about

About Me 

My name is Danielle and I am a recently married graduate from California State University, Fullerton with a BA in English and Religious Studies. While I didn't end up in a field that requires the specific use of my degrees, I have always enjoyed reading for fun. I created this blog to catalog my opinion of the books I'm reading and to document my life.

me with Tahereh Mafi, Rob Sheffield and Ransom Riggs

 About My Books

My favorite books to read have always been fiction because they allow me to escape reality while exercising my imagination. In college I especially loved reading Victorian novels and exploring how they represented the rapid change in religious climate {this subject matter linked my majors beautifully!}. However, I admit that I have since slacked off academically with my choice of reading material; recently I have been reading more contemporary, popular, YA, "chick lit", dystopian and romantic themed novels. I enjoy reading books that are or will be turned into movies and I have been trying to reacquaint myself with old classics, their details I have long forgotten.

My literary pet peeves are clumsy heroines, authors that tell me how I'm supposed to be feeling, watching a movie before reading the book, and vampires in general (this was not intended to be a deliberate slam on Twilight).

My guilty pleasures when it comes to reading include mentally casting every book I read (which almost always includes Ian Somerhalder), reading celebrity memoirs and reading books that make me gush without rolling my eyes too much (Hey, my name was inspired by Danielle Steel after all!).

About My Reviews
When I rate a book I don't just take into consideration whether or not I enjoyed it, but I weigh whether or not it was successful in doing what it aimed to do within its genre. I can't rate a Jane Austen book the same way I would rate a John Green book, but I can take into account their target audience and the message they're trying to convey to that audience. This is why you might see a smutty book rated the same as a classic, even though I have very different opinions of both. This is where the actual review will hopefully help you distinguish what you think you will enjoy!

I give a lot of 3- and 4-star ratings, generally because if I'm going to finish a book, I'm likely to enjoy it enough to give it 3-stars. Sometimes I feel like I seem too generous, but I do try to find the positive aspects of any book in order to support the authors who have worked so hard to get their work published.

What I really want you to know about me and this blog is that no matter how I feel about a book, I still respect and give a lot of credit to every author because it takes a lot of work, creativity and drive to write anything, not to mention publish! These book reviews are just my opinion and my least favorite book just might be the one you end up enjoying the most!