BOOK REVIEWS & RECOMENDATIONS
I love books. I have an extensive library and read voraciously. Years ago I started reviewing books for Amazon. I stopped doing that because I realized I was feeding a machine that was undermining local booksellers and compromising a way of life. My practice today is to almost exclusively buy books through local bookstores. If I read a review of a book I like or someone recommends something interesting, I email the title to the owner of my local book shop, Jessica's Book Nook, and he orders it for me. I pay a little more for a book - but believe me it is worth it.
The goal of this section is to direct people interested in Shelley and his circle to books of interest. I will try to review as many of them as I can, but in other instances I may simply point you to books of outstanding importance that fall into the category of essential reading.
Mark Andresen and the Pan Review
Mark Andresen is a long time follower of this blog and also the creator of his own. The Pan Review is a delightfully eclectic and articulate review of issues current in the arts and literary scene. He regularly features author interviews. A recent Mary Shelley-themed issue, for example, featured an interview with the sculptor Bryan Moore (who will soon unveil his bronze bust of Mary Shelley at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle), Mark's review of Fiona Sampson's disappointingly adversarial biography of Mary Shelley and an interview with yours truly in which I answered questions about how Shelley came into my life and what I think is important about him.