On Friday I posted about the books I've read in 2012 and mentioned I have only two reading goals for this upcoming year. Both are a result of some soul searching and a longing to nurture my reading life. Curious now? Here they are:
The Lucy Maude Montgomery Journals Read Along:
I first read these journals a decade ago and firmly believe they will be books I re-visit throughout my life. Already a number of you have told me via blog comments, email, or even Christmas card that you plan on reading along. Watch for details in the weeks ahead.
Forgo Goodreads and a public "Currently Reading" list for the year:
I love the opportunity to talk about books.
Goodreads has been a wonderful place to both get recommendations and comment on friends' selections, but this, along with my easily accessible currently reading page, has left me exhausted, friends. I know few of you are so interested in my reading that you check in regularly to see what's going on, but just the thought that I've made this very special aspect of my life so public has drained me considerably. I've talked a bit about this
here and
here.
Part of being an author in the age of social media means maintaining a public persona. I'm finding that while I enjoy this, right now, I'd like to reclaim my reading as something private, something for me only. I will be beholden to no one this upcoming year and am already relishing what this will mean for me as a reader.
I'm an introvert, remember? I crave privacy and am trying to intentionally build it in where I can.
This doesn't mean I won't blog about reading! I can't imagine never talking about books. There will be
On My Nightstand posts, posts that highlight books in various ways, currently reading discussions on my
May B. Facebook page. What you won't get is a blow-by-blow of everything I'm reading. That I'll keep in a
journal I started and have faithfully kept since 2005. I'll continue to read your recommendations over at Goodreads. And I know I'll click over just to see the pretty covers in my own collection. But there will be no new postings there.
What are your reading goals for 2013?
Here's a look at everything I've read this year!
Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge
Debut Author Challenge
Re-Reads
** Read Alouds
- The Story of Beautiful Girl - Rachel Simon
- Agatha Christie: An Autobiography - Agatha Christie (NF)
- Scarlet - A. C. Gaughen (YA)
- One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp (NF)
- Swindle - Gordon Korman (MG)**
- Breadcrumbs - Anne Ursu (MG)
- Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick (MG)**
- The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie - Wendy McClure (NF)
- A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke - James Horn (NF)
- Wonder - R. J. Palacio (MG)
- Circle of Secrets - Kimberley Griffiths Little (MG)
- A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar - Suzanne Joinson
- Chained - Lynne Kelly (MG)
- Starters - Lissa Price (YA)
- The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (YA)
- Toilet Paper Tigers - Gordon Korman (MG)**
- Zoobreak - Gordon Korman (MG)**
- Love in Mid-Air - Kim Wright Wiley
- The Bee-Loud Glade - Steve Himmer
- The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate (MG)
- Wildflowers in Winter - Katie Ganshert
- Touch Blue - Cynthia Lord (MG)
- Under the Never Sky - Veronica Rossi (YA)
- A Voice for Kanzas - Debra MacArthur (MG)
- The Gathering Storm - Robin Bridges (YA)
- A Summer to Die - Lois Lowry (YA)
- Where the Broken Heart Still Beats - Carolyn Meyer (YA)
- The No-Brainer Wardrobe - Hayley Morgan (NF)
- All Over But the Shoutin' - Rick Bragg (NF)
- New Found Land - Alan Wolf (YA)
- If I Lie - Corrine Jackson (YA)
- Sister - Rosamund Lupton
- Emily's Dress and Other Missing Things (YA)
- Hound Dog True - Linda Urban (MG)
- Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults - Cheryl B. Klein (NF)
- Glory Be - Augusta Scattergood (MG)
- A Breath of Eyre - Eve Marie Mont (YA)
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
- Sanctuary - Agatha Christie
- The Thank You Room - Serenity Bohon (NF)
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
- The Wild Wood - Julie Anne Nelson (YA)
- Selkirk's Island: The True and Strange Adventures of the Real Robinson Crusoe - Diana Souhami (NF)
- Crossed - Ally Condie (YA)
- The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains - Nicholas Carr (NF)
- The Ruins of Us - Keija Parssinen
- Where Things Come Back - John Corey Whaley (YA)
- Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers (YA)
- Small Medium at Large - Joanne Levy (MG)
- The Mapmaker and the Ghost - Sarvenaz Tash (MG)**
- Chime - Franny Billingsley (YA)
- The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game (MG)**
- Horton Halfpott: or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset - Tom Angleberger (MG)
- Cryer's Cross - Lisa McMann (YA)
- A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (YA)
- Remarkable - Lizzie K. Foley (MG)
- Paper Covers Rock - Jenny Hubbard (YA)
- Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein (YA)
- Small Damages - Beth Kephart (YA)
- Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World - Temple Grandin, Sy Montgomery (MG/NF)
- Summer of the Gypsy Moths - Sara Pennypacker (MG)
- One for the Murphys - Lynda Mullaly Hunt (MG)
- The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg (NF)
- Liar and Spy - Rebecca Stead (MG)
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain (NF)
- The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand: Roanoke's Forgotten Indians - Michael Leroy Oberg (NF)
- Fracture - Megan Miranda (YA)
- Inside Out and Back Again - Thanhha Lai (MG)
- Writing the Breakout Novel - Donald Maas (NF)
- Ender in Exile - Orson Scott Card
- The Unnameables - Ellen Booraem (MG)
- Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
- How to Save a Life - Sara Zarr (YA)
- Auracle - Gina Rosati (YA)
- The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction - Sinclair Ferguson (NF)
- All is Well - Kristin Embry Litchman (MG)
- The False Prince - Jennifer Nielsen (MG)
- One Thousand White Women - Jim Fergus
- The Absolute Value of Mike - Kathryn Erskine (MG)
- The Brides of Rollrock Island - Margo Lanagan (YA)
- The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson (YA)
- The Great Unexpected - Sharon Creech (MG)
Stats for the year:
adult titles: 13.8%
I made a point to read more adult titles than I did last year, and I plan to continue to do this. These last few years I've let this aspect of my reading lag, and I've felt the ramifications of feeling undernourished as a reader. Never again!
non-fiction: 19.5%
- faith: 2.4%
- research : 2.4%
- craft : 2.4%
- pleasure read: 12%
Though not the genre with the highest percentage, this is truly the year of non-fiction for me. I'm not usually one who reads non-fiction for pleasure, yet look at all those books I read just because they piqued my interest! I'd love to keep this balance in my reading for the rest of my life.
middle grade : 34%
My fist love and my primary area of study, this is no surprise to me.
young adult: 31%
Almost every young adult title I've read has either been a debut or recent release. Interesting.
debuts: 18%
If you're looking closely at my list, you'll see the numbers and percentages don't jive. That's because two books that didn't qualify for the 2012 Debut Challenge were still debuts.
picture books: ??
Foolishly, I've never kept a steady record of the picture books I've read. The last two years have been gap years for me, as my boys have started to move beyond this phase in their personal reading, and together we read middle grade. I've spent the last few months brushing up on titles I've missed and have enjoyed immensely what I've read.
Goals for next year:
Only two. I'll discuss these during my next post.
What have you read this year? What patterns have you seen emerge?
Books Make Me Happy: My First Reading Log by Judy Pelikan, published (THANK YOU!!) by Workman is so much more than just a reading log. Not only is it a great way to encourage reading and inspire a love of books, but it just might be your child's first introduction to critical thinking and writing.
In her note to parents a the start of the book creator Pelikan explains that a visit to The
Running a Meeting
It’s a good idea not to have a book discussion that first meeting. Instead, talk about ground rules and what you hope your book club will become. Here are some things to think through beforehand:
- Will members be allowed to drop in when they feel like participating or will they be expected to attend regularly?
- What happens if a member hasn’t finished the book?
- How can members prepare before the meeting?
- And a key question: What’s the point of a book club?
Here’s a handout I gave my students our first week together:
Welcome to Book Club!
Here are some things you should know:
- In order to attend a meeting, you need to read the book. That’s it!
- Sometimes we’ll read a book about a boy. Sometimes we’ll read about a girl. If you are a boy, you CAN read about a girl and survive. I promise. Girls, same for you.
- To make Book Club as interesting as possible, it is good, though not required, to jot down things as you read. Here are some ideas:
- How does this book compare to others I’ve read?
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I have been trying to systematize my reading list which has become unwieldy. I'd like to keep a log of the books that I've read since I started the blog, the books that I intend to read going forward, and a wish list I'm adding all read books to this list and linking reviews to those that I've been able to review. How do you keep track of the books that you read and review? Do you have any practical suggestions? Please share!
To Be Read List
- The Darcys at Year End: An Amazing Journey into Love Everlasting by Sharon Lathan
- the chic shall
Al Capone Does My Shirts (MG) by Gennifer Choldenko
Red Glass (YA) byLaura Resau
You Know Where To Find Me (YA) by Rachel Cohn
Good Night Maman (MG) by Norma Fox Mazer
The Other Side Of Truth (YA) by Beverley Naidoo
Waiting For Normal (MG) by Leslie O'Conner
Aleutian Sparrow (YA) by Karen Hesse
A Step From Heaven (YA) by An Na
Book Of A Thousand Days (YA) by Shannon Hale
Nice mix of historical fiction, contemporary, fantasy, and one in verse.
Who knows it? No googling allowed.
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This comment has been removed by the author.
Weird. I commented and it duplicated the comment, so I deleted one and now they're both gone! Anyhoo, Happy New Year!
It seems to be a Blogger quirk in with this template. I could see it in my inbox, though!
I understand what you mean about Goodreads... I have the same difficulty balancing my need to be interior. I actually started my Goodreads account when I started falling behind in my reading journal--it was easier to type while nursing a baby than to write in a little notebook! But since I don't want to make all my reflections public, keeping track of those reactions has suffered. I'm not sure how I'll resolve this, but I'm glad you've reminded me to think about it.
I HAVE found several books I loved through your goodreads reviews, though, so do keep recommending ones you liked here, please!
I hope you have a beautiful and very blessed new year, Caroline!
I'm glad others can relate to the Goodreads dilemma. It's wonderful to keep a record of what I'm reading and so good to get recommendations from others/see what they've picked up. It's the public nature of it all that has gotten to me. And truthfully, who goes and looks at my list of books? Probably very few people (though some do look at my currently reading list, according to my blog stats). I really think my decision to share some but not all of what I'm doing will help me to feel my reading is my own again.
I will continue to check in there. Promise. Happy New Year to you, too, friend.
I think that's interesting, Caroline, and I totally understand! At times I feel overwhelmed by social media, even though it keeps me current and connected. Good luck with your reading goals, and enjoy some private time!