My January pick for the Debut Author Challenge was Across the Universe by Beth Revis. And I'm still waiting to read it. I'm currently first on the hold list at my local library. No tsk, tsking me for not buying a copy. I'm a librarian. I use the library. I buy plenty of books as gifts, but I rarely buy books for myself. Because I'm a librarian. I use the library.
But I'm bummed because now I feel I'm falling behind on DAC. Enter NetGalley. I heard about this nifty service through my tweeps on Twitter. Those involved in publishing in some way (including librarians!), can sign up for free. Publishers offer online ARCs for upcoming titles that users can request. I wrote a short bio to introduce myself to publishers, who then approved my requests.
My first request, which will remain titleless, was a slow read for me. So slow that after 200 pages I finally gave up on it. When I was younger, I felt obliged to finish every book I started. I've since realized that life is too short and other books too tempting to continue with one I find a miss. It happens.
My second request has been a much happier match and I'm loving it so far. Review to come soon.
My third request was Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton and I can't wait to read it. I'm amending my DAC list to make this my official February read. I still hope to read How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen later this year. Because that's one awesome title.
What have you read so far this year? What are you looking forward to reading next? Leave me a comment and share your latest reads.
Oh, I use the library ALL THE TIME! I've got like 10 books on hold! LoL.
ReplyDelete~JD
Thank you for supporting your local library!
ReplyDeleteI just read Dylan Landis' "Normal People Don't Live Like This," a book of interconnected short stories. I liked it quite a bit, although for me it read better as a collection of stories rather than what felt like a publisher's marketing ploy to sell it as a "novel," which it clearly is not.
ReplyDeleteAlso, am in the middle of Nathan Englander's "The Ministry of Special Cases," which I'm finding to be deceptively engaging, given its rather simple and non-event-filled storyline. But I'm definitely hooked into it so far.
Looking forward to getting to Franzen's "Freedom" at some point this year, as well as Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge."
And, yes, I love the library as well. Love to haunt the fiction aisles, searching for that "just right" book for the specific mood I happen to be in at that moment. And yay for librarians, too.
I'm interested in "The Ministry of Special Cases," so let me know if it carries you through to the end. I try to alternate between YA and regular fiction.
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