Meet the BookBitch™

I am a voracious reader, usually reading two or more books at a time, and reading several books each week. I will read just about anything I can get my hands on, with the emphasis on fiction. I have a penchant for new authors, mostly because when I find an author I like, I tend to read everything they have ever written, which more or less forces me to find new authors.

At one time crime fiction comprised probably three quarters of my reading time but with the state of the world today, I’ve been finding myself in need of some happy endings, so I’m reading tons of romance these days. I also read chick-lit (do they still call it that?,) contemporary fiction with a book club bent, literary fiction, women’s fiction, biographies & memoirs, cookbooks & other books on food, various narrative nonfiction books, and an occasional work of horror, fantasy or sci-fi. I generally avoid self help & metaphysical books; I am not interested in improving myself by reading the latest pop psychology (I am rather fond of who I am) or connecting with other worlds (I am content with this one.)

My dream is to write a novel, to be published someday, but so far I am lacking what I call the 3 D’s…drive, determination and discipline. My goal is to be the Grandma Moses of writers.

In 2019, I started working at the Eugene M. and Christine E. Lynn Library at Lynn University, where I serve as the Information Desk Librarian. It was the best move I could have made. I love my new job, my new co-workers, and especially my new boss! Lynn is an incredible place to work and I feel so lucky to have landed here.

For eighteen years I was with the Palm Beach County Library System, first as a library associate in circulation, then as a reference librarian. I was also the author liaison for the county library system. Prior to the library gig I was a bookseller for Borders for seven years. I contributed a chapter entitled “Readers’ Advisory in the Real World” for a book called Nonfiction Readers’ Advisory, edited by Robert Burgin. I also contributed to Gather ‘Round the Table: Food Literacy Programs, Resources and Ideas for Libraries, Nonfiction Readers’ Advisory. I review women’s fiction and contemporary romance for Library Journal, and crime fiction for Booklist. I have my B.A. in English Literature and my M.A. in Library & Information Science.

I am often asked how I determine which books I am going to read and review. I get most of the catalogs from the major publishers and request review copies of books I have an interest in reading. I read several review sources on a regular basis. I consider recommendations from friends, co-workers, authors whose works I’ve read and enjoyed, and various pundits of the publishing industry. It would be a dream come true if I could read every book that appeals to me, but unfortunately with my schedule I am forced to be very, very selective, which means I rarely review an unsolicited book. For more details on submitting a book for review, please see the Review Policy below.

I’m 64 years old and married for 42 years to the love of my life. I have a 37-year-old son, a beautiful, brilliant daughter-in-law, a delicious grandson, and a sweet, talented 30-year-old daughter. I share my home with my sweet Birman, Loki (left.)  We lost Edgar (right,) our criminally insane cat, in 2018.

I am happy, honest, intelligent, intuitive, funny, and fun.  I am the eternal optimist; my glass is always half full, my clouds all have silver linings and when life gives me lemons, I make kick-ass lemonade – no wait, I make limoncello (ask me for my recipe!) I am sorry to say I can also be impatient, opinionated, stubborn, and generally too blunt for my own good. But I’m working on it.

I have no corporate sponsors, so I feel free to like or dislike books regardless of publisher or author and I can happily praise or bash anyone or anything I like without fear of repercussion or reprisal, or having anyone wonder where my interests lie.

Therefore, in order to hopefully recoup at least some of the $$$ I am spending here, I have become a retail whore, oops, I mean an Amazon.com associate. Most of the links on this site were already to Amazon, but if you are going to purchase something because of my recommendation, I would be eternally grateful if you would “click-through” from whence you came. By that I mean click on the links I provide, okay? I am also selling goodies via the Cafe Press store, so please think of me when you need a gift for the reader in your life. Thanks.

I am a logophile as well as a bibliophile. I have a great love of the English language and words have the power to move me like nothing else can. They say a picture is worth a thousand words though, so here is one of me doing what I do…

Review Policy

I love to read. I started my website as a way to keep track of the books I read. I am very opinionated and when I find a book I love, I can’t wait to tell the world about it.

I’ve been reviewing books for my own site since 1998; I was one of the original book bloggers. I also review for Library Journal for over 15 years now, and started reviewing for Booklist in 2012.

To this day I still find it thrilling to discover a new author. I am honored that so many people value my opinion, and I am continually amazed that so many authors want my opinion.

I admit I have a problem. Isn’t that the first step? I am a biblioholic. A book addict. I hear about new books and I have to have them. But over the years, I started realizing that I had too many books.

Yes, as difficult as it is for me to admit, it is possible to have too many books. So I started purging. Majorly purging. I have given away probably thousands of books. But the thing is, I keep getting new ones. I currently receive 20-25 books delivered to my front door every week. That doesn’t include e-galleys for my Kindle and Nook. So it is a constant struggle to keep it all under control.

I read a lot. Not as much as I did when I had younger eyes and was reading a book a day. Now I read 3-4 books a week. So did you read that last paragraph about the 25 books landing on my doorstep each week? And the ebooks? Trust me, I was never a math major but even I know there is no way I can keep up.

I am often asked how I determine which books I am going to read and review.  I look at most of the catalogs from the major publishers and request review copies of books I have an interest in reading. I have favorite authors and eagerly await their latest releases. I read several review sources on a regular basis.  I consider recommendations from friends, co-workers, authors whose works I’ve read and enjoyed, and various pundits of the publishing industry.  It would be a dream come true if I could read every book that appeals to me, but unfortunately with my schedule, I am forced to be very, very selective, which means I rarely review an unsolicited book.  And almost never review a self-published book.

If you are still determined to ask me to review your book, here are the ground rules.

1. Email me a synopsis of the book. I don’t care what the cover looks like and I will not open any attachments.

2. If I think it is something I would like to read, I’ll let you know. This almost never happens.

3. If I think it may be of interest to one of my reviewers, I will forward your synopsis along and see what they have to say. If a reviewer is interested in reading your book, I’ll let you know. This rarely happens either.

4. If there is no interest, you will not hear from me. I cannot possibly respond individually to every request I get. Believe me, I’ve tried. I have a full-time job in addition to this lovely site and a family and not more than 24 hours in my days. The amount of email I receive is simply staggering. I trust you understand.

5. If I do accept your book for review, that does not guarantee a review. It’s taken me most of my life to realize that I do not have to finish every book I start. If I don’t finish your book, it will not be reviewed.

6. Remember those 25 books a week? If one of them is yours, and I don’t choose to review it, I cannot engage in an email discussion about it. The review simply won’t appear.

Finally, a note about the books reviewed on this site: In 2009, a law was enacted that has been causing some confusion among online reviewers. For clarity’s sake, all reviews on this site are the opinions of the reviewer, based on a careful reading of the work. Books are furnished to reviewers in a variety of ways, including review copies from the publisher, the author, and/or publicists. Other books are borrowed from libraries, received as gifts from friends and family members, and purchased in bookstores, both online and bricks & mortar. Reviewers stand by their reviews as their own opinion, regardless of the source of the book being reviewed. Any questions about a review or source of a book may be directed to the editor of this site via email.

Privacy Notice

Effective Date: August 1, 2014

This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for Stacy Alesi’s BookBitch.com and website; https://stacyalesi.com/. This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this website, except where stated otherwise. It will notify you of the following:

What information we collect;
With whom it is shared;
How it can be corrected;
How it is secured;
How policy changes will be communicated; and
How to address concerns over misuse of personal data.

Information Collection, Use, and Sharing

We are the sole owners of the information collected on this site. We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone.

We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g., to ship a prize you have won.

Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about specials, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.

Your Access to and Control Over Information

You may opt-out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address provided on our website: bookbitch@yahoo.com

See what data we have about you, if any.
Change/correct any data we have about you.
Have us delete any data we have about you.
Express any concern you have about our use of your data

Sharing

We partner with another party to provide free books or other prizes. When the user signs up for these contests, we will share names, or other contact information that is necessary for the third party to provide these services. These parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.

Security

We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline.

We do not collect sensitive information (such as credit card data.) However, this is still a secure website. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon at the bottom of your web browser, or looking for “https” at the beginning of the address of the web page.

While we do not collect sensitive information, we do protect all your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (awarding prizes) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

Cookies

We use “cookies” on this site. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a site visitor’s hard drive to help us improve your access to our site and identify repeat visitors to our site. For instance, when we use a cookie to identify you, you would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience on our site. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information on our site.

Some of our business partners may use cookies on our site (e.g., advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.

Surveys & Contests

From time-to-time our site requests information via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and you may choose whether or not to participate and therefore disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site and will be deleted after winner is confirmed.

Notification of Changes

Whenever material changes are made to this privacy notice, the changes will appear on this page.

Other Provisions as Required by Law

If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately via email at bookbitch@yahoo.com