Wednesday, July 25, 2012

What I Read

Not counting e-mail messages, Facebook posts, e-zine articles and the like, I read a lot. Most years I finish about half a dozen novels and a dozen nonfiction books for adults. Then there are all the newspaper stories and magazine articles. But those are only a drop in the bucket.

I usually read a couple of YA novels every month as well as a few early readers and occasional picture books, but those aren't the main way I feed my bookaholic appetite either.

Every week I read about half a dozen middle grade novels.

Why, you may ask, do I read so many books intended for kids?

Well, I could say it's because I write for kids so reading those keeps me aware of the genre, and that's true, but it's only part of the reason.

Mostly I read middle grade novels because I can usually finish a whole book in an hour or two without having to put it down in the middle, and I know it won't be sordid or depressing. And I'm still a kid at heart and enjoy being carried away into the worlds of children's lives and adventures. Reading fiction for kids is just, plain fun!


What about you? What do you like to read, and why?

2 comments:

Janet Chester Bly said...

Janet: I love to read good fiction of most any genre and right now am reading WWII nonfiction for my WIP, especially as it relates to the Battle of the Bulge in Europe at the end of the war. I've got a big TBR stack of fiction I hope to peruse soon ... by Lynn Austin, Colleen Coble, Carol Cox, Deanne Gist, Ginny Holmes, Susan Meisner, Jenny B. Jones, Angela Hunt, Terri Blackstock, and others. Can't wait!
Blessings,
Janet

Janet Ann Collins said...

Thank you, Janet. You've got some good authors on your list and I understand you've written some good books, too.