About

I’m Deb, aka CurlyGeek.  My husband came up with the name and it describes me pretty well. I’ve been writing this blog for 15 years.  I spent my childhood wishing I were more outgoing and social — but now that I’m older, this blog is about just being who I am.

Obviously, I write about books — book reviews, e-readers, favorite children’s books, book stores, authors, literacy and education. If you’re wondering if we have similar tastes, you can see some of my favorites below. I believe all reading is personal and we might agree on some books but happily disagree on others. 

I read mostly literary fiction, historical fiction, historical mysteries, fantasy and science fiction, and some young adult/children. Lately I’ve been reading more nonfiction, mostly memoirs and books about psychology, politics, and current events. This is not a political blog but I make no attempt to hide my views.

I love books that take place in other times and other worlds, or with characters that have powers greater than our own.  I love books with strong, smart, multidimensional characters.  I lean towards British writers — Kate Atkinson and Maggie O’Farrell, to name a few.  Maybe because Britain (especially Scotland) is one of my favorite places.

I make a real effort to read more diversely and to explore, through reading, different cultures, religions, and places. It’s made my reading more interesting, and I hope I’m a more open-minded, aware person for it.

My favorite place as a child was the library. Nostalgia for me is going into the children’s section of my library and looking at those old books that are like friends still waiting for you. I collect the antique editions of the Oz books. I also love the old fairy tale illustrators like John R. Neill (Oz series), Arthur Rackham, and Maxfield Parrish.

After my husband, family, and my two cats, books are what I love most.  This may not make me an interesting person in the eyes of some people — but I hope you’ll find something here you like if you love books as much as I do.

Other things I like include: travel, genealogy, coffee, baking, wine-tasting, and gardening.

Want to know about my reading tastes? Here are some of my favorite books, by year of release.

Favorite Books Released in 2021

• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
• Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
• Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann
• You’ll Never Guess What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamarr

Favorite Books Released in 2022

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
• Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
• Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

Favorite Books Released in 2023

• The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff 
• Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley 
• Chenneville by Paulette Jiles 
• Lone Women by Victor LaValle
• Talking at Night by Claire Daverly

Favorite Books Released in 2024

• The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
• Skin & Bones by Renee Watson
• You Are Here by David Nicholls
• There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
• Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

Favorite Classics

• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• Emma by Jane Austen
• Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Middlemarch by George Eliot
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Favorite Non-Fiction

• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
• Know My Name by Chanel Miller
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell
• The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

Favorite Contemporary Writers:

• Margaret Atwood
• Ann Patchett
• Kate Atkinson
• Maggie O’Farrell
• David Mitchell
• Barbara Kingsolver
• Celeste Ng
• David Nicholls
• Elif Shafak

Favorite Young Adult Books (or Series):

• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
• Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
• Firekeeper’s Daughter series by Angeline Boulley

Favorite Books I Read in College:

• Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy
• House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
• Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry