While the 'official' homepage takes you to my reading journal, you can find me under various iterations of elstaplador, ElStaplador, el_staplador, etc, across the internet. Brought up sans TV (unusual for a child of the eighties in the western world, I know) I read fast and widely. I will try pretty much anything once, and so long as the quality of writing is reasonable I will finish the book.

Some authors I enjoy (in no particular order) Ursula Le Guin; Arthur Ransome; Libby Purves; Vita Sackville-West; Alexandre Dumas (pere - haven't tried fils); Anthony Hope; Emma Donoghue; Susan Howatch; Tove Jansson; golden age detective stories, particularly Dorothy L. Sayers (and her non-detective works, if it comes to that); Elizabeth Enright; Diana Wynne Jones; Arthurian legend; Joanna Trollope; pretty much anything published by Virago; Val McDermid. I like short stories, long novels, fairy tales retold, pretty much everything. I am interested in queer literature generally and particularly in the intersection between queer identity and faith (I'm a bisexual Anglican). I also like things about pilgrimage, particularly the Camino de Santiago. My wishlist is more or less up to date, though by no means complete.

My BookCrossing activity is split pretty evenly between wild-releasing and community sharing. There's nothing quite like the thrill of having a wild release journalled - but it's pretty exciting to come home to find a book on your doormat.

I live in Woking, which is about half an hour's train journey from London, and notable mainly for being where the Martians land in H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. In the rest of my life, I work for a trade union; my social life consists mainly of singing (choral, but I also love jazz and folk); in the remainder of my spare time I sew (mostly English paper patchwork at the moment), wander around with a camera, and do a bit of crochet and beading.

In terms of things that people might want to send me: I like all sorts of tea (if I come across one I don't like, I'll come back and edit this!), am particularly fond of dark chocolate (and my partner will dispose of any milk or white chocolate I'm not keen on), coffee... Please avoid sending me Nestlé products if you can (see here for why; be aware that this link will play a short sound clip when you open it). By the same token, Fair Trade products are particularly appreciated. What else do I like? Stickers, rubber stamps, things one might put in an art journal. Anything featuring scallop or cockle shells. Scraps of material for patchwork. Beads, and beading materials. However, I am attempting to keep the amount of Stuff in my house down, so things that I can use up or turn into something else are appreciated above all.


I'm running the LGBT History Month Challenge in February 2012 - come and join in!


Bookboxes/rings/rays I've started

LGBTQ Virtual Bookbox
Short and Sweet bookbox
Travel Journal ring
Series Sampler bookbox

I have the following books available in the 1001 Library
Orlando, Virginia Woolf
The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley