July 14, 2012:

My latest change to my website is consolidating my different series down the side of the page.

I will implement this change as I add reviews. So you'll see it happen gradually. Check out the side of this page to start!

Welcome to Sonderbooks, a website about good books.

I'm Sondra Eklund, a book lover, librarian, and a writer. I began Sonderbooks in 2001, as an e-newsletter to share with my friends all the wonderful books I was reading now that I was working at a library.

The title of the site was easy. All my life, my name was confused with "Sandra," so imagine my delight when I moved to Germany in 1996 and learned that "Sonder" is a German prefix meaning "special."

Over the years, the e-newsletter turned into a website with more than a hundred "issues" and more than a thousand reviews. Now it's converting into more of a litblog with an archive site listing all the back reviews by type of book. I did give the site a facelift in 2007, and started over listing reviews, so to find the older reviews, click on one of the links to Earlier Reviews.

When I started Sonderbooks, I was a half-time library technician at Sembach Base Library on an American Air Force Base in Germany. Now I am a full-time and full-fledged Youth Services Librarian at a public library in Northern Virginia.

I think of myself as part of the Kidlitosphere of bloggers focusing on children's books, since children's and young adult books are my first love. However, I can't bring myself to limit myself to those books only, so you'll find a wide variety of reviews on this site, all books I have actually read.

Naturally, the books I read reflect my life experiences. In 2005, my husband left me. In the difficult times that followed, I found help and comfort in God, and in the people -- and books -- He brought into my life. You'll find that process reflected in these reviews. That was also when I decided to get my Master's in Library Science and become a librarian, and the result, after the hard times, has been so much joy. I hope that's reflected here, too!

Of course, you'll find other quirky interests here. My first Master's degree was in Mathematics, and I spent ten years teaching college math. I love to knit; I love castles; I loved living in Europe and books about it; I love taking pictures. Oh, and I was once a computer programmer and enjoy the process of making this website.

For Fiction, my favorite genre is undeniably Fantasy, especially written for Young Adults. I've noticed I've been reading a slew of mysteries, too, always cozies. My taste has leaned toward lighter, more cheerful books after my husband left me -- I had enough trouble in real life!

One thing I have loved most about writing Sonderbooks is connecting with people who love the books I love. I've actually made some new friends through this website, which is an incomparable treasure. Do comment on the reviews on the blog if something I say strikes a chord or if you find a book you love because of my review! Few things make me happier than hearing that someone found a book they love because I recommended it!

All books reviewed are recommended. Books I particularly enjoy are given a starred review, and every year I post a list of the favorite books I read the year before, Sonderbooks Stand-outs.

To subscribe to Sonderbooks, subscribe to the blog feed here, or go to the blog and click on any of the (rss) links at the bottom of the page.

There are two ways you can support my website. One is to follow my links to Amazon.com. If you buy a book I recommend, I get a small percentage, and I also get a small percentage if you buy anything else after going to Amazon by way of my site.

The second way is to make a donation via the Paypal button below. Although I haven't made a profit yet, this is not a nonprofit corporation, so donations are not tax deductible. If I should some day receive donations beyond the cost of hosting the website, I would use them to purchase more books to review.

Writing Sonderbooks has become very time-consuming, so supporting the website with donations will help me rationalize that as time well-spent, and will help keep the website going.

Thank you for your support!

I hope that my reviews and these books will give you some pleasure and some food for thought.

I can be reached at: sondy@sonderbooks.com.

Please put "Sonderbooks" somewhere in the subject line.