Cathy Carmode Lim has been a newspaper book reviewer for more than a dozen years, two of which she was a book page editor. The mother of four daughters and member of the National Book Critics Circle founded Rated Reads in January 2008 and reviews many of the books. She has been reading since the age of 2½, according to her mom. She has also been writing books since she could put pencil to paper. One is in print so far — her memoir of mothering, Full Hands, Full Heart, Full Circle: From New Mom to ‘Just Like You, Mom.’ She is currently working on several other projects. Cathy is well on her way to reaching her dream of filling up bookshelves with “books, glorious books!” in every room of her house. As it is, piles of them teeter-totter on shelves, ledges, bedside tables, and almost any other conceivable space. She lives in the Central Valley in California.
Melissa Baldwin currently works as an academic librarian and occasional teacher at a small college library, dreaming of the day she might become a children’s or young adult librarian. She got her undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy but decided to take a different path and got her master’s in library science. Apparently, she loves to do research, which her students do not find remotely interesting. She tries to share her love of reading in all situations and to all people, which can make for some awkward situations. It became much easier when she finally bit the bullet and started a book blog, One Librarian’s Book Reviews. When she doesn’t have her face plastered to a book or computer, she can be found frolicking the outdoors, camping and hiking, and attempting to grow her own vegetables.
Nicole Borman didn’t begin to enjoy reading until college. She tried, but every book she picked up bored her. That is, until she read The Firm by John Grisham. From there it was all downhill. After deciding a career in fashion wasn’t for her, she moved across the country and went back to school to study library science. She is now a high school librarian and youth services librarian at the public library. Although she likes most genres she prefers nonfiction, YA chick lit, and anything Pride and Prejudice-esque. Nicole is mildly obsessed with chocolate, photography and dogs, and in her spare time fantasizes about finding a job where she can stay in her pajamas all day.
Corinne Edwards comes from a long line of compulsive readers. After growing up in Utah, where her reading habit was fed at the local library and mall bookshop, she’s now been in Maryland long enough to feel like a true Easterner. While she has a hunger to read anything in print (including the back of cereal boxes if that’s all that’s available), she prefers historical fiction, young adult and all things apocalyptic. Of the activities she does with her three wild children, a snuggled-up chapter book reading is her very favorite. Second to that is outings to historical sites and hiking/camping. Also, vacations that involve long car trips (with her loving husband driving), so she can finish just one more chapter. She keeps all her book thoughts at her own little nook of the blogosphere: The Book Nest.
Melissa Madsen Fox has always had people asking her, “What should I read?” or “What did you think of this book?” This led to some embarrassment, because since she read so many books, she could never remember which ones she liked, or why. In 2004, her husband pointed her in the direction of the computer as a solution to this problem, and her blogging career — as well as her archive of answers to persistent book-related questions — began with the birth of Book Nut. Reading, reviewing and book blogging have taken over what’s left of her life after being a stay-at-home mom to four rambunctious daughters and wife to a slightly- absent-minded professor of political science. She claims to be a reading omnivore, saying that she will read practically anything, but will also readily admit that she likes young adult and middle-grade fiction best. She lives in Wichita, Kansas.- Natalie Gowen is a freelance writer based in beautiful Colorado. A graduate in political science, most of her writing focuses on government and current social issues. She reads to escape the world of perpetual spin and problems too big to fix. The mother of two boys and wife to a supportive husband, she also authors a blog, so her family doesn’t have to bear the brunt of the passionate discourses bouncing around inside her head.
Teri Harman‘s lifelong love of books, reading and writing has blossomed into a fabulous career. She is the author of the biweekly column Book Matters on ksl.com and in the Deseret News. Her blog, Book Matters, is a resource for all things book. Teri also contributes a monthly how-to book club segment to KSL’s popular community and lifestyle TV show, Studio 5. Teri sits on the planning committee for the Utah Valley University For the Love of Reading Conference and will present on helping parents encourage reading in the home. She has been a guest on the Doug Wright Sunday radio show, “Everyday Lives, Everyday Values” and was also recently a guest author at the Children’s Book Festival in Tooele, Utah. She does all this amid the chaos of three young kids and with the help of a sainted husband and wonderful grandmas.
- Sid Kooyman served a career as an infantry officer. Since retiring from the Army he has worked as a commercial pilot, a strategic planner for the Department of Homeland Security, and an exercise planner for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; he has also written two books. He lives in Alabama with his wife of 38 years.
Nancy Minster is an avid reader, is married to an avid reader and is the mother to three little kids who seem to like books as well. One can only wonder where they get it from! Nancy grew up in California and went to college in Utah, where she received a degree in English teaching. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she and her family have jumped their way across the country, starting in California, followed by a four-year jump to Kansas and now northern Virginia. In 2006, Nancy read over 22,000 pages in 74 books. That’s her adult book-reading record for a year. (She has to keep track to compete with her husband’s reading records.) Nancy reads mostly fiction, a lot of young adult literature and a tiny bit of nonfiction here and there. Besides reading and being a mom, she homeschools her kids and enjoys baking, writing and blogging. Her blog can be found at writingfishbowl.blogspot.com.
Heather Moore would rather buy books than clothes. In fact, she often reads three to four books at a time, keeping each book in a strategic location — in the car, by her bed, in the living room, and in the kitchen. She’d keep one on the backyard table if it weren’t for the chewing-prone dog. All the reading has paid off and Heather is an award-winning author of historical fiction (www.hbmoore.com). She also owns and manages an editing company, Precision Editing Group, LLC (www.precisioneditinggroup.com).
Danica Page is an avid reader, a freelance journalist, a book blogger, and a college student double-majoring in English and journalism. Whenever she’s not working or studying, she can be found with her nose in a good book. This love of reading led to the decision to start a blog, Taking it One Page at a Time. Danica is a native of Utah and is in love with the mountains surrounding her.
Luisa Perkes finds herself CONSTANTLY falling in love. She’s in love with FOOD, running, traveling, sunbathing and dancing. She’s REALLY in love with her baby boy and her Prince Charming. She loves Idaho, where she lives, and Boston, where she grew up. She is passionate about becoming a Good Mom, which is her most important title, but apart from that she is also a Fruit Smoothie Junkie, a Chocolate Snob, a Garden Guru and a Connoisseur of the Kitchen. Of all the love that fills her life, she loves nothing more than to escape in a good book. Despite her romantic notions, she has never read a romance novel and instead prefers historical fiction and YA lit. You can read more of her and her loves on her blog.
Bryce Robbins is a senior operations admin at a mutual fund company in Irvine, Calif. He plays rugby, performs with a local orchestra, and loves a good book. He balances his reading load between business topics and new fiction, with a smattering of biography if he can find some he likes. You can find out more about him on LinkedIn. He currently resides in Mission Viejo, Calif., with his wife, daughter, and two cats.
Craig Smith lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier, just outside of Tacoma, Washington. He is a practicing veterinarian, focusing on feline medicine, nutrition, and surgery. He grew up in various places in the Puget Sound region, and received his college and professional training at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. He enjoys reading, travel, outdoor photography, and programming his growing collection of Macs. His family raises bantam varieties of ducks, chickens, and geese, providing their neighbors with a multicolored assortment of fresh eggs almost year-round. He provides podcasts on feline health topics at his website, www.tacomacat.com, and through iTunes.
Jana W has always loved reading but had not fully understood the power of it until she saw tears shed over the inability to do so. Her love of reading intensified during her time as a reading teacher for struggling ESL children. The glimmer of hope in their eyes and the small milestones they reached together are what she thinks of each time she closes a book. She grew up in a Navy family and spent years jumping from home to home before ending up among the majestic Utah mountains. She graduated magna cum laude in 2009 with her bachelor’s degree in art and visual communications, with emphases in graphic design and art history. She’s an avid world traveler, music lover, singer, professional graphic designer and art connoisseur. When she’s not curled up reading, she’s either immersed in her latest design job, substitute teaching, out with friends, shopping, spending time with her family, or writing book reviews for her blog, That Artsy Reader Girl.
