My Life as a Reader in 2016

Each year for the past six years, I've challenged myself to read 100 children's books. Why children's books? Because that's what I'm compelled to write.


For any writer, I think it's important to read a lot of books of the kind that you want to write. I'm convinced it helps to embed the structure, style and language of the kind of book you want to write in your mind. It also helps you to find out what kinds of books your audience likes to read, and, in the process, you learn about the kinds of books you'd like to write.

Along the way, I've come to appreciate the art form of children's books beyond my own learning as a writer. There are few extraneous words in children's books, there isn't space. The writing is highly polished, the stories beautifully creative. I treasure my time spent reading children's books, and I'm proud to be able to attempt stories of my own.

What does this mean for my reading goals? Since I'm doing more writing and have less time for reading, this year I'm going to be a little less specific about what I choose to read. Instead of focusing on the quantity of children's books I want to read, I'm aiming for diversity. I want to read more different kinds of books -- maybe some nonfiction, maybe some children's books that I wouldn't normally pick up.


I will continue to list the children's books that I read here and, hopefully, on GoodReads.com, if I can remember. I may make it to 100, but I may not. I like to see what I find. I also like to read books nominated for awards. Most of the books I read are based on recommendations from other readers and writers, as well as from what I find in my local library. If you have any recommendations for me this year, please share them in the comments!

Here are my 2016 reading goals (which are not so different from last year's!):

1. Read LOTS of children's books - picture books, middle grade and young adult.

2. Read all of the fiction picture book finalists (I better read these ones, because I'm a second round judge!) finalists and the middle grade fiction finalists for the Cybils Awards, and maybe some of the finalists for speculative fiction for elementary and middle grades, if I have time. (For more about these awards given by book bloggers, visit www.cybils.com). 

3. Read all of the Blue Spruce and Silver Birch nominees for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading Awards.

4. Try to remember to keep track of my reading on GoodReads, though I'll also be tracking it here on my blog.

I'm excited to begin!  Do you have any reading goals? Feel free to share or link to them in the comments. I'll be back Thursday with a Learning from Picture Books feature and then next Monday I'll have my first featured post for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday in 2016. Happy reading!

Reading Goals for 2015

This was the first year since I started my 100 book challenge that I didn't achieve my goal of reading 100 MG and YA books. I know that sounds like something I should be disappointed about, but I'm not. The main reason I set goals is for something to work towards and to focus on. I can always set another one or a different one if that one doesn't work out. I like to be flexible. 

I still strongly believe that reading a lot of books is an important way to improve your writing. But the other important thing that goes along with that is actually doing the writing. And in 2014, I was writing. I also re-discovered my passion for writing picture books, which I gave up a few years ago because of the frustration of rejection. This year, I'm ignoring that and doing what I love. Besides, almost every day I come home from work with another picture book idea (one of the benefits of teaching kindergarten). I'll still be working on my middle grade novels, too, because I love the ideas and challenge. 

What does this mean for my reading goals? This year, I'm going to be changing my 100 Book Challenge to include picture books as well as middle grade novels, and a sprinkling of young adult novels because I love them too. I'm not setting a number for how many of each type, because I like to see what I find. I choose books to read based on recommendations from other readers and writers, as well as from what I find in my local library. If you have any recommendations for me this year, please share them in the comments!

Here are my 2015 reading goals:

1. Read 100 children's books - picture books, middle grade and young adult.

2. Read all of the picture book and middle grade fiction finalists for the Cybils Awards, and maybe some of the finalists for speculative fiction for elementary and middle grades, if I have time. (For more about these awards given by book bloggers, visit www.cybils.com). 

3. Read all of the Blue Spruce and Silver Birch nominees from the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading.

4. Try to remember to keep track of my reading on GoodReads, though I'll also be tracking it here on my blog.

I'm so excited to begin! I already read a couple of the nominees and finalists towards the end of 2014, so I'm off to a good start. Do you have any reading goals? Feel free to share or link to them in the comments. I'll be back Thursday with a Learning from Picture Books feature and then next Monday I'll have my first featured post for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday in 2015. Happy reading!

MG Reads from 2013....And Some Reading Goals

I don’t have a book to talk about today for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday since I’m still a bit slow to jump back into blogging after my two week break (or maybe it's because of all the shoveling I've been doing). But I will share my favourite MG reads from my 100 book challenge of 2013.

For the past couple of years, I’ve challenged myself to read 100 MG and YA books each year. I decided that if I was really going to take my writing seriously, I needed to immerse myself in reading the kinds of books I want to write. Last year, I made more of an effort to divide my reading equally between MG and YA. 

My reading list is typically a mixture of newer books and books that have been around for a few years, so these lists don't necessarily reflect books that have been published in 2013. I've already posted my YA favourites from 2013, so here are a few I really enjoyed in the MG category:

Close to Famous by Joan Bauer

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean

This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy Cavanaugh

Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean

Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Skrypuch

and possibly my favourite of all, The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen.

One of the exciting things about starting the new year is that I'm embarking on a whole new set of reading adventures with my next reading challenge! I am once again looking forward to reading the Silver Birch nominated books and I'm going to try to read the Cybils nominees in the middle grade category. (Luckily, I've got a head start on both of these since I read a couple of them in 2013.)

Most importantly, I'm going to try to think more about the structure of some of the books I read, since this is one area I need to work on as a writer. 

Do you have any reading goals for 2014?