I read a lot more! Not out of any sense of obligation, but because I’m much more attuned to what’s being published – and that means there’s just so much more that I want to read. Blogging has also really focused my interests and broadened them at the same time. By that I mean blogging has allowed me to discover that I’m really passionate about young adult fiction, but it’s also encouraged me to read more widely within that group. Before blogging, I stuck mostly to adult high fantasy and would likely have never picked up something as realistic as A. S. King’s Ask the Passengers or as bizarre as Pete Hautman’s Obsidian Blade.

I’m going to cheat and pick two. I had so much fun doing this cover math post. It allowed me to be more creative and use my brain in a different way. My other pick is my piece about non-fantasy readers and how fantasy fiction is often reviewed. I’ve been a lifetime reader of fantasy fiction, and here I was able to put into words why it’s so powerful for me. Blogging has allowed me to find my voice in defense of it, as well as find a community of like-minded readers and reviewers.

Even in just the past five years, there’s been an explosion of content in the blogosphere. A lot more people are blogging books, which means it can be tougher to pick and choose the blogs that are worthwhile reads for me. It seems there’s a lot more blogs that go for snappier, less critical reviews. There’s a place for that, but I love getting down into the nitty gritty and reading reviews that tell me what worked, what didn’t, and why. 

I want to read more diverse genre fiction – books starring characters of color, LGBT characters, and so on – and feature them more prominently. The lack of representation of these groups of people in SFF is an acknowledged ongoing problem and I’d like to be a part of solving it.

I’m surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed reading graphic novels! I always felt they had a place in a library collection, but pre-2009, I didn’t really feel like they were for me personally. I had to learn how to read them in a different way from prose novels, and it often felt daunting since there’s so much history with so many of the comics out there. But I love them now. I read Castle Waiting in library school and liked it a lot, then picked up the first volume of Fables. After that, I was hooked.   

I love discovering new things, so that’s a big one. Blogging has plugged me into this whole new community where discovery is constant. And I think almost everyone loves sharing the things they love and are passionate about with others – blogging is a way for me to do that. My introvert self loves this method, since I don’t need to actually talk to anyone to do it. I also get really motivated when people comment on anything I’ve written. Often blogging feels like sending something out into the void; comments let me know my voice is being heard. (I am a terrible commenter myself. I am not perfect.)

Don’t let it become an obligation. Blogging is least fulfilling for me when I feel like I have to do it. If it’s not fun anymore, perhaps it’s hiatus or quitting time. Also, try not to take it too personally when you get your first nasty comment. 

I really want to read something that astonishes me with its creativity. This could take any number of forms. It could be a book that plays with gender roles in unexpected ways. It could be a sci fi story that features some really odd, totally inhuman aliens. It could be a fantasy story that creates a wholly new culture not copied from one of Earth’s cultures – but it’s got to be believable (and not full of white people!). I like my tried and true stuff, but I’m also hungry for new ideas. I think there’s still so much unexplored territory in SFF and I want authors to push hard at the boundaries.

I love this question! Creativity, as I mentioned above, is really important to me, but I do have my favorite sorts of stories. The perfect book would probably be high fantasy, featuring a girl protagonist who can hold her own mentally as well as physically (though perhaps not right away). I love stories with some sort of quest element to them, where there’s a final goal in mind, so there’s some action, but I like it to be interspersed with some quiet moments too. Oh, and it should be third person past tense. I can be picky! The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson comes really close, though it is first person. I think that a perfect Kimberly book could be different from a favorite book. When I think of a perfect Kimberly book, I tend to get all nostalgic and pick stuff similar to what I loved as a teen – really formative stuff.

It’s made me into a more critical reader. It’s vastly improved my reader’s advisory skills. It’s sharpened my writing. It’s connected me to a group of people – librarians, educators, readers – who I never would have known otherwise. It’s increased my personal learning network tremendously. It’s made me more knowledgeable and passionate about something I already loved – reading.