A New Outlet for My Geekdom

I've been studiously posting book reviews here for every book I read. But I've also been holding back. In a review, I don't always go into detail about what I liked or didn't like because I know people like Anne-Marie and Yvette and even Lacy probably just read the rating, if that, and get on with their lives.

There are other things I'm holding back. Like cool writing exercises I come across. And why I started but didn't finish a certain book. And how do you possibly decide what to read next when your to-read list is almost a thousand books long?

Adding to that, I know there must be other people out there like me—wannabe young adult writers who devour the latest, hottest YA creation hoping to learn from it, or just to be close to what we so desperately want.

So for the other YA wannabes, but also as an outlet for myself, I've created...

YAnnabe

I can geek out to my heart's content on reading and writing for YA, and you don't have to wade through book review after book review when all you really want is just a cute picture of Abby every now and then.

Still, I will probably post a monthly roundup of book ratings here because I will always want to spread the word about good books. And you won't be free from my non-YA book reviews.

But if you like all those YA book reviews, or if you just can't get enough of me and my opinions, I'll totally understand if you want to sneak over to YAnnabe and subscribe by email or feed reader.

2008 Books in Review

This year, I read almost as many books as the previous 2 years combined. 70 was the grand total for the year. (Who knew having a kid would give me more reading time?)

I'm always looking for book recommendations, so tell me: What were your favorite books last year?

Okay, okay. I'll go first. My two favorites of the year also make it to my all-time favorites list, so I would highly recommend them to anyone and everyone:

• Nonfiction: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
• Fiction: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

And there are a few more I'd recommend to specific folks...

For the Kids (or Kids at Heart)

• Feathers
  
• Flush
  
• Olive's Ocean
  
• The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (start with The Penderwicks)
  
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard
  
• Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
  
• The Underneath

For the Teens

• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
  
• Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing (start with A Great and Terrible Beauty)

And go ahead and read the Twilight series. It's not the best stuff in the world, but it's fun as hell.

For the Aspiring Writers

• How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights
  
• No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
  
• Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

For the Expecting or New Parents
Yes, I know you're tired and/or have a lot to do. But these are all worth it, I promise.

• Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love
  
• Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk
  
• The Diaper-Free Baby: The Natural Toilet Training Alternative
  
• Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night's Sleep!)
  
• The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer
  
• Nursing Mother, Working Mother
  
• The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child

For the Other Parents

• Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason
  
• Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family

Finally, Some 2008 Stats
I tend to read a novel or two in between every nonfiction book, so these numbers make sense:
Fiction: 66%
Nonfiction: 34%

And here's the breakdown within the fiction category:
Adult fiction: 13%
YA or kids' fiction: 87%

8 Easy Ways to Cultivate a Daily Reading Habit

I love making lists. I am a former technical writer, after all! But I realized that this blog doesn't have nearly enough lists. So let's rectify that starting now.

People sometimes ask me how I find the time to read. I usually respond with the sage advice to have a baby. Nursing 8-10 times a day for 10- to 45-minute stretches adds instant reading time to your day where you can't do anything else.

But I started thinking seriously about how, as an adult, you can incorporate more reading into your daily life. As with anything, it's not about finding the time to do it but about making the time. This is a lesson I'm currently trying to learn myself.

I read once that it takes about a month to form a new habit before that activity becomes second nature. A month of conscious habit-forming is a small price to pay for how much smarter you will sound to your friends when you start talking about how many books you've read.

So here are a few easy ways you can cultivate a daily reading habit...

1. Answer this: What are you willing to cut out in order to read more? Or, what are you willing to cut back on?

If you want to create a daily habit of reading, that means that something you're currently doing with your time is going to have to change. Anytime I find myself thinking "I wish I had the time to..." I try to catch that thought and call myself on it. If I really want to do something different with my time, that means I'll have to spend less time on Facebook, less time reading other people's blogs, less time staring blankly at the wall wishing that someone else would do the dishes, vacuum up the dog hair, and take a shower for me while I catch up on sleep.

I think this is one of my lessons to learn in this lifetime. So if you're like me, just try to catch those "I wish..." thoughts and call your bluff as much as possible.

Okay, enough with the psycho-babble stuff and onto more concrete tips...

2. Get a book from the library.

Why? Because deadlines are fabulous motivators. (Such is the beauty of NaNoWriMo, by the way.) Think about the last time you did something that didn't have a deadline. Do you remember when you're due for a dentist appointment, or do you wait until you get that ever-so-helpful postcard in the mail reminding you that if you don't come in for a cleaning in the next 2 weeks you will suffer from spontaneous dental hydroplosion, wherein all your teeth will liquidate and trickle down the back of your throat?

Deadlines work, so get a book from the library to give yourself a built-in deadline for reading the book.

If your library's web site has an email notification feature for due date reminders, use it. And if you're lucky enough that your library system participates in Library Elf (yay for Austin!), you can configure exactly when you want to receive those due date reminders. If you want to get them a full week before the due date or even every single day, Library Elf can help.

I would recommend starting with just one book at a time if you don't already have a daily reading habit established. Then you can work up to having 30 or so library books at a time strewn about your house, all in various states of being read and all with different due dates. It will keep your brain nimble.

3. Read everywhere.

And I do mean everywhere. While I was reading the Harry Potter series for the first time, it was not uncommon for me to bring the book I was reading with me in the car and read at the long stoplights during my commute to and from work every day. Don't worry—I was very safe about it. But I wouldn't recommend that particular technique if you're first in line at the stoplight because getting honked at is no fun. Hold your book slightly above the steering wheel so when you see in your peripheral vision that the car in front of you is moving, you can throw your book down in the passenger seat and follow suit. (You'll also want to use a thin bookmark and keep it stuck in the page you're currently reading so you don't lose your place.)

Fine, fine. If this still seems unsafe to you, try an audiobook. (The library has those too!)

Here are some more reasonable places you might not have considered where you can get some reading done:

• Tote your book along to appointments and show up early so you get a little extra time in the waiting room. Bonus: Your dentist/doctor/hair stylist will appreciate your punctuality.


• When eating meals, eat by yourself as often as possible and keep your nose in a book. Do not socialize. Socializing is for the unread, unwashed masses.
  
  If you must eat with others such as a spouse or children, do not pay attention to them. Instead, read a book. If you get flack from them, see if you can convince them to read too. In the case of your children, this has the added benefit of teaching them that fiction is more interesting than real life, which is the hard truth, so they might as well learn it early on in life.


• Read while waiting in line at the bagel/donut shop. Also, please let me know as soon as you have the bagels/donuts and I will be right over. (It's the least you could do after all this free advice I'm giving away here.)


• Read while you're waiting for the microwave or oven to ding.


• Read during church—this will work best for paperback novellas you can easily fit in front of an open hymn book or bible (just kidding, my church-going friends!).

4. Join a book club.

There's nothing like peer pressure to get you to do something. Book clubs also impose deadlines. Just make sure there's at least one person in the book club who is committed to finishing the book. Because if your book club is made up of a lot of people who probably won't actually read the book, your book club is going to quickly devolve into a wine-and-cheese club or a let's-bitch-about-work club. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not going to get you closer to your goal of a daily reading habit.

5. Choose your books carefully.

Life is too short to read books you don't really want to read. Don't try to read books that you think you should read because they're classics or because you think it will make you look smart.

Read the books you want to read. Read the books whose front cover descriptions get you excited to the point of drooling.

If that just so happens to be Moby Dick, fine. But if what you really want to read is a comic book or a book about Amelia Bedelia's latest adventures, go for it. Moby Dick's not that great anyway, trust me.

6. Give it 50 pages.

If after 50 pages, the book's not floating your boat, move on. This is a lesson I've had to learn, and I still struggle with it. But why waste your time slogging through something that hasn't captivated you? Reading should be fun, not a chore. And in my experience, if it doesn't grab me in the first 50 pages, it's not going to turn around. So give yourself permission to move on to another book.

7. Ask your roommate, spouse, or a friend to hide your TV remote.

Or, alternatively, unplug the TV from the wall so that every time you are tempted to watch it, you'll think "Oh, but I'd have to get up from the couch and plug it back in. But look—here's a book on the end table right next to me!"

8. Make a deal.

Make a deal with yourself that you won't do some essential daily task until you've read for 10 minutes. For example, you are not allowed to brush your teeth until after you read.

Not that reading should feel like a chore, mind you, but you're just trying to establish a daily habit right now. The joy will come right after you start reading, I promise. And the point here is not to go to work without brushing your teeth, either. Please, please, please do that. But surely you have an extra 10 minutes before your dental hygiene routine every morning to do something fun.


Okay, enough of my pontificating.

Your turn: Do you wish you read more? Or if you're happy with how much you read, what advice would you give someone who wants to read more?