#MustReadin2014 is a nifty reading challenge dreamed up by one of my favorite bloggers, Carrie Gelson at There Is a Book for That. The idea is to make a dent in that endless and ever-growing To Be Read list by committing to a number of books you want to make sure you finally read. I have several reading challenges I’m trying to tackle in 2014, so I tried to be conservative with my #MustReadin2014 list: I selected just 15 titles.
Not surprisingly, I have read all but one of the middle-grade titles, and I’m struggling mightily with the YA. I am not sure how much YA I would really read if I didn’t teach a course on Adolescent Literature. 10-12 YA titles a year would suit me perfectly, I think, but as it is, I’ve already read 35 and I’m trying to reach 60 (a much too ambitious goal–I’m rather sad thinking how the last two months of my reading year are going to be spent mainlining YA–or quitting on the challenge–and I don’t like to quit things, even reading challenges I’ve set for myself.)
Since the last update in July, I have started The Raven Boys, but put it down long ago in favor of many other books. I was pretty sure I was going to love The Raven Boys, because I really loved Scorpio Races, but so far, I am very meh. And since I semi-abandoned the book so long ago, I’m probably going to have to reread the first 50 pages to remember what’s going on. SIGH.
I have finished two more books from the list:
I wrote about Boy 21 by Matthew Quick in this post. I found it intriguing and somehow compelling, but it didn’t quite work for me as a novel.
I also just finished reading Rump aloud to my son last night. I was thrilled when he selected Rump from a big stack of books I offered as potential read-alouds. Reading aloud to my son AND reaching one of my own reading challenges? Score! I liked this fractured fairy tale and appreciated how Shurtliff transforms the essential elements of the Rumpelstiltskin story. It’s cleverly done and it’s a page-turning good story, especially as it moves toward the climax. But it nearly drove me crazy as a read-aloud–so many short, choppy, declarative sentences. I had such a hard time getting a reading rhythm going as I read aloud. My son loved the story, though, and kept begging for “just one more chapter” every night before bed. He’s going to be so excited when he finds out that Shurtliff has a fractured fairy tale about Jack, of Jack and the Beanstalk, coming out next spring.
I have 5 books left on my #MustRead list, and I think I will finish them all before the end of the year. Like Carrie,
I think it is interesting that certain books call to us at certain times. Some of my #MustReadin2014 titles sit on my bookshelf staring at me and I keep passing them by and reach for other books. It’s not that I don’t want to read them. I just don’t want to read them now. And then the mood hits . . .
I just hope it hits soon!
the dirigible plum 
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