Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?
I am reading Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan.

2. How many books have you read so far?
I have read one book so far.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I am looking forward to reading The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? 

I have had near constant interruptions, but such is life.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

I am surprised that I am not disappointed by my level of participation. I am enjoying the read-a-thon immensely despite the fact that I haven't read as much as usual or participated in any mini-challenges.

Dewey's October 2018 Read-a-thon

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Pueblo, CO

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Caramel apples = YUM!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I am a former teacher, but once a teacher always a teacher. I am a librarian who loves books, reading, intellectual freedom and providing access to information.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? I am embracing audiobooks this read-a-thon. 

YALSA HUB Challenge Update

The YALSA Hub Reading Challenge is one of my favorite reading challenges, and it is time for the first check -in. The goal of the challenge is to read 25 books from a list (available here in sortable spreadsheet form) of the most recent award winner and honor books and YALSA selected lists. 

I just finished book  #8. Each year I try to read 1 book from each category and then go back and read books that look like books of interest. I have generally enjoyed each of  the books I have read so far.

1. Dear Martin (Morris, Quick Books)
2. As the Crow Flies (Stonewall) most problematic/unsatisfying, I'm not a fan of series, hence #8. 
3.Piecing Me Together (Best Fiction, Amelia Bloomer, Coretta Scott King)
4. I am Alfonso Jones (Great Graphic Novels)
5. Saints and Misfits (Morris, Amelia Bloomer)
6. We are Okay  (Printz, Rainbow List)
7. The Stars Beneath Our Feet (Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe)
8. Little & Lion (Stonewall)

Piecing Me Together is my favorite at this time. As a former gifted and talented student in the first International Baccalaureate program at my high school, so much of this book rings true. I was especially impacted by the examination of why so many programs, volunteers, and organizations seek to "support" underrepresented students of color, but never consider the gifts, talents, and passion that these same students of color have to offer the wider community.

If you'd like to join in on this challenge you can sign up here. Happy Reading!

My One Word - A Journey to JOY

Now that January is behind us and most of us who decide to select a word for the year have done so, I wanted to share my journey to my one word for 2018. I purchased My One Word by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen a few years ago because it has a spiritual focus and I have never really done New Year's Resolutions but wanted a way to bring focus to each year.

My word for 2017 was "enough" and I had a wonderful experience with the word. Around October I began thinking about my word for 2018 and "resist" came to me very quickly. There is much in society and in my workplace that I need to resist. Weeks went by and the word "integrity" came to me. It made sense that I would need to resist with integrity and I absolutely loved the multiple meanings of integrity. The state of being whole and undivided? Yes, please. This was great, but I didn't seem to be finished. Fast forward to Thanksgiving and a young family member announces that she is expecting her first child. "Declutter" was the word that came with the announcement. That did not seem to be a word that would carry me through the year and I didn't know how it would work with "resist" and "integrity", but "declutter" was the next word to be written in my planner. Enter Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why. I was missing my why. I wanted to declutter to create physical, emotional, and spiritual space for JOY. My one word for 2018 is JOY.

But what of the other words? They are all in my mission statement which I write in the front of my planner each year: Resist with integrity, and declutter to create physical, emotional, and spiritual space for JOY.