Wednesday, March 30, 2011

On my reading list for April

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to read about as much as I love to write.  Reading is an escape, a learning experience, and just pure joy for me.  I read a variety of genres - romance, mystery, paranormal, young adult, mainstream fiction, science fiction, historical, the occasional thriller - and I'm always looking to discover new writers.

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time blog surfing.  I can't believe the number of book blogs out there - it's actually pretty mind boggling, especially the number of YA book blogs.  It's wonderful to see so many people who love to read - most of my friends don't like to read, so I have very few people to share my love of books with.  I've made a list of new authors that's about a mile long and I'm anxious to get started.

My issue now - as it has been for the past couple of months - is finding balance.  I'm a hopeless procrastinator and I'm having trouble breaking the habit.  I need to find time to write (which should be at the top of my list), read, exercise, cook and clean, plus other regular everyday things.  It sounds simple, but it's actually quite complicated - or maybe I'm just making it complicated.

In 2010, I was going through a lot and didn't read much.  I couldn't concentrate enough to get through a book, even though escaping into a make-believe world would have been a welcome release.  This year, one of my goals was to read more, and it's something I'm taking seriously.  I think that part of my love of writing comes from my love of reading, and since writers get ideas from literally everywhere, I need to be reading.  Plus, I can write book reviews and maybe make a few extra bucks, so that's another plus.

So one of my goals for April is to get my act together and find balance.  I have four books waiting for me at the library right now, and since I'm a painfully slow reader, they'll probably take me through April.  Here are my choices:

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz.  I came across this book on Amazon while I was writing my Three Days in Paris piece earlier this month and the title caught my attention. 


Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning.  I've had this author on my list for quite some time, and I decided it was finally time to read something of hers.  After seeing the audience there is out there for young adult books, I've been thinking of eventually getting into writing YA.  I've had an idea for years about a story that takes place in Faerie - I had always pictured it as an adult paranormal fiction story, but it could work as a YA book, so I decided to see what books are out there that deal with faeries and I was surprised that there aren't many but that the ones out there are extremely popular.  So I figured besides the obvious enjoyment of reading them, I'd learn what ideas other people have so that I can make sure mine are original and that I write something different from what's already out there. 

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.  A book I've seen a lot of hype over, and again, since it's about faerie, I moved it up on my TBR list. 

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.  See above - lots of hype, another faerie story.













I'm hoping I can manage to read fast enough to add a few other books in there so I'm not reading one faerie story after another.  I'm still waiting on Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I'm on the waiting list for a few other books as well.  I'm still working away at The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.  I'm about halfway through, but it's 700+ pages, so it's slow going for this slow reader.

What's on your reading list for April?  What was the best book you read in March?


1 comment:

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