Why I Need a Bigger Night Table . . .

My to-read list is always a mile long, and my night table is so overrun with books that I have some overflow piles on my nearby dresser. The thing is, I have so many books I want to read, and so very little time to read them. And it doesn’t help that I have a bit of a “rule” that I don’t read other people’s books while I’m writing a book of my own. It’s too hard for me to concentrate on my own characters if I get involved with someone else’s. So I have long stretches where I write and write and write, and then a few weeks where I won’t write anything and I’ll read everything in sight.

A few weeks ago I began writing my next YA novel, and I’m about 50 pages in now which means I’ll most likely spend June and July writing rather than reading. Not that I won’t make a few exceptions. I’ll definitely take a short writing break to read A Bump in The Road next week and A Stroke of Magic at the end of the month. (I’m so looking forward to both of these books!). I’ve also been dying to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and my copy just arrived from Amazon a few days ago. I’m so tempted to pick it up and read it, but I think I’m going to save it to read as a reward for myself when I finish writing my own first draft. I’m also really looking forward to Jennifer Weiner’s Best Friends Forever, which comes out in July, so I’ll be reading that at the end of the summer as well.

I have some serious catching up to do with my YA reading. I haven’t yet read Twilight (I know. I know. I’m the last person -- or at least the last YA writer -- on Earth who hasn’t read it.), and I’ve heard so many great things about Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games that I want to read that one, too, even though it doesn’t sound like the type of book I’d normally pick up. Other YA books on my summer to-read list are: The Jessica Darling books by Megan McCafferty, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen.

I just put the question of summer reading out on Twitter and got a few great suggestions that I’m going to add to my end of summer list: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.

All this thinking about summer reading has made me itching to get over to Amazon and start ordering, so then at least I can have one more pile of gorgeous books to stare at while I finish writing my draft.