Welcome!

Welcome to “I LIKE IT” my brand spanking new review blog. Yes, this is the place where my old blog used to be, but I've revamped it, re-worked it, and have turned it into a place where I will be reviewing mostly books.  Every other week I’ll be sharing with you a book I think you might like, but I may throw in a movie or two, or a TV show or piece of music or artist that I especially enjoy.

But, have no fear, all of my old posts are here - all my Summer on the Water blogs and all of the random thoughts about my "indie" journey. They're all still here. Just scroll down the right side until you come to "blog archive", then read to your heart's content.

For my entire life, books have been my constant friends. I really cannot think of a single moment in my history where I didn’t have a book “on the go.” Back before books became eBooks, I would feel at a loss if I finished a book one night and there were a few hours before I could get to the library! Now, I just cast around the Kobo site or our on-line Library and get myself another one.

This blog is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I’ve often said to myself, “If I weren’t writing novels, I’d have a book blog.” Well, maybe it’s time I did just that – even while I continue to write my stories full time.

This page is called I Like It for a reason. This is not a site where I will give 1 and 2 stars to books that didn’t pique my fancy. This is not a place where I will trash things. (There’s too much of that going on in the world anyway, don't you think?) This blog is only for my 4 and 5 star rated items, and I’m a pretty tough customer as a reader. If a book doesn’t capture me in 20 pages, out it goes.

I will be reviewing all kinds of books here; novels of course, and lots of mysteries—since that is what I write—but it will be more than that. I also read nonfiction. I’m on a kind of spiritual journey, as we all are, and I’ve recently devoured some really good nonfiction. Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward and Faith Shift by Kathy Escobar. I'm currently reading Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans. I will be reviewing all three of these books some time in the future.

Some of my recommendations will be books I have previously read and reviewed on other sites such as Goodreads or Amazon. Some will be new. The age of the book doesn’t matter to me. Old, new, if I like it, I will endorse it. For example, a month ago my book club read To Kill a Mockingbird. At some future point, that may become an “I Like It” endorsement. 

In my reviews I will be very careful not to give away any spoilers. As an author I know how maddening that is to have a reviewer give away the ending! But, if perchance, I decide that I need to include a few “spoilers”, I will have the ****SPOILER ALERT**** notice in big letters!

I also plan to make this blog a very personal place, a space where I will relate what the various books have meant to me and how they relate to my own journey as an author, a woman, a Christian, a human-being on this planet. 

I'm planning to put my I Like It recommends will most likely go up every other Thursday. If you would like to subscribe to this blog, please add your email to the box provided on the right.

In a few days I’ll be putting up my first I Like It. It will be for Ordinary Grace, an extraordinary coming go age mystery by William Kent Krueger.

Now for the nitty gritty - My Review Policy: 

I only recommend books I have bought and paid for. What I watch and listen to are not downloaded from any torrents sites, but what I stream legally through Netflix, or have rented or purchased on sites such as iTunes or Google.

I think it needs to be said right here at the outset—I’m not a fan of free books. My reason? Authors should be paid for their work. It's something I feel so strongly about that if a book is free, I probably won’t even read it. 

I thank you for reading this far. I trust you will enjoy my endorsements. Agree? Disagree? You are always welcome to comment below.