Reading by the Numbers

This morning I went out with the kidlets and friends on an alligator hunt and spied three gators.

It's always fun to see animals in their natural habitat—especially from a safe vantage point.

This was our first week of summer break. Although I'm not officially starting back to homeschooling until mid-July, I've started the middle child on learning to read and the eldest with typing skills. It's been a little slack these first few days, but I think we all needed some off time to refuel.

On a literary note, I've done next to nothing in the past three weeks on my WIP. My goal for this weekend is to get back on track. I need to finish the last tidbit of the first draft so I can better home into the poignant scenes in the beginning.

My reading the past few weeks:

Very insightful!

Fluffy fun--already passed on to a friend.

Still digesting this one. Full of GREAT information and advice. (Thanks for the loan, Joyce!)


Lately, I've been analyzing my reading habits and book collection. Though I'm not huge on numbers, I do love a good pie graph. Thanks to mathwarehouse.com for the pie making abilities.

These are my firm TOP TEN contemporary writers—authors who I've read five or more books by that have had new books out within the past decade. Otherwise I'd add in Beatrix Potter, C.S. Lewis, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Beverly Cleary... you get the picture!

Middle Readers: Richard Peck (he might have some “teen”, but nearly all are middle readers that I know of), Gail Carson Levine (?), Susan Cooper (?), Katherine Paterson (but not exclusively—she's written early readers and picture books, too...)

Young Adult: Laurie Halse Anderson (no, she does picture books and middle readers also...), Shannon Hale (NOPE- sometimes she's found in middle readers—hello, Newbery Honor—and she has two adult books which I adore), Sarah Dessen (might be the only single genre writer on my list)

Adult: Terry Brooks (though many teens read his fantasy books), Beverly Lewis (no, wait... she does picture books, middle readers, and teen, too!)

Cross-overs: Madeleine L'Engle is all over the literary map—in a good way—but then again... it looks like 90% of my favorites are!

What would your pie graph look like?


To gather my thoughts in a parting gesture, I'd like to use a quote the lovely Léna Roy used on her own blog today, which was spoken by her grandmother:

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” -Madeleine L'Engle

R&R

It's been a week of healing and transitions.

I was elected president of the local writer's guild this week so I'm busy networking with the new board members. I'm excited to try to give back some of what I've been given in the past two years I've been member of the group.

While recovering from surgery, I've had the pleasure to lay around and read so my list of books is larger than normal for this short of a time period.

I actually got an ARC for this—rare that I get one for a book/author I REALLY want to read. A fun tale that I'll be passing on to a couple daughters of a friend of mine. Gail Carson Levine is a fantastic storyteller.

What drew me to this book at the store was the price—bargain bin at Books-A-Million—but also the slim size of it, 153 pages. I'll be surprised if my WIP breaks 200 pages when it's done. Jan M. Czech does a great job of painting the characters well in so few words.

This was a loner from a local friend. It was fascinating to see how Ann Turner wove fact and fiction into the Salem witch trials. Totally believable, and the ending was surprising.

Another slim bargain book choice. Brenda Woods shares a fabulous, emotional journey of a group of students reacting to tragedy in this contemporary YA novel. Enjoyed the mental trip back to California, even if it was L.A.