My Reading Lists are not pieces of paper but rather stacks of books laying around the house. I hate putting them away because I’m afraid I’ll forget about them and they won’t get read. So piles of books lay around, begging to be read next. Some are fiction, others non-fiction. I have favoured fiction this last year. After getting a degree in English, I went about two years reading hardly anything to reading mostly non-fiction with the occasional novel thrown in.
I think I got sick of all the DIY books and failing at them dreadfully. Combine that with a son who is a voracious reader himself and is reading well beyond his school years. I decided I better read some of those novels he kept asking about. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed curling up with a good book! I was a bookworm as a kid, often preferring the characters in my books to real people. Sometimes that’s still true! :)
It’s an addiction for sure. There are days in our house, where not much gets done. I mean, where is the dirt going to go anyways? I have ignored everyone and everything around me. Irresponsible? Yes especially for an adult and mother. Oh well it can’t be helped. No one has starved. The house is not infested. Everyone is very much alive and kicking. And as my writing buddy reminds me, “For a writer, reading is research.” Mmmm yes, yes it is!
Since volunteering in my kids’ library at school, I also feel it is my responsibility to know at least a few of the books and series on the shelves, so I can help recommend books to the students. So that’s my excuse, I’m sticking with it.
I’ve read so many good books this year, I can’t even list them all. I’ve mentioned some in different blogs or quoted from them. If I’ve mentioned them, then I’ve really enjoyed that particular book.
If you’re looking for some recommendations, here are a few great reads for the beach this summer or sitting on a porch with a glass of lemonade:
Fiction:
Desperate Measures by Sandra Orchard
This is the last book in the Port Aster series. This was a great mystery that spanned all three books. I really enjoyed this series. It was really well written! And she’s Canadian!
I read anything by this guy! He writes about spies and Washington! Very interesting reading. I’m planning on reading his new book, Memory Man this summer. He has several series in his portfolio. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by him.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
An adult dystopian novel. I found this very different from other books I’ve read. I liked it and it certainly gives one a lot to think about if a pandemic should ever happen.
YA Lit – I’ve read so much good young adult literature this year that I couldn’t even begin to list them. Here is a sampling.
The Agency Series by Y.S. Lee
Book #1 A Spy in the House
Takes place in the 1800s about a girl spy. Oxymoron right? That’s what makes it fun. Think Murdock Mysteries with a teenage girl as protagonist. There are four books in all.
Gregor the Overlander Series by Suzanne Collins
I read this series a while back but it was so great! It’s nothing like The Hunger Games (which I enjoyed too) but goes to show what a great writer Suzanne Collins is. It’s a fantastical tale but the characters are so awesome! I was sorry to finish reading these five books.
Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie
Slated Trilogy by Terri Terry
Non-Fiction
Becoming Myself by Stasi Eldridge
This was such an awesome book! Read it and read it again! And then go read anything else that Stasi or her husband John has written. It’s all good!
The Pastor’s Kid by Barnabas Piper
Read this if you are a pastor or a pastor’s wife or a pastor’s kid. Then give it to your church library or someone in the church and tell them to read it! It should be required reading in seminary and for anyone who ever wanted to tell the pastor or his wife how to raise their kids!
Some Books I Plan to Read This Summer (let me go check my piles!)
Memory Man by David Baldacci
The other three books in the Agency series
Fight Back with Joy by Margaret Feinberg
Sand in My Sandwich by Sarah Parshall Perry
Breathing Room by Leeana Tankersley
Elijah’s Boy by R. K. Livingston (A friend and local writer! Check out her website!)
Go get yourself to your local library or bookstore and start an adventure that’s only a page turn away!