7.18.2012

My Summer Reading Journey

Seventh Month 18, 2012

Spring is my favorite season, but nothing beats summer as my favorite season for reading. I have been away from the blog for a while, but after reading this post, dear reader, you will know why. You see, I was busy reading. As an educator, Summer is the time for flexible scheduling of activities and for prolonged leisure reading. My local library does not have a summer reading program for adults, but that has not stopped me from having some reading fun. For the first time in my life I made some reading goals, participated in virtual book clubs, and completed reading challenges. 

My reading goals for the summer morphed along the way, but essentially I got caught up in the "new to me" genre of cozy mysteries which inspired Goal 1: Read the complete Elizabeth Elliot series by Irene Allen. I enjoyed reading the mysteries, but the characters and the overall portrayal of Friends is what kept me interested in this series. I enjoy reading mysteries, but if I only had to choose 1 reading goal this summer it would have been to read widely and outside of my "comfort zone". I didn't have to choose only one goal so in the interest of being specific Goal 2: Join a virtual book club. I actually joined two virtual book clubs, 1 for professional development, Level Up Book Club, and 1 for my personal development, 1Book140. Both book clubs are fun and participation has definitely had me reading books I wouldn't normally read.  An unexpected perk of these virtual book clubs has been meeting other teachers and librarians who inspire me with their passion for books, service to others, and librarianship. As a direct result of these book clubs, and subsequent blog reading, I decided to step things up and then came Goal 3: Complete some reading challenges. This is fun because I have gotten to do some pretty silly things, and have discovered some good books along the way. For example, choosing a book I have heard bad things about introduced me to The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall. I can honestly say that without this challenge I never would have read the book, and although the topic was a bit disturbing, it was an interesting read. On that note, dear reader, I am off to continue my summer reading journey.