Reviewer Spotlight

Branch: Sugar Creek Branch

We salute James, a librarian at Sugar Creek Branch Library, who is a prolific reviewer of mysteries, science fiction, westerns, and graphic novels for both adults and teens. Here are his thoughts on reading and writing reviews:

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t attracted to books, which is odd because neither of my birth parents were readers. The first memories I have of actually wanting something to read were the old Carlton horror and ROM, Space Knight comics that I saw in the local drugstore that my grandmothers gladly fed my habit. This continued into my early teenage years with my adopted parents as I found my father’s stash of fantasy novels and World War II history books and I devoured them. Most of the money I earned from my part-time jobs during high school fed my comics addiction and it worked out well because my dad got to read my comics and I got his Horseclans, Tarzan, Conan, Gor and other fantasy novel series when he was finished with them.

My taste of books is wide-ranging but all of it leans heavily towards escapism of the grandiose and heroic variety so I’ll read everything from fantasy, science-fiction, superheroes, naval adventures, mysteries, pulp fiction to westerns. I read for the excitement, adventure and the belief that good will always win over evil. My favorite authors would have to be the classics of the genres: H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert E. Howard although lately my tastes have been leaning towards more current books such as the Midshipman Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin, the Death on Demand mysteries by Carolyn Hart and the westerns of Jory Sherman and Tobias Cole.

I really have no criteria for deciding what to read although I am the perfect marketing example for publishers. I pick up whatever has the most lurid or exciting cover art on it and anything that promises a series or more books to come. In some ways I think my reading interests are about fifty years behind everyone else. I review books, especially older ones, as most emphasis tends to be on new books yet there are still plenty of old books out there that are still just as enjoyable today as they were back then and have stood the test of time and my tastes of reading genres tends to be non-mainstream fiction so I’m always happy to try to point out the good stuff for someone looking for something a bit more eclectic that they may have otherwise overlooked.”

Thanks, James!