My name is Mercedes and I love reading. I don’t have a favourite genre, and I usually indulge in historic novels, chicklit, and family sagas. But I don’t mind the genre as long as it is well written. The books I tend to stay from are those about fantastic plots, so I tend to stay away from anything to do with science fiction, magic, vampires. I’m sure there must be good books in those genres, but they simply don’t interest me. But apart from that, I can read anything!
I’ve decided to start this reading journal because I sometimes feel the need to discuss the books I’m reading. That is difficult to do when there’s nobody else reading the same books as me. So this is a solution to reflect upon the novels I read. Therefore, the entries in this journal are not really book reviews, but my thoughts and feelings about the book I’m reading at the moment. Every book can have several entries because I don’t have the time to read a book in one sitting, so I add my reflections to this blog at the pace I read.
If you happen to stumble upon my blog, welcome, and if you feel like it, I’d appreciate if you can leave a little comment or just a greeting. Or if you prefer to keep silent, hello from me now. 🙂
My Reading Journal 
Hello, Mercedes. I see that you’re new to Twitter and your lovely site here is new as well. After reading what types of books you like to read, you’d probably love two of mine. One is Messages from Henry and the sequel is Where Love Takes You. My author page is here: http://smarturl.it/yh4u94 Let me know if you’d like for me to gift one of my books to you for you to read and post a review, should you like it.
Hello Rebecca,
Thanks so much for your comment!!! I’m so honoured and grateful that a writer like you has bothered to have a look at my journal. I think you’re the first person who has taken an interest, and the first person to leave a message. It’s true the site is quite new. I love reading, and trying to find book recommendations, I discovered there were blogs about books that some other people run. I thought it would be a good idea to do something similar. I also like writing some, and I once had a blog where I wrote my silly ideas and thoughts, so this new venture is something similar in a way. As you can see, my entries are not really book reviews; they’re just my thoughts and impressions about the books I read and at the pace I read. That’s why there are several entries for the same book. Just like a journal. Your offer is very kind indeed, and I’d love to read you writing and then write my thoughts. But, well, you know, nobody reads my journal, so I don’t know if a review of mine will help to make your books better known.
Thanks a lot. Nice meeting and talking to you.
I read all of your postings about the books you’ve read and will continue to do so. I hope one day you’ll take this a step further and start posting reviews on Amazon, goodreads, etc. Remember, reviews don’t have to be lengthy. Actually, the shorter the better. A couple of sentences about the things you found the most interesting, would suffice. Keep reading, blogging, and I’ll continue to read them. Rebecca Scarberry (@Scarberryfields on Twitter).
Thanks for reading my blog, Rebecca.. It is so nice of you because I sometimes wonder if my posts make sense to anyone other than myself. 🙂 Thanks for your tip. I’m a bit shy about writing reviews on sites such as goodreads where everybody can read them. 🙂 I think I once wrote a very brief one (I don’t think it was more than one sentence) about a book I liked, but I don’t remember what book it was about.
Thanks for your interest.
Hi Mercedes!! I’ve just started following you!! Looking forward to reading all of your posts!!!
Your review on No Kiss Goodbye was great. I am now reading it and really enjoying it! I am very much like you with genres, but my favourite genre is romantic thrillers, with lots of twists and turns, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to throw them at me!!!
Bec 😊
Hi Bec!!! Thanks for following me and for wanting to read my thoughts about the books I read. And thanks for leaving your comment! Yes, I like books with good twists… I don’t get to be surprised too much now, so when a book really floors me, that is a real treat. Thanks!!!
Hi Mercy, a friend sent me the link to your page about my book, The Ides of Daisy March, and I am fascinated and delighted by your interest. I guess, like me, you love history. Thanks for talking about the book (and giving background information that a fiction writer can’t really put in so much detail), This is the most personal of my novels, inspired by events in both my parents lives, and it is always good to hear from people who have read it. I love your site. Sally (Patricia Gardner)
Hi Sally! Thanks for your message!!! I really love your books – I read almost all of them – and I think the Ides of Daisy March was a wonderful novel and the characters were memorable. I love books set in different times as it is a chance to learn about a specific period. Thanks for reading my entries. You know, they are mainly random thoughts about how I ‘feel’ the book. Thank you for your wonderful books!!!
Hello Lovely Lady,
I came across your blog when I was searching for a synopsis of The Quality of Silence, by Lupton. I found the book a bit more suspenseful than I was comfortable with, and was wary of reading something more violent than I was in the mood for. Reading your blog entries about it was super. Now I shall continue listening to it. I love audio books, but it’s not as easy to glance through the book to see where it’s headed.
I think other people, like me, would enjoy interacting with you as you read, even read books simultaneously, but you’d have to add a couple of things. 1) Instead of just posting “Part 1” and so on, what if you also put the page numbers of that section? Then the reader could see your comments and respond, without accidentally getting spoilers from the part they’ve not yet read? 2). Also, I think it would be delightful to get a quick rating of the book, under the title. That way, if we find we like the same kind of books, one could look and see, “Oh, Mercy loved that one. I’m going to try it out.” Obviously, one wouldn’t want to read the details of your blog ahead of time, because of spoilers. Just a thought. Thank you for sharing your blogs, it was helpful and interesting, and now I’m tempted to sample some authors that are new to me, from your “palette”.
Hello Kacy,
Thanks for your lovely comment. Thanks for reading my entries. I sometimes think that my entries are all a mess, and nobody but me could understand a thing. Thanks for your suggestions. To be honest, I never think that people read my entries even though I get some comments from time to time, so that is why I am not aware that I am writing my comments for someone else. When I started this blog, I thought about adding the pages, but then as I read most of my books on my ereader, some books do not show the number of pages you’ve read, but a percentage. I can add either the number of pages or the percentage from now on, and follow your advice.
As for the rating, I guess I can do that as well.
Thanks a lot!!!!
I am so glad I found your blog! I enjoy seeing what other people think about books. I see you have read many Nicci French books. I didn’t see House of Correction, do you plan on reading that one? I enjoyed it. Do you read all of these or do you also listen to audio books?
Hi Lacie,
Thanks for your words. I haven’t read all of Nicci French’s books, but I plan to read more of them in the future. Thanks for the recommendation.
I don’t listen to audio books. I prefer reading in the old-fashioned way.
Hi Mercy,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this site – and I am impressed you have kept it up for long too! I am also a book lover but rarely get time to read these days. On Sunday night however I had a taste back of my school days when I knew I needed sleep but couldn’t put my book down till 1am! I was reading Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve – such a good book and so captivating because there isn’t a clear right and wrong, like real lives, their lives and choices are complicated. Anyway, I am from England and had no idea where Boston Massachusetts was (though I have been to Boston, Lincolnshire in England – it’s tiny!) So when I had finished the book (about 10 minutes ago) I looked up the town Ely Falls, not knowing it was fictional and came across your website. Book facts are such a good idea!! Please keep doing them. I started reading some of your other book facts just because I enjoyed then but then realised I might get spoilers from books I still want to read! Anyway, your website is charming and so useful to a book lover like me who likes learning. Wishing you many happy novels,
Alanah
Hi Alanah,
Thank your for your lovely words. I am glad that you liked some of the entries I have written on this blog. I do it as a hobby and because that way I can hone my writing skills. Since reading is one of my favourite activities, I decided to start a blog as some kind of journal with my thoughts and ideas – silly or not – about what I read. It is useful for me too in the series I read when I forget some plot points.
Thank you again!
Hello Mercedes, I was watching and enjoying the plot twists of the first chapters of The True about Harry Quebert (TV series). But then I realized that I don´t know if I am going to see the others chapters left to reach the end of it. I am loving it so much that even if I know the end I will be enjoying it anyway.
That´s is where you come into the story, because I searched explicitly for the end to this book and your post came to me. Thank you so much for your the info you provided in this post. Is a pleasure to see that some hints I perceived found an answer in your post. 🙂
As well, I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts about the books you read. I think you do a great service to all literature lovers. Thank you!
Keep well.
Best regards,
Silvia
Hi Silvia,
Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad that my notes and entries were helpful. I often wonder if they actually make sense for anybody other than me. 🙂 Thank you so much!!!
Hello,
I stumbled across your blog whilst reading The Postscript Murders by Ellie Griffiths. I googled Sheila Atkins to see if she really was a golden age mystery writer and up came your blog talking about the book. I see we have similar taste in books so I have now bookmarked your blog and will keep up with your latest reads.
kind regards,
Shirley
Thanks a lot, Shirley!!!
Hi Mercedes & Shirley: it seems that perhaps Sheila Atkins did not exist. There is a book of that title Thank Heaven Fasting by EM Delafield from the same time period. I had heard of EM, found a book at a rummage sale- The Way Things Are
Thank you!!! I’ll check it out!
I have read a few E M Delafield but have not heard of that one, I will look out for it. Thank you.
Came across your blog when I was looking up a list of character names from “The Silkworm” a Robt Galbraith (aka J K Rowling) book I’m currently listening to on CDs. Rowling has so many characters and their names are so unusual (to my ear, anyway) and the English accent of the reader doesn’t help me to figure out the spellling of their names for note-taking purposes. I was unsure if the protagonist was named Coyne or Cohen (it’s actually “Quine”) and other names like Chard, Tassel, Pengelly, and Waldegrave were also hard to understand. So thanks for your comprehensive list!
I’m impressed with your reading blog — what a wonderful idea. I’m passing it on to some other friends of mine who are readers (and authors, too, in some cases)
I’m a 60 year-old male in north Texas and am ofter reading 2 or more books at a time, so I can relate to your motivation for creating the blog. I’ll return and have a look around in your archives to see what you’ve been reading since 2014. (I signed up as a follower so I wouldn’t forget to come back).
Happy reading!
Thanks so much!!! I’m glad that my entries helped you in your reading. I started the blog as a means to practise writing and also as a record of the books I read because I tend to forget the plots after a while. Then I decided to write entries for the characters in the series because again I sometimes forget who is who.
Thank you so much!!!
A very interesting blog 🙂
Thank you
Just a quick hello to let you know that I have recently discovered your entries and am thoroughly enjoying them! What a fun hobby that has benefited me greatly!
Oh thank you so much!!!