Welcome Fellow Readers!

I am ringing in the new year by launching my book blog — a little corner of the Internet to call my own.

A quick introduction: I’ve been a passionate reader for my entire life. One of my earliest recollections is memorizing The Cat in the Hat after countless bedtime readings and then pretending to read it aloud to my family. In school, I always loved reading and writing, so I majored in English and went on to have a two-decade career as a journalist. These days, I work on the editorial side of the financial industry. Fun fact: I live in New York City in an apartment that just so happens to have its own literary lore — it once was home to a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. You’ll have to guess which one.

My reasons for embarking on this adventure are three-fold. First, I want to immerse myself more deeply in the books I read and to remember them long after I put them down. When you read a lot, each title can become a blur. Second, I’ve been craving a creative outlet that will nudge me to write consistently. Third, I’m eager to learn some new skills in areas like website design, search engine optimization, and social media promotion. I’ve already gotten schooled by setting up this blog, though I have much more to learn.

I plan to read novels, short stories and nonfiction as part of this project. My interests are eclectic, and I have a long list of books on topics including history, art, business, philosophy, and science that I would like to read and talk about. I have a particular interest in books with Jewish themes, that feature strong female characters, and that explore the immigrant experience. Genres that you likely won’t see me discuss much here are young adult, sci fi and fantasy, self-help, romance, and poetry.

This blog is also an opportunity for me to read some classics that I should have read by now but have never gotten around to. (Here's looking at you, Moby-Dick. I've heard good things about you and did try to read you once, but I didn't get too far.) For an English major, these gaps in my reading are embarrassingly large.

If nothing else, I hope to use whatever modest platform I build here to promote the joy of reading books. According to a recent article I came across, ominously titled "Goodbye to the Age of the Book," the percentage of Americans who read books for pleasure continues to fall. It feels like one more reason to launch this project.

Thank you for stopping by and happy reading!