In Which Trai Describes Herself At Length

Hi all!

I've just decided to start a blog based on one of my favorite activities-- reading. It's just what I do. I also love to write fiction and dark fantasy in addition to book reviews. I like sharing my thoughts about the books I read, and I also enjoy reading other people's blogging about their reading experiences. So maybe I should start one of my own.

My name around the Interwebs is Trai. It's what my friends call me and what you can call me, too. I've also adopted the moniker of Tutor Girl around the internet.

Why Tutor Girl?

Last summer, a friend of mine dragged me into a little show called One Tree Hill. At first I found a character named Haley kind of annoying. But time passed and I came to realize something-- Haley is scarily like me. She's a good student who's passionate about English and about tutoring, so much so that Brooke, another character, nicknames her "Tutor Girl." Haley later becomes an English teacher.

I'm not going to be a teacher-- I'm drawn more towards editing-- and I'm not yet a tutor, though I'm hoping to become a writing tutor here at my college next year. But in the meantime, I adopted Haley's nickname as my own. I even have it on a sweatshirt. Because I'm antisocial and do not wish to show a picture of myself, the picture I have in my user profile is of Haley/Bethany Joy Galeotti.

What do I read?

Since I'm starting a reading blog, you're probably wondering what the heck I read anyway.

To start this off right away: I hate Twilight with a burning passion. In fact, probably every book I may review in the future that involves vampires will include a list of Reasons Said Vampire Is Better Than Edward. From my standpoint, Edward is abusive and Bella is the least empowering heroine I could ever imagine.

Yes, I have read the book, but only because I was forced to. I have not read any of the sequels.

Anyway. *steps down from soapbox* When I was in third grade, I got into Harry Potter and subsequently into other fantasy series, such as Lord of the Rings and His Dark Materials. When I was in eighth grade, Kelley Armstrong's Haunted introduced me to dark/urban fantasy, which I avidly followed for a couple years. I lapsed into a fiction phase for about two years, only following one dark fantasy author (the wonderful, wonderful Carrie Vaughn), but I have recently started to follow my old favorite dark fantasy series again, while staying in keeping with fiction.

My two favorite authors of yesteryear are Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott, and my two favorite contemporary authors are Tiffanie deBartolo and the aforementioned Carrie Vaughn (author of the Kitty Norville series).

You will probably be reading lots of reviews of fiction. I really enjoy love stories, though I'm not really into "romance" novels. Books relating to my favorite authors are always fun reads-- I have a couple books lined up that fictionalize Jane Austen's life, as well as sequels to Jane Austen's novels. (Jane Austen's pretty much going to be a fixture here.)

Since I've gotten back into urban fantasy, expect reviews of Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, and any other authors I might find along the way.

I might review movies in comparison to their books. I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to faithfulness.

I think I've rambled on enough. My first review will probably be of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Read on,
Trai