Dystopian Reading Challenge

I don't usually sign up for reading challenges, mostly because I read by what interests me at the moment, which changes based on my level of energy, and my mood. Also, because I find that my list of 'to-read' books just keeps growing longer and longer, as I find more amazing authors and compelling stories.

However, dystopic and post-apocalyptic literature is currently about 2/3 of what sits on my 'to-be' read shelf in the fiction of YA speculative.

And, it's quickly becoming one of my favorite genres. So for fun, I'm going along with it!

If you're interested in signing up as well, you have until June 1, 2012.

I'm declaring, for now, that I will read the medium level, of 8-14 books. Wish me luck (I've already done five this year, and will get to their reviews this month, I hope).

Rules:
This challenge lasts from January 1st, 2012 to December 31st, 2012
All books must be started on/after January 1st, 2012
Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
After the challenge has started, you can decide to choose a higher level,
but you can not choose to go down a level.
All books must be dystopian (duh) and either Young Adult or Middle Grade (I
can't think of any MG dystopian though).
Must post all your reviews to either your blog or goodreads. Sorry, non
blogging folks!
Must create a sign-up post that includes a link to this post, the level
you've signed up for, and the button above.
Must sign-up before June 1st, 2012.

Important Info:
After each month I will do a recap where you can link your reviews, I will
also declare what the prize will be for the current month and the winner of last
month's giveaway.
Each month there will be a giveaway for all those who reviewed a book, each
review = one entry. The giveaway item could range from a gift card, a book,
swag, and more.

The Levels:
Easy: Read 5-8 books.
Medium: Read 8-14 books.
Hard: 15-20 books.
So Hard it Would Have it's Own Apocalypse!: 21+

For The Love Of Reading

A couple of days ago, I promised to write a wrap-up post on the theme of self-publishing (since I've been talking about it all month) and my thoughts, insights, and feelings after the research I've done. However, after much consideration, and some failed attempts at fleshing out the subject, I'm going to postpone that blog for another day. I'll explain more when that day comes.

In the mean time, because it is such an interesting topic these days, and because the field of self-publication is changing so rapidly, if I can across anymore interesting posts/articles/stories, I'll be sure to let you know.

I'd like to kick off the month with a brand-new topic for discussion - and it wasn't even hard to come up with. Because February is symbolically the month of love, I'd like to dedicate the majority of my posts to the topic of love. Not the mushy kind (though that's wonderful too).

The love of reading.

And writing.

And books.

And more specifically, giving our children the gift of loving to read.

My inspiration for this topic actually came from my own daughter. I scanned something I'd like you to read, but before you do, I'll lay out some back story: First, the book referred to, "Meet Kit", is a short early children's novel from the makers of the American Girls Dolls, and was given to my six-year-old daughter for Christmas from a friend at school.

Second, about two weeks ago, my daughter woke up one Saturday morning on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. And she never recovered. It was like a bad preview of what to expect in the teen years. Grouchy. Irritable. Moody. Pouty.

And this from a little girl who scatters sunshine everywhere she goes. Something was definitely off, and though she couldn't find the words to elaborate on what, I figured it probably had something to do with sleep.

So she went to bed early that night. Very early.

The next morning, I found the following note: (Note - I've removed her name and dubbed her 'lil miss' for privacy reasons).

Now my heart absolutely soared with joy when I read this (and yes, some empathy as well - anyone who's read late into the night knows exactly where she is coming from!).

Why? Because I believe one of the most important skills I will pass on to my children is a love of reading. Notes like these are positive signs that all my hard work is paying off. Disclaimer - I certainly am not encouraging her to lose sleep over a book, especially at such a young age. But it is nice to know she loves reading that much, already.

I have a background in early literacy, and experience teaching kindergarten and grade one. I'm not going to pretend I'm even close to being an expert in these fields, but for the month of February, I would like to share some of the activities, books, and ideas I use to teach children to read and write. They're not necessarily peer-reviewed or research-proven methodologies, but they've certainly worked for me and others I know.

I'm also going to highlight some of my favorite children's books and authors!! (One of my all time favorite subjects - Yay!)

You know what else? I'd love to hear about your strategies too. How do you teach kids that books can be fun, and make reading a pathway to future success?

And because I know that there is more to life than children's literature, I thought I'd quickly share two links with you. I saw these recently and thought they fit perfectly with my theme.

The first, from author Jennifer Clark is about an article she found about the statistics on how much people read every year - and the numbers are scary! She weighs in on why it's so important to make the time to read.

Also, writer Lisa Asanuma has proposed a special event for Valentine's Day 2012 - she's calling it Books For Lovers, and the idea is to go out an buy a book on Valentines day from one of the brick-n-mortar stores, instead of purchasing online. To find out why, and how you can support this campaign, visit her blog! It's an interesting post.

In the meantime, I have some reading and writing to do, because hey, I love to! How about you?