1. Who are you?

I'm C. I fell into scifi when I was 13 and found in the attic boxes full of 1960s scifi novels my dad had read in his youth. The next year, I read by chance The Lord of the Rings. I've been hopelessly addicted ever since.
On "While you were reading", apart from me, guest contributors are Leigh, Ian, Azzie, Amy, and Matt from Runalongtheshelves.
I'm also a guest book blogger for Black Girl Nerds since May 2017 where I review twice a month a scifi or fantasy book written by a person of colour. [23 April 2018: guest blogging for BGN currently on hold until I know more about the current issues.]

2. When do you publish your reviews?

Since 2017, I publish three reviews a month on the first, the tenth and the twentieth. I also publish collections of shorter reviews, all linked by a theme, on an irregular basis.
You can subscribe to receive all the blog posts by mail on the right side bar here.

3. How come my (hateful) comment doesn't show up?

I do believe in freedom of speech. I also do believe that while freedom of speech entails your right to spout whichever you like it also entails my right to not read nor spread your hateful views. But feel free to open your own blog and take your opinions there. Or, as Angry Salmond would put it...

4. Are you paid by authors / publishers for your reviews? Because you mostly say nice things.

In a parallel universe, I'm handsomely paid to stay home and read and review SFF all day long. In this universe, I'm not (I wish!). It's just that I choose to only review the books I've liked.
If I receive a free copy from a publisher, it is freely given without the obligation to review the book on The Middle Shelf and a disclaimer is written at the end of the review. My book review policy is here.
I never review more than five copies given by publishers a year.

5. I like the art at the top of the page. Where does it come from?

The one on the left is by Albert Robida, a 19th century French illustrator, the one on the right is by Joshua Mays. Do I really need to explain the middle one?

6. Why is your blog called The Middle Shelf?

I read once Juliet McKenna describing herself as a "middle shelf writer" and I realised then that I was a middle shelf reader.
I tend to steer clear of the the little spindly table with towers of books (because I'll knock it down and it's either filled with books that fit the particular sub-genre that recently made it into the mainstream - novels tend to become too formulaic for my taste when that happens - or with authors I already follow, so nothing new, move along). The back shelf has all the classics (I've already read most of them, thank you) or some really niche sub-genres I'm not into.
So, yes I'm definitely a middle shelf kind of reader, that's where I find real gems and that's those I want to share about.

7. What is your editorial line?

• I review only science fiction and fantasy novels, sometimes but rarely horror novels (for my scale of horror, please check here). I don't review romance at all even if it has a scifi or fantasy setting.
• Because I publish only three reviews per month though I read many more books, I can do some sort of selection and keep only those I consider the best out of all the books I recently read.
• As much as possible, I try not to review more than twice the same author. There are exceptions, namely some writers who keep on creating stories I love.
• I follow a strict personal guideline of alternating reviews between books written by female writers and books written by male writers.
• As of 2016, at least a quarter of the reviews per calendar year are about books by writers of colour, not including the reviews in the collections. As of 2017, it is a third. In the collections, at least two of the short reviews are about stories written by writers of colours.
• I don't follow at the moment any personal guideline about QUILTBAG writers and/or characters (QUeer-Intersex-Lesbian-Trans-Bi-Ace/Aro-Gay) but I tend to favour diverse books and many books reviewed here have QUILTBAG characters though it may not be apparent in the review, except if it's relevant to the point I'm trying to make. Reviews of books by non binary writers and trans writers are categorized within the gender they publicly identify with or inserted between reviews by female/male writers.
  

8. Are there any spoilers in the reviews?

Never.

9. DO YOU HAVE A PATREON?

Wow! Are you seriously considering giving me money? Then no, thank you. I can afford hosting the blog and the domain name. But do me a favour instead: buy the books I review and support the authors. They are usually all very nice and talented people and they rarely make a living out of their writing.

10. WHAT IS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON?

Apart from being a place and a Pink Floyd album, The Dark Side of the Moon on this blog is a members only page with reviews and stuff I don't feel comfortable sharing widely, mainly because I review books that quite didn't make it to the main page and I can be quite candid about why that is. Basically, it is the three stars reviews... There may even be, at the other end of the spectrum, the no star at all reviews! This page doesn't follow the quotas I use for the main reviews page.
If you want to become a member and access it, you have to drop me a line, either on Twitter or using the contact form below. You'll need to provide an email address (it won't be shared with any third party).
Please note I won't automatically grant you access and your request may be denied. Grounds for refusing the access will be mainly if we don't have positively interacted before.