I’m Elissa, and I’m named after a ship. I’m not sure what compelled my parents to look at a historic ship docked in Galveston and think, “This is a lovely name for our unborn daughter,” but here I am. Unlike the ship and every other Elissa, however, I (mis)pronounce my name Uh-LEES-uh.
Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on my dad’s lap at the kitchen table while he read me “the funnies” (newspaper comics) and laughing at Hagar the Horrible. I come from a family of readers — I’ve had bookshelves full of thrifted and garage-saled books as a kid, and the first thing I do when I move is obtain a library card. My husband insisted on a house because he loved the yard; I agreed to it because it was a block from our nearest branch. One of my dreams is to have a house with built-in bookshelves, full of books and unicorn bookends. (We are actually making it happen — I can’t wait to never leave my living room, ha!)
I’m a lifelong Texan who lives in Austin with my husband and three cats. I photograph weddings for a living and when I’m not shooting or reading, I’m writing or watercoloring.
About the illustrations on this blog
I make drawings of scenes from books and include them in corresponding reviews. Unless otherwise specified, they are created on iPad with the app ProCreate. Please do not use them; they are labors of love.
Everything else
Because intro pages are more fun with random lists, here are some things about me…
- My three favorite movies are Apollo 13, Coming to America, and Wayne’s World
- Three classics I could reread over and over again are A Little Princess, Pride and Prejudice, and To Kill A Mockingbird
- Three contemporary books I could reread over and over again are Cinder by Marissa Meyer (hell, the entire Lunar Chronicles series), Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour, and The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
- I have three cats: Pow, Scout, and Luna
- I don’t know why everything is in threes right now; my favorite number is 8
- The first time I read Harry Potter, I read them backwards, starting with Deathly Hallows. My husband hates me for this. I’ve since read them many, many times in the correct order. My favorite book and movie of the series is Prisoner of Azkaban.
Elissa Reads 