Dear Readers,

In 2009 I thought BookSexy Review would be a great name for a blog. Before the year was out I decided I hated it.  But couldn’t think of anything better.

It was a bad choice for any number of reasons:

1. It sounds like a blog that reviews romance novels which, as you know, I do not.
2. It provides no useful information about the site. Like what kinds of books are featured here.
3. And it’s terribly cheesy.

But, for strictly practical reasons, BookSexy Review’s biggest failure as a name is that most employers put blocks on sites with words like “sexy”. Which means potential readers can’t browse during their breaks, or at the end of the workday before heading home. Even publishers have problems viewing the site – this issue was first mentioned to me by a Harper Collins publicist years ago. At the time I was too new to blogging to understand the import of what she was trying to tell me.

Skip forward 8 years (god i am old). My goals and interests have changed… as happens.  The site has evolved from a general book review blog to one devoted to books in translations. I’ve begun thinking about how and why I write these reviews.  And along the way I’ve become obsessed with journalism – both the “establishment” book reviewers and the current generation of online bloggers/journalists who supposedly threaten them.  Though, for the record, I remain fairly neutral on the subject of which is better.  Six months ago I decided it was time to rethink how and why I talk about books (a post for another day) and began contributing to other review outlets as part of my quest to become a better writer and reviewer.

Which leaves less content for here.  I realized that if I was going to continue the blog it would have to change.  Over the next month you’ll begin seeing some of these changes, the first being the name. I’ll keep the BookSexy Review url active for another year, but when you type in that name it will (if I don’t screw things up) redirect to a new url.  All of my old content, going back to the ugly beginnings, will become part of the new site. I was pleasantly surprised how easy WordPress makes this.  I’m going to try to do everything gradually, feeling my way as I go, so what you’ll experience will be more of an evolution into the new blog versus an abrupt shift.

The reason I’ve continued this blog for all these years is because of the incredible books in translation community of readers and bloggers who I’ve connected with (I hope you know who you are) from all over the world. Thank you so much for your generosity and passion and support. Thank you for sharing your opinions and reviews and for seeing something here that you thought was worth coming back for. I hope you’ll continue to stick with me through the upcoming changes.

And as for that new name (remember I mentioned my current obsession with journalists?):  a stringer is a freelance journalist who contributes regularly to the same news outlets, but on a piece-by-piece basis. They’re also sometimes referred to as reporters at large. While I may not be a professional reporter, I definitely consider myself a professional reader. Which seems like a good place to start over.