Just me and all my furbabies.
Clockwise from top right: Wallace, Rygel, Edgar and Sallie, Thatcher, Morty (and Edgar again)
Some of my fondest memories were of my mother reading to me each night. We tackled books like The Jungle Book, Call of the Wild, Black Beauty, Aesop's Fables, and The Swiss Family Robinson. Hefty hardcovers that my six-year-old self was never going to stay awake long enough to finish in a single sitting. Night after night, we picked up where we left off. My mother is no longer with me, but my love of books is her legacy.
Growing up, I spent many an hour in the library. Whether it was the steps of the reading well in my elementary school or the faded linoleum of the public library, I could spend hours browsing through the aisles, running my fingers along the spines, and wondering what adventure waited inside each cover.
When I was a little older, my parents moved us into my great-grandparents' house, where one of our local library branches was almost literally in my backyard. Even so, borrowing books was never enough. My own bookshelf was already overflowing, but I couldn't wait for the school book fair, so I could add another treasure to my collection.
Family vacations meant browsing the campground store's book rack in search of my next read. And when I somehow managed to run out of books, I'd quietly raid my older brother's room, helping myself to his Choose Your Own Adventure books, fantasy novels, and especially his Robert Asprin Myth-Adventures books.
By the time I reached my preteen and teen years, my reading tastes had taken a decidedly more macabre turn. What can I say? I grew up in the era of 80's B horror movies, and I wanted that same delicious sense of unease between the pages. I read dismal Shakespearean tragedies...for fun.
Soon, authors like R.L. Stine, Diane Hoh, and Christopher Pike began replacing the pastel-colored books of my childhood with bright, garish covers splashed in dripping blood-red fonts. Monsters, both classic and human, spooks, and spirits were my companions on those afternoons. While I enjoyed the jump scares of cheesy film horror, there was nothing like vividly imagining the fear inside the words of a good horror novel.
That love of chills and thrills has stayed with me ever since. My reading habits wander across genres. I still enjoy the occasional historical romance or speculative fiction, but my heart always finds its way back to horror and urban fantasy. I love stories that blend the things that go bump in the night with a touch of magic, combining my love for things that go bump in the night with the fairy tale happy-ever-after...or not.
Cats Luv Coffee Book Reviews is the culmination of a lifetime spent turning pages. It's a place where I can celebrate the stories I love while shining a light on the talented authors who bring them to life. If I can help even one reader discover their next favorite book, then every page has been worth it.
Cats Luv Coffee Book Reviews is the culmination of a lifetime spent turning pages. It's a place where I can celebrate the stories I love while shining a light on the talented authors who bring them to life. If I can help even one reader discover their next favorite book, then every page has been worth it.
Along with posting here at Cats Luv Coffee, I can also be found occasionally reviewing horror on Ginger Nuts of Horror and paranormal romance on Wicked Cool Flight.
🐾Valerie
Boogie 1998-2020
Sallie 2010-2026
Skull cat design by Hannah-Kate at Foxx & Raccoon