The Marvels – Sally Allen

March 3, 2016May 30, 2017

Why read children’s literature?

Children’s literature holds a prominent place on my reading list. Seven of the 16 books I’ve read this year are classified children’s or young adult novels. That tally will increase when I finish my current read, Alison Uttley’s charming A Traveller in Time.

I’ve been thinking about what draws me to children’s literature because of a Guardian article I read, loved, and shared widely last year that came back into my life recently through Facebook memories. It was written by SF Said and is called “Children’s books are never just for children.” I agree! Obviously. Continue reading “Why read children’s literature?”

February 1, 2016June 12, 2018

Books I read in January: An eclectic list

I subtitled this post as if my reading selections aren’t always eclectic. This month’s reads included books for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers, with a mix of literary fiction, classics, and memoir. Overall, it was a satisfying month of reading adventures. Yay, reading!

And here we go: Continue reading “Books I read in January: An eclectic list”

January 30, 2016June 1, 2017

Updated #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks: January Reading Wrap-Up

Honestly? I had no intention of doing a reading challenge in 2016 until I discovered #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks at Estella’s Revenge. For the uninitiated, it’s where you read the books you already own. Sum total. How you choose to interpret it is all you, as suggested in the challenge’s subtitle: “The ‘You Do You’ Reading Effort.”

Can I tell you how much I love this challenge? Continue reading “Updated #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks: January Reading Wrap-Up”

January 1, 2016May 30, 2017

5 books I bought in 2015 and will be reading in 2016

If you happened to visit the Internet last month, you may have noticed: December featured bags and bags and overflowing bags of “best of 2015” book pieces. And why not? It’s entirely reasonable, at the end of the year, to take stock, and if this stock-taking culminates in 3,592,743* “Best Books of 2015” articles, well, that just means the world is populated by truckloads – I’m talking huge convoys of eighteen-wheelers – of readers, doesn’t it?

As for me, I’ve been known to make a “best of” list now and again. This year, however, I’m trying something new, in part inspired by a hashtag I saw on Instagram, though it apparently originated on Twitter: #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks. The brilliant idea behind this hashtag is, you know, read your own books, meaning the books you already own and that, thus, already populate your bookshelves (virtual or otherwise, one presumes). As it happens, I have quite a few of these (ahem). Continue reading “5 books I bought in 2015 and will be reading in 2016”