Hello dearest readers! Rayleigh here, and today I’ve got an announcement! As we approach my 8th year anniversary of being a book reviewer (this week!), I am so excited to be welcoming our 6th Contributor Reviewer to Literature Approved: Alyssa Jingling!

I’m really excited about Alyssa joining us because her preferred reading tastes expand the genres that we usually accept. Though each of our current reviewers are totally awesome each different in their interests, we all generally lean towards many of the same genres (historical fiction is a huge similarity for example). Alyssa will be broadening our reach in genres with her reviews of poetry, short stories, and literary fiction. Of course, she is open to a few other genres as well, so definitely take the time to get to know her and welcome her to the team!

Alyssa Jingling is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in English and designed costumes for the film department — her favorite projects always combined literature and fashion. Residing in the Austin area as an insurance agent, she spends her free time finding the best vegan eats, whittling away at her ever-growing book list, and performing dramatic poetry readings to her geriatric miniature schnauzer.

Age Groups:

• Young Adult
• Adult/Generic

Genres:

• Contemporary
• Romance
• Historical
• Short stories
• Poetry
• Nonfiction categories

Highly DISLIKES:

• Gore/Blood
• Jump Scares/Thrilling Scenes

The Fandom Corner!

Favorite Movie(s): My favorite movie is actually a Spanish art house film called Tambien la Lluvia (“Even the Rain” in English/on Netflix). It is a beautiful metanarrative with some great messages that transcend time. It’s a film about the making of a film, and I freelance on a lot of indie film sets, so it’s so fun to see what we look like from the outside, too! All in all I’m not a big tv/movie person. When I have free time I do my best to whittle down my book list.:-)

Favorite Books: My absolute favorite book is actually a children’s novel: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle! All of her works blend science, fantasy, religion, and everyday life together so beautifully. Even today I’ll reread some of her books because of how thoughtfully they’re crafted. On the other end of the spectrum, my other favorite book is Middlemarch by George Eliot. The 800-page Victorian novel ponders life, religion, love, and morality, and I think about it all the time. I reread it whenever I get the chance (which isn’t often — it’s huge!). I feel in love with the poetry of Seamus Heaney when I first read his translation of Beowulf in high school, and I’ve been obsessed with his writing and a lot of Irish literature ever since. And yes, I 100% count Irish singer/songwriter Hozier as a poet!

Additional Fandoms: I’m not on social media much anymore, but fun fact: in high school I ran one of the most popular Coldplay fanblogs on tumblr! No more fandoms for me nowadays, but those were fun times and I love learning about new fandoms and ways that they communicate. I studied that a bit during my time at the University of Texas.

Welcome to the team Alyssa! We’re so excited to have you with us!