About me

Hi! My name is Emma. I'm the first-person reader, watcher, and writer of this website. Originally from the Bay Area of California, I've been living in Europe now for as long as I lived in the States.
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For most of my life, having big, overflowing bookshelves was a point of pride for me.

In Barcelona, where I lived for 19 years, it was easy to find books in English, but when I moved to Italy, my reading ground to a halt. Books in English are difficult to find, the selection is abysmal, and they cost their weight in gold. And unfortunately, having books sent here by post is ridiculously expensive.

After 4 years of reading very little, I could feel my mind getting dull.

Even though I said I never would, I caved in and bought a Kindle. Cue the horn section. My life changed dramatically. Every spare minute is filled with reading now. I look forward to getting to bed early just so I can read, and I love having a story in my head as I go about my day.
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After a year of gobbling up books, I decided to begin writing about them so friends could be inspired to read and so I'm forced to slow down a bit and put into words my thoughts and feelings about what I'd read (instead of just rushing off to the next book).

When the Notion file of my reviews became unruly, I decided to merge my passions and create Shelf & Screen.

My bookshelves are still overflowing, and I’ll always prefer a real book over an electronic one, but I’m grateful to have hundreds of books at my fingertips and for backlit text that enables me to read anywhere, anytime.

Please do get in touch if you'd like to recommend a book, film or TV show, or just say hello.

emma(at)emmasottardi.com