to-read list that is both fantastically exciting and so overwhelmingly full that it seems doubtful I will ever see the bottom of it. (And let’s be honest, fellow bibliophiles, would we really want to?)

And of course, that to read “list” has always been chaotically organized. There are always new and shiny gems supplanting worthy books waiting their turn for years, classics elbowing their way to the front of the line when their time has finally come, and of course, regular revisits to comfort reads that I need in my life in that moment for one reason or another. This means that books that look perfectly wonderful and intriguing will, through no fault of their own, acquire a permanent position in the middle of my sky high pile. This pile, of course, only continues to get higher and higher. I’ve recently begun to really notice the many, many books that seem like they are always just a few books away from being the one on top to be grabbed… but never quite make it there.

Thus this project was born! I created this blog is for all the books that just need another chance to seem shiny and new again! This is for all the books unjustly relegated to the middle of the pile, forever the bridesmaid and never the bride! On this blog, I will endeavor to bring attention to all kinds of books that need another chance! We’ll talk about:

  • Books After the Hype: Books everyone was talking about a few years ago… but I (and perhaps some of you) were too busy living to read.
  • Re-issued Books: Books that had gone out of print and are now being reissued.
  • Recently Translated Books: Books that we, poor English readers, have never had a chance to love in the first place.
  • Under the Radar Books: Books whose release flew under the radar and were missed, but deserve a wider readership.
  • Second Chance Books: Books I couldn’t finish before, books I perhaps didn’t like before, books that fell by the wayside because my crabby Tuesday evening mood did them no favors, and authors whose first book may have been ill-matched to my preferences, but who I feel deserve a second try.

And of course, the major point of this blog: all those middle-of-the-pile books from my own shelf that have been sitting there for years. If you follow this link, you can preview some of the books that will be upcoming on the blog. I will also be keeping a short list of the immediate books that are upcoming on each review of the blog.

To learn more about your fearless author, please go here.

Happy Reading!

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-Kelly