About/Policies

About 'My Overstuffed Shelves' and Me

Hi there. Welcome.

I am a long time book junkie. I delude myself that I will someday read all the books I own. My rational side says this is impossible. My artistic side says this is the only way to live. After all, every book embodies the possibility that there is something new to discover, to hear, a future to pursue.

I write fiction which may never be finished or published, but I continue to learn from making myself do it, which makes it worthwhile though it is the hardest thing aside from raising a child I have ever done. When not reading or writing, I lead a fiction book group at my local independent bookseller, Main Point Books in Bryn Mawr, PA, serve on the board of directors of The Bryn Mawr Film Institute, spend time with my family, knit, and wrangle three cats.

More than a year after first starting this blog, I am still poking and prodding all the switches and widgety things that are on offer in this great Google operated universe, so please bear with me while I turn things on and off. Someday I will hire someone to make all this pretty for me. (As of June 2014 this process is underway and will probably result in a migration to Wordpress sometime soon, which I expect to be a fraught process)

On the 'not technology' front I am making some progress. Read on to discover more about how I'm currently operating things around here.

Posting Schedule

Each Monday I TRY to post a listing of author readings and signings in the Philadelphia region for the coming week -- this is very time consuming and has a limited audience. I think I need to find another way to manage this that works for me, but still helps get the word out about the wealth of author events in the region. In the meantime, if you have an event you would like to add to this round-up please let me know and I will try to get the word out here, on twitter & Facebook in one form or another. I try to cast a pretty wide net, but I am far from certain that I there are no holes.

I also participate in The Broke and The Bookish sponsored 'Top Ten on Tuesday' meme most weeks.

Beyond these two anchors I am also trying to post at least two additional book reviews each week and plan to post discussion pieces on book related topics I find of interest.

Review Policy

I buy a lot of books (I have my favorite indie stores in Bryn Mawr, PA, Islesboro, ME and South Hadley, MA), use my local library BUT I am also glad to have access to review copies or galleys when offered. I will acknowledge when I have been provided with a review copy of a book though I will be honest with my opinion, regardless of where I obtain a copy.

I value diversity in my reading and am consciously looking for books that support that goal whether they are written by authors who are bring a diverse points-of-view by virtue of being women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, disabled, or because they tell stories that include perspectives that are not white, western, and well-to-do. As much as I love a good cozy village satire set in England between the wars, there's a hell of a lot more out there for me to explore.

My reading tastes are wide and I read books not listed here, but the genres I favor for review are:

Literary Fiction
Science Fiction and Fantasy (primarily epic fantasy, steampunk, and urban fantasy with a comic vein -- not an angsty vampire fan)
Historical Fiction
Memoir

I  love books set in places I have lived including, Philadelphia/Southeastern PA, NYC (especially the Upper West Side), Maine, Minnesota and Iceland (okay, I've never lived in Iceland and probably never will, but it's a favorite spot).

I'm not a big romance fan. That doesn't mean that romance can't be part of a book, but if the only focus is on getting hitched, it's not really that interesting to me. Thirty years ago I lapped that stuff up, but I'm done now.

If you are a publisher with a title you'd like me to look at, please email me at abudner@comcast.net. I also use net galley and edelweiss and accept titles in ereading format though I strongly prefer print. I apologize, but I won't accept self-published titles though I make exceptions for people I know personally.

June 16, 2014