Dear Readers,

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been blogging regularly for some time. So I doubt it will come as a surprise to anyone to hear that I’ve decided to end Reader at Large. Most of my writing these days has been for other sites. Writing for other outlets gives me the opportunity to reach a larger audience and work with some really great editors. Some places even pay (though not as many as you’d think). But I realized over the last few months that I missed the regular schedule of blogging and the freedom to write about whatever I want without sending out email pitches beforehand.

It’s time for something new.

I’ve decided to start a substack newsletter. While that might not initially seem all that different from a blog, there’s a lot less maintenance involved. Also, blogging is its own, very specific thing. There’s an element of personal essay that I was never completely comfortable with. I started BookSexy Review because I wanted to write book reviews, and quickly learned that a book blog has to be more than that. Ex Libris will be a return to basics, putting a book review in your inbox once a week. I’ll be spending more time on backlisted books, while still writing about the new releases I’m excited about.

The majority of what I review will remain books in translation. Subscribing will be free. Down the road I may decide to add extra content for anyone who wants to pay or set up a bookshop.org affiliate account, but I really don’t see that happening anytime soon. For now I just want to stack more books on everyone’s TBR piles.

Here’s what to expect: Even though I’ve finally acknowledge that it’s time, I’m not quite ready to take down the blog. It’s been around for over a decade, first as BookSexy Review and then as Reader at Large, and just thinking about letting it go makes me twitchy. Plus, there’s some personal archiving of the reviews I need to get done. So the blog will remain up for the next few months. In the meantime, my first newsletter will go out later this week. If you’d like to subscribe, here’s the link.

Thank you so much for sticking with me for all these years. I hope you discovered books you loved, and even some you’ve hated, on this blog. I hope some of you will follow me over to Ex Libris, but if not I want you to know that this blog and its readers have been an important part of my life. Thank you for reading. Especially as the world gets more hectic and we have less time and patience — it means everything that you found something here worth your time.

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below and I’ll do my best to respond.

Tara