Member avanders

4,811 Books 20 Collections 606 Reviews 2 Recommendations

Collections: All collections (4,811), Your library (4,378), read (1,234), to-finish (22), to-read-owned (759), will-not-finish (17), Read but unowned (627), Currently reading (9), Wishlist (212), ROOTS Read (121), ARC (113), Book Group Books (72), Library Book (107), Kindle (179), SantaThing Gifts (14), Short List (9), Get Self/Borrow (17), To read (166), To Finish (6), Concord Free Press (3), Favorites (82)
Tags
Clouds: Tag Cloud, Author Cloud, Tag Mirror
Media
Groups: All Writers Considered, Early Reviewers, Litsy, One LibraryThing, One Book, Reviews of Early Reviewers Books, The Green Dragon, The Rooster
Joined: Jun 27, 2007

Real Name

A. Allen

About My Library

Eclectic. I like to have and read a little of almost everything. My favorites, though, are gothic/modern gothic/ghost/atmospheric novels, sci-fi (esp. not-too-distant-future and/or "techie" sci-fi), magical realism, fantasy (although my tired brain tends to prefer fantasy that doesn't require a lot of work in complete world-building right now...), speculative fiction (to the degree it extends beyond those categories already mentioned), thrillers/mysteries/cozy mysteries, and horror (though generally not "extreme horror"). Also, I have serious tsundoku issues...

I can't seem to find where I can edit the favorite authors line, but here's an updated (2024) list: Silvia Moreno-Garcia (auto-buy); Robert Jackson Bennett (auto-buy); Matt Ruff (auto-buy, still); Brandon Sanderson; Simone St. James (auto-buy); Soren Sveistrup (can it be a favorite author after just 1 book? ;)); Susanna Clarke (auto-buy); Blake Crouch (esp. his sci fi) (auto-buy); I suspect N.K. Jemisin will be there once I finish this first novel of hers...; Marisha Pessl (auto-buy); Louise Penny; Carlos Ruiz Zafon (auto-buy); Diane Setterfield (can she write more please?) (auto-buy); Joe Hill (esp. that Locke & Key series); Jeff VanderMeer.

And here are a few more that are based on 1 or about 1 reads of theirs (which I loved so much, I'm sure I'll love anything else they've written): Charles de Lint (Moonheart); Jonas Karlsson (The Invoice and The Room); Laura Ruby (Bone Gap, all 3 times); Peter Clines (The Fold); China Miefille (The City & the City); John Harwood (The Ghost Writer); Manuel Puig (Kiss of the Spider Woman). And surely others. ;D

About Me

Day-to-Day: I'm a lawyer, the kind that writes for a living. And solves problems. Lots of problems...

Interests: Aside from reading, I have a plethora of interests ranging from socializing to coffee drinking to hiking to singing (especially harmonizing) to cultural activities of all kinds to shopping to snow-boarding (just learning) to sporting events to ... Yes, I have a broad range of interests. I also greatly enjoy just sitting in front of the fireplace reading a book, lying in a hammock in the backyard reading a book, sitting in a hottub reading a book, going to coffee shops to read books, shopping for books, discussing books, reading about books, and thinking about books. I like books a lot. ;)

Specifically about books: I love books that are unique and inspired. I can forgive almost any writing style if the story is good enough. And I find that even the most beautiful writing cannot make up for a flat tale. I am open to suggestions and only wish I could find enough time to follow through on all of them. I have a tendency to choose speculative fiction and sci-fi when left completely to my own devices, but I am generally open to almost anything (see exceptions in "About my library," below).

Also, I really enjoy traveling and hope to someday see all of our states!

visited 40 states (80.00%)

Try Neptyne, the programmable spreadsheet