About

Hi my name is Natalie but my friends call me Nat. If you are reading this then I'll assume you're a book nerd like me and therefore an instant friend, so call me Nat. I created ISRBR in 2010 on a whim. One night (about 3am because that's when you get the best ideas) I found this awesome website, Goodreads, and discovered that a few people were blogging about books and I thought, "hey, they want to be my friends". So I decided I would build a blog and take over the world. I lowered my standards and just decided to start a blog. I didn't have a name, only an idea. So I went to work the next morning bright-eyed and bushy tailed and plead my case to my friend, outlining this great new idea. There were two problems: 

1. I needed a name.
2. I didn't want to be the actual reviewer, I just wanted to build it and join the party.
   

We came up with a name that day and I convinced my friend, Kelli, to review books while I started creating the site. {I should mention that I had never "built" a website before, that came after many late night bright ideas.} And the rest is history, welcome to I'd So Rather Be Reading!  

I love to read YA dystopian & paranormal and contemporary New Adult. I also read a healthy amount of children's books and middle grade. I'm a mom.

QUICK FACTS: I am the mother of 3 spitfires that rule most of my time. I’ve been a university instructor for the last 10 years and I am a dietitian-nutritionist in my spare time. #insertdiabolicallaugh  

I'm the kid that ALWAYS got excessive talking on her report card. I never meet a stranger – it’s a curse. I like to stay busy, like the borderline neurotic kind of busy.  I always choose the color PINK. I have referred to my husband as Sweet Stuff since our second date and I still think he’s super-hot. 

The only New Year’s Resolution I have ever kept was from when I was 17 and pledged to never watch another rated R movie - and I haven’t. I am a #hashtag #lover #idoitalot #sometimestoomuch #sorrynotsorry  

SIDE NOTE: You might notice The Nat on images. I like to add them here and there as my mark. One of my favorite books to read my kids at Christmas is Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner. It's so fun and entertaining and we love to look for all the little hidden pictures as we read, plus it keeps the wiggly kids still because they are focused. Again, late one night, I was working on my nutrition blog {Nutrition with Nat} and thought "HEY! I can hide these suckers on anything I publish". So I decided to hide Little Nat's throughout posts. Why? Because I'm weird, I thought it would be fun and it reminded me of that Christmas book!
 

Sometimes I get a lot of book requests at one time or I get books that sound fantastic but might not be in the genre that I love. I hate to discriminate any novel and try my hardest to give a review by the best audience in the event it doesn't meet my fancy. So, I have a few hand-picked guest reviewers that have specific interests and serve as my "go to" friends when I need help.

💓 Meet Macy Kate, our Middle Grade Reviewer!💓 Here are some fun facts about our "Fiery Red": Macy Kate started reading at 4 years old, she was fascinated with Jane Yolen's dinosaur series. She loves books about animals, friendships and a good mystery. Currently her favorite book is Lemons by Melissa Savage and favorite book series is Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan. What doesn't she like? "I don't like history books." 😏 When she's not reading she enjoys drawing, singing and acting. Every summer she participates in her community theater camp and takes voice lessons. Macy Kate features "The Book Report" as a blog series, you are sure to LOVE her country twang! Be sure to watch 📺 #thebookreport #soratherread

📖 Meet Maryn, our teen reviewer!!! 📚 Here are some fun facts about our upcoming freshman: Maryn is a sucker for a good love story, a fairytale re-telling and she really loves a strong female heroine. She couldn't choose a favorite book but she has two series that she re-reads often, Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery & The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (they are really more of a bad habit because Maryn immediately falls back into them between reviews and has to be torn away and refocused 😆). They only thing that Maryn isn't crazy about are pirates, they just have no appeal. Fun fact: her school mascot is a pirate. #argh When Maryn doesn't have her nose deep in a good book she enjoys running track, soccer, singing and dabbles in piano. She's so bubbly, cute and literally gets the giggles when new books arrive. Her future goal is to one day be a book publicist. 💯 Maryn reviews pretty much anything thrown her way & can't quit a book even if it's terrible because she feels bad about leaving a story unfinished. Watch for her reviews & #bookstagrams! 📚

Ms. Leger from Leger's Ledger, is a middle school teacher deep in the heart of Texas. Her reading interests are middle-grade, historical fiction and non-fiction. She loves a good plot chart and makes class reading an interesting and fun event. It is not uncommon to walk into her room and see kids with flashlights reading a spooky tale or in full costume, acting out The Island of Dr. Moreau. Ms. Leger always has a classroom stocked with books and never denies a child a book. Macy Kate is one of her former students and they still enjoy talking about the latest and greatest book news.

The Boys are my two little men that review most of the children's books with me. One is very shy and has no plans of making his big debut via vlog reviews, he just relays to me if the book was "good or not" 😆. The other little guy is in costume 95% of the time and lives by the mantra "You be YOU and I'll be ME". He is an eccentric 1st grader and once his speech improves he will make his vlog debut!
 
The Mob should more appropriately be called The Jr. Breakfast Club but it consists of six Middle Grade Hooligans {Macy Kate falls into this category too}. When I am feeling brave I venture out with this crowd for book to movie reviews. I also reference them for middle grade series.

ISRBR has been around since April 2010 and there have been several reviewers come and go. A large amount of the reviews in our index were done by Kelli as she was the primary reviewer for several years. She has moved on to greener pastures (motherhood). MaddieB was our teen reviewer while she was in high school but she grew up! She still continues to devour books but they are of a different nature now >>insert diabolical laugh<< TEXTBOOKS are her new jam. Spencer Cole could really breakdown a book to movie adaptation but has found new writing adventures.

Updated 1.25.17