Reading Profile

I have been an avid reader my whole life, reading everything and anything that I can get my hands on. My love for reading started when my parents would read a book to my brother and me without fail each night. When we got older, they would actually talk to us about the books that we were reading and getting us to discuss them and identify what we liked. I think this was so vital to creating my love of reading and as Nesi states “when kids find books they love to read, they become stronger readers—and that in turn increases the chance that they’ll become lifelong readers who will read for pleasure” (Nesi). Both my parents worked at Allen County Public Library, for a majority of my childhood, so I like to say that I practically grew up in that library. When I could read on my own, there was never a time when I didn’t have a book with me for those spare moments in the day where I could sneak off and read; this habit has continued with me into adulthood, as I always have a book in my bag or close to me. According to my Goodreads account, I have read just about 675 books since I began tracking my reading in 2009. Feel free to add me if you would like!

Like I said, my reading is really varied, and I attribute some of this to having a BA in English. I tried by best to take a variety of classes that would force me to read outside of my comfort zone, and a lot of the time I found genres or authors that I never would have picked up otherwise but that I love now. Typically, I stay in the genres of YA, mysteries, thriller, suspense, science fiction, classics, fantasy, non-fiction, biographies, historical fiction, etc. You name it and I have probably read a book in that genre. I have to say, though, that I do have a big love for young adult fiction, always have and always will. I am on the Elliot Rosewater selection committee this year, so I will be reading quite a bit of YA fiction in 2018. The only genres that I can say that I have not enjoyed thus far are westerns and romance. However, I am still open to trying books in these genres, because I realize that books vary greatly within a genre.

What I look for in a book is a solid, interesting writing style and good development of characters. No matter how interesting a books premise is, if it is lacking in the actual implementation of the idea, I have no qualms about leaving a book unread. I know some people will try to push through and finish it, but I am not one of them.

To try and limit myself to top favorite books or authors is a crazy notion to me, because there are just so many that I have enjoyed immensely. Thus, I will list some of my favorites that I read in the last couple of years.  

•  All the bright Places by Jennifer Niven
•  Room  by Emma Donoghue
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Hook's Tale: Being the Account of an Unjustly Villainized Pirate by John Leonard Pielmeier
• Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
•  Embassytown by China by Miéville
• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
• Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Nesi, Olga. “It’s All About Text Appeal.” School Library Journal, 1 Aug. 2010, www.slj.com/2010/08/students/its-all-about-text-appeal/#_.