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About

NAME

Nicki

CONTACT

Leave a comment somewhere on the blog, or e-mail me at: fyrefly98 AT gmail DOT com.

ABOUT ME

I’m a biologist, voracious reader, and semi-recovering used book sale addict. I’m a pretty eclectic reader – mostly fantasy, sci-fi, young adult fiction, historical fiction, and general fiction, with an increasing smattering of non-fiction, but I’m willing to give most genres a try.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

This blog allows me to keep all of my book reviews and other reading-related information in one place. Since the beginning of 2006, I have reviewed every new book I’ve read (plus a few that I’ve re-read). I’m slowly transferring old reviews over here, but you can view them all at LibraryThing.

YOU DO REALIZE YOU MISSPELLED “FIREFLY”, RIGHT?

I actually am usually a fairly competent speller, I swear. I’ve been using various permutations of “fyrefly” as an online handle ever since I was a teenager, when I decided that it would be cool and rebellious to spell “fire” with a Y. The fact that I thought this counted as cool and rebellious should give you some indication of what I was like as a teenager.

MY TBR PILE

I’m attempting to only read the books I already own, or at least clear more from my TBR pile than I add to it. (And, for the most part, failing miserably at the attempt.) For the curious, you can see my TBR pile here or at LibraryThing, and mock my utter lack of progress on my monthly wrap-up posts.

PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS

I’m always happy to consider review requests! If you have a book you’d like me to read and review, please let me know… although please check out my full review policy first.

OTHER READING-RELATED SITES

  • My LibraryThing Profile (my most up-to-date book wishlist is here, too, if you’re in the mood to buy me presents :)
  • Follow me on Twitter
  • OTHER READING-RELATED NERDERY

    COPYRIGHT AND COMMENT POLICY

    All text and images on this blog are copyrighted material, and may not be reproduced elsewhere without express permission by their owners (which, in the case of the text of the reviews and non-book-cover images, is me).

    First-time comments are moderated, so if you don’t see your comment immediately, don’t panic. On the other hand, abusive or spammy comments are Not Okay; if I get the feeling you’re trying to sell me or my readers something, I reserve the right to edit out the spammy parts or delete the comment outright.

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24 Comments leave one →
  1. April 11, 2008 9:04 pm

    I’m on the audiobook group and I’m looking for 2 or 3 people who might be interested in reviewing Science Fiction/Fantasy audiobooks for the website, SF Site. I’m hesitant to open my request to the entire group, so am limiting my requests to those who have a history of listening, enjoy SF/F and can write. I review for SF Site (http://www.sfsite.com) and the editor asked if I could find some more reviewers for audiobooks. You can go to my LibraryThing profile (audiobookdj) for more info about me. I really do need some good reviewers and I hope you’re interested. Drop me a line if you are at __________. I’ll be glad to send you additional information.
    Thanks! — Susan

  2. May 31, 2008 7:04 am

    You have an absolutely beautiful blog! I love it’s look and feel and the Reading List page is excellent. It’s inspiring me to create a list page of my own so people can easily find my reviews. Hopefully soon I’ll get my website up and running. I really want a unique place on the web like you have. Just wonderful!

  3. May 31, 2008 7:57 am

    Thanks! The Reading List is actually a relic from my earliest days of maintaining a website. I used to keep the reading list in hard form on the inside covers of my journal… and then I started reading more, and more, and the written list got out of control, and so I transferred it to the web. After five years worth of recording my reading, it’s getting kind of unwieldy, but I can’t bring myself to change it.

  4. June 2, 2008 3:00 pm

    Hi Fyrefly,

    I found your blog through a link on Devourer of Books’ blog. I really enjoy your content and I wanted to introduce myself and my work to you. I am an online publicist. I work to connect online writers with review books.

    It’s super easy! Just go to my site (http://onlinepublicist.net), look at what I have available, and if any of the titles interest you for review on your blog, just send me a little note through the contact page. I will have a copy sent to you, then, once the book arrives, we can work out a review date that works for you!

    Feel free to do a google blog search of my name to see what other bloggers have said about me and my work. I hope to hear from you soon…

    All Best.
    Lisa

    Lisa Roe
    Online Publicist

    lroe@onlinepublicist.net
    http://onlinepublicist.net

  5. September 29, 2008 9:51 pm

    Thanks for stopping by Passion for the Page, Fyrefly. You have a great blog here (I love your header!). Now I see why we are both drawn to that chemistry quote in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn — I’m a biochemist/geneticist turned childrens science writer ;o). I’ve added you to my Google Reader to better keep up with your haikus. What a great, direct review! Wish I could write that concisely!

  6. October 9, 2008 8:08 am

    This is an enjoyable and inelligent blog. It’s going in my bookmarks. Thanks for the work.

  7. June 25, 2009 3:44 pm

    I like to misspell things (on purpose) too. Especially when it comes to coming up with character names for stories!

  8. February 17, 2010 5:36 pm

    This a great idea. I still keeps notes in a notebook. A decidedly low tech solution for a tech writer, but I digress. I enjoy your comments and my borrow your TBR acronym if you don’t mind. I am always referring to my “pile.”

  9. shuyong permalink
    July 10, 2010 11:46 pm

    Thank you for this wonderful blog! Love the reviews, and for the books that I’ve already read, they are spot-on. Well done, and keep it up!

  10. shuyong permalink
    July 11, 2010 12:01 am

    Oh, and I have a really good book to recommend. It’s called ‘Grotesque’ by Natsuo Kirino (translated into English) which is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! In my head, anyway ;)

  11. July 23, 2010 5:43 pm

    Hi Fyrefly – My name is Michelle and I have created a brand new book blog called http://texasbooklover.blogspot.com/
    I have added your site to my fav blog list and would very much appreciate it if you would add my blog to the search engine. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
    Thank you so much – Texas Book Lover

  12. August 15, 2010 12:34 pm

    Hi I just stopped by to read your review of 19th Wife. But I decided to become a follower. I enjoyed reading your blog. I plan on stopping more often. My blog is http://susansliterarycafe.blogspot.com Have a great day.

  13. January 13, 2011 4:03 pm

    Just wanted to say I really enjoy your site!  Thought I would introduce myself. 

    Best,

    Christine

  14. Kellina permalink
    June 22, 2011 1:18 pm

    I am a graduate student in neuropsychology, and I absolutely love YA fiction and fantasy/sci-fi fiction, so my appetite has found a delightful home on your blog. Everyone always rags on me for loving “kids” books, yet being in a very advanced, scientific field – I think everyone has been misinformed of the value of children’s literature. :)

  15. August 13, 2011 7:44 am

    Thank you for your blog! Now I know where to go next when I’m looking for my next literary fix :) Keep up the good work.

  16. ernette permalink
    October 10, 2011 11:38 pm

    Indeed. I love the blog.

  17. susanbright permalink
    October 25, 2011 1:09 pm

    I enjoyed visiting your blog.Your vocab list is a great addition to a book blog!

  18. M Thompson permalink
    January 8, 2012 8:18 am

    I just stumbled upon your blog. This is wonderful! I am currently reading Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton and look forward to spending more time on you blog. Thank you for you hard work and passion for reading!

    • M Thompson permalink
      January 8, 2012 8:20 am

      Ugh! Should always re read my posts … the “r” in your never seams to enter my typing. Why is that???

  19. April 5, 2012 2:29 pm

    Hi! I’ve stumbled across your blog a couple of times and have my own book review blog as well. I have to admit, I’m not that good at reviewing books but I do love to read and thought I could do something with that. I was just wondering what it was like when you first started out. I’ve just received around 22 bot messages! Thanks and wonderful reviews!

  20. April 10, 2013 3:39 pm

    Hi I just stumbled across your blog and really like the layout of your site and diversity of your taste in books.

    I have a book blog too but my WordPress one is fairly new so am grateful for any tips, for instance. If you don’t mind me asking… You say you are gradually transferring old reviews – do you backdate them, highlight them in some way as old reviews or just post them in amongst your current reading? I’m grappling with this dilemma at the moment and would love some other people’s perspectives.

    • April 11, 2013 11:19 am

      Heh, you’ve caught me out there. I put that on my “About” page a few years ago when I underwent a spurt of adding old reviews, but I got back to the point where I had started writing them in my current format (summary/review/recommendation), and haven’t moved any of the earlier ones since. What I did at the time was just to backdate them to the day that I finished the book, and put them up that way.

      If I were doing it now, I might put them in in between my regular posts. I actually do do this occasionally, when I re-read a book for which I never posted the original review, and call it a “Review Revisited”. I think posting old reviews (maybe with a “From the Archives” label) mixed in with current reads would be just fine… in fact, I’m going to keep that idea in mind for the times when I’m too busy to write a fresh review (which seem to be increasingly common nowadays!)

      • April 11, 2013 4:27 pm

        Hi, thanks for your really helpful response. I think this is what I’m going to start doing with a few of my old reviews, a “one from the vault” type thing. It’ll be good to have those as content to post when I am reading a really long novel and there’s longer than usual between my current updates. Much obliged for your suggestion!

  21. Cathy permalink
    February 28, 2014 10:40 am

    I’ve nominated you for the Working to change the World award, congratulations! you can read more here..
    http://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/working-to-change-the-world-award/
    Have a lovely day!

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