I’ve been reading more this summer than I have in many summers. I definitely feel some pressure with more responsibilities in talking about YA for work to do that. I want to keep up, as well as continue to focus on reading backlist. . . but backlist has kind of taken an unfortunate back seat to newer titles this summer. I generally like dedicating a month to reading back list, but it just didn’t happen this year. At least not yet. I still plan on getting through Anne of Green Gables before the year wraps up. It just might not happen before the summer ends in September.

Where it would be easy to feel like I’ve worked too much when it comes to my reading life, I don’t think I have. Instead, some of the most fulfilling moments of my reading life have come from the moments where I’m not reading. I’ve had the chance to go to and to do some cool bookish things, though not all of them were about the books being read in my hammock with a drink in my hand (I did get to do that and still have plenty of time to enjoy that!).

I write this to remind those readers out there who maybe didn’t reach their goals that a well-rounded reading life isn’t about the tally of titles at the end of a specified time frame. It’s about how you feel knowing what you’re reading and what you’re doing in the bigger picture. If you’re happy, if you’re exploring, if you’re challenging yourself, then you’re growing a damn good reading life, no matter what number of books you rack up.

Here are some of the awesome bookish things I’ve done in my life recently and that have made this summer a solid one so far!

Attended A Harry Potter Festival

Last summer, I finally read all of Harry Potter. This summer? I grabbed myself a Slytherin tank top and enjoyed the amazing “Wizarding World” event my local community put together for the second year in a row. Though it ended up being dampened by rain, it was so cool to see both young and old dressed up in their favorite Potter-themed gear.

The highlight for me at the event? I got to meet some owls. I met an eagle owl, a screech owl, a barred owl, and a great horned owl at a program put on by a local raptor sanctuary.

 

Worked on a Proposal for a New Book

I have a book coming out in October, and after that’s out in the world, I don’t have anything planned. At least, theoretically. This summer, I’ve been chipping away at plans for another book and my agent and I have been going back and forth as to how to make the proposal as strong as possible. I’m really excited about it.

And as exciting? I’ve been also working on a novel. I got some great motivation at ALA.

Also? I had another idea pop into my head for another potential nonfiction idea. So there are three things cooking in my head at once. That’s a lot of balls to juggle mentally, but I enjoy the ideas of each and have been slowing poking away at the hows and wheres of each.

 

 

Completed My Library’s Summer Reading Program

You know what the best prize to get for adult summer reading at the library is? Money off your fines. My library’s approach to the summer reading program for adults is brilliant and simple: for each book you read and drop a review of in their online system, you earn $.25 off fines that are good through December.

The system allows you to set a goal, and in June, fresh-eyed, I set one knowing I could beat it a bit. But I ended up beating it by quite a bit, which was a nice boost. But more than the number, it was nice to see how wide-ranging the titles were I read. I picked up a little of everything: middle grade and YA fiction, as well as YA and adult nonfiction. I even got a little bit of literary adult fiction into the mix, too.

At one point during the program, I had a pretty big fine going on because, well, each time I go to the library, I check out too many things (the best kind of problem to have). It was nice to cash in my reading time for fine forgiveness . . . which meant I could check out too many more books, then repeat the process.

In the end, I read 30 titles between the beginning of June and end of July.

 

Bookstore Hopped in Chicago

My friend Rachel and I headed to Chicago a couple weekends ago to attend a pop-up art/interactive exhibit and I realized when we were driving down that we’d have plenty of time to make a stop or two beforehand. I suggested we take the Blue Line to Damon and go visit Myopic Books. She hadn’t been, but I have, and not only did we have a fun time wandering, I managed to snag a title I’ve been looking for. I’m trying to collect all of Megan Abbott’s noir reads — her very early stuff — and they’re surprisingly hard to find. But I got one!

After we did what we’d set out to do in the city, we went back to the area of Myopic and visited both Volumes Book Cafe (which we’d both been to before) and then I took her over to Quimby’s.

While I’d been to all three before, I always love stopping there and exploring. It’s such a cool area of Chicago and the fact there are so many bookshops within a couple of blocks fills me with delight. I only walked away with three books, which felt like a real victory.

If you’re ever in the city and want a bookish place to roam, you can’t go wrong with visiting those three stops. You get your used books, your new books, and your indie-focused, small press books.

 

 

 

Produced a Podcast Episode of Recommended

Have you listened to Recommended? This Book Riot podcast interviews interesting people about their favorite books. I volunteered to produce an episode for the next season, which launches in September. Producing meant finding two fabulous guests to interview and editing their interviews to fit into the timeframe of the show. It was a total change from how I’ve been doing podcasts with Eric for Hey YA — we keep an agenda and kind of free wheel within it, readily ignoring the fact our show is 40 minutes long (we regularly hit that hour mark).

My episode won’t air until late September, but I had the total joy of interviewing two amazing women: Gretchen Rubin and Cynthia Leitich Smith. I can’t wait to share this with you when it’s available.

I also, at the same time I was doing this, set up a monster interview with a legend of children’s literature. I’m excited to see that writer’s responses and share it in the YA newsletter very soon.

 

 

Tell me about how you’ve stayed engaged in your reading life this summer (or this year!). I’d love to hear about your adventures beyond the printed page.