A New Chapter for A Virtual Bookcase

It seems appropriate that a blog about books should begin again with a new chapter.

A Virtual Bookcase isn’t entirely new. I started it some time ago as a place to share book reviews, but like many things on the internet, it eventually became rather neglected. The blog may have been quiet, but I certainly didn’t stop reading.

Now I’ve decided to bring it back, although this time I’m giving myself a little more room on the virtual shelves.

There will still be book reviews. I read a lot of crime fiction, mysteries and psychological thrillers, and I’m one of those readers who can’t simply sit back and wait for the solution. I’m looking for clues, deciding who I don’t trust and generally appointing myself as an additional detective whether the author invited me or not.

I also enjoy getting out into the real book world. I’ve been to author talks and other bookish events, and I’d like A Virtual Bookcase to become somewhere I can write about those experiences too.

But there’s something else coming back with the blog: my own writing.

I used to write fiction, although it’s been quite some time since I seriously sat down and created stories of my own. Recently I’ve found myself looking at some of those old ideas again — and thinking about new ones. I’m not entirely sure yet where that will lead, which is probably part of the fun.

So this time A Virtual Bookcase won’t just be somewhere I review books. It’ll be somewhere I can talk about reading them, discovering them, meeting the people who write them and finding my way back to writing stories of my own.

It feels rather good to have the bookcase open again.

Welcome — and let’s see what ends up on the shelves.