This is my post where I take my lovely spreadsheet of all the reading I did last year, make Excel do some number-crunching, and share the results with you. (Here’s 2014 and 2013)
First, the blog. I published 125 posts in 2015, down from 175 in 2014, with (sadly) a corresponding drop in views and comments. My life has gotten undeniably busier, and I need to figure out how to balance that with the blog. Please scroll down to the bottom of the post for where I need your suggestions on books to read this year!
I read 260 books this year, just a bit up from last year’s 255. Here’s how that breaks down:
The Books
We are not surprised that most of my reading was middle grade.
I am a little surprised that I read more realistic than sci-fi.
Yes, I am a library reader.
Audio books are slower, even if I spend more time on them. Also, my e-reader was lonely this year.
The Authors
Ouch! And this is trying to read diversely. I did a much better job of looking up authors, but this is based on studying the authors’ self-reported bios and photos, which don’t generally include their ethnicity. This year I’m keeping track of characters, too, though, as this doesn’t include white authors writing diverse characters.
Just a little better here, mostly because I like British fiction.
I don’t usually try to do a lot of planning my reading except during Cybils season – but here are some goals for this year:
– Try to be more conscious of balancing the different kinds of books I like to read, so I don’t end up reading all the teen books at the beginning of the year and all the middle grade at the end, like I felt I did this year.
– Make an effort to keep my want-to-read board on Pinterest up-to-date.
– Keep up with reviewing the books I read.
– Seta specific goal to help me read more diverse books, rather than just telling myself to “read more”. It looks like I read 37 ethnically diverse books last year. This year I’ll aim for 60 books by diverse authors, as well as reading books about LGBT themes and disability as well as ethnic diversity.
I’m noticing a distinct lack of these kinds of books on my want-to-read list right now, so I need your help! I prefer speculative fiction, but I’m open to any age range as long as it doesn’t get into hopeless, dark and grim territory. What should I read next?
Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas – Sarah Prineas’s first foray in YA, and a fairy tale setting to boot!
Black Wolves by Kate Elliott – I love Kate Elliott. And this is in the same world as the Crossroads Trilogy, which I worked my way through over as many years, I think. I even had it checked out when Cybils reading started and had to take it back.
Court of Fives by Kate Elliott – and Elliott tries YA. I’ve heard mixed reviews from friends on this one, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia – I read the first two in this trilogy last year and loved them, but the Cybils hit and I never got around to reading this one or reviewing the first two.
The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz – thoughtful historical fiction, with lots of good reviews from friends.
Serpentine by Cindy Pon – It’s been years since I’ve had a new Cindy Pon! And take a look at her column on 
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho – many of my friends loved this, and it sounds right up my alley – multicultural regency fantasy!
Tower of Thorns by Juliet Mariller – I still haven’t read Dreamer’s Pool, either, but as much as I loved Wildwood Dancing, I really need to read more of her work.
Under a Painted Sky by Stacy Lee – a super-fun sounding multicultural, feminist Western adventure.
Winter by Marissa Meyer – I was reading this series with everyone else, and totally lost track of this one.
I know I’m a bit late – but just in case you missed it, the 
I’m with Cupid by Anna Staniszewski. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2015.
Shadows of Sherwood. Robyn Hoodlum Book 1 by Kekla Magoon. Bloomsbury, 2015.
Over the River & Through the Wood by Linda Ashman. Illustrated by Kim Smith. Sterling Children’s Books, 2015.
The Second Guard by J.D. Vaughn. Disney Hyperion, 2015.
Mark of the Thief by Jennifer Nielsen. Scholastic, 2015.
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. Greenwillow Books, 1985. Aeryn is the sol, or princess, but not heir to the throne because her mother was a foreigner distrusted by the kingdom. That combined with her complete lack of the magical talent royalty of Damar are supposed to have has led to her being massively shy and lacking in self-esteem. Instead of mingling with the court, she sneaks off to rehabilitate her father’s old lame warhorse, Talat, as well as doing chemistry experiments to make a working recipe for kenet, a dragon-fire-proof salve. Dragons are dog-sized nuisances, so she’s being useful but not glorious by finding a way she can get good at killing them off single-handedly.
Princess Juniper of the Hourglass by Ammi-Joan Paquette. Philomel, 2015.
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