Library Summer Reading Program 2010

I first began participating in my library's summer reading program in 2010. That was actually my most "prolific" year to date. (It was before I had kids; need I say more?)

I really enjoyed the format of the 2010 summer reading program. The library selected 15 genres, dividing them into 5 groups. So, each little group had 3 genres. The goal was to choose 1 of the 3 genres in each of those 5 groups (thus, reading 5 books by the end of the summer). Well, since I've always been an over-achiever, I decided I wanted to read all 15 genres. It was such fun! The library gave recommendations of books and authors in each of the genres.

I originally posted my reviews on Facebook, but now that I have a blog, I'll also post them here.

Here are the 15 genres:
Fantasy (I actually read 2 for this one)
Historical
Horror
Literary
Mystery
Adventure
Thriller
Gentle Reads
Women's Lives
Suspense
Romance
Sci Fi
Western
Inspirational
Crime

Hope you enjoy the reviews! What's your favorite genre to read?

My summer reading challenge

This is my fourth year participating in the Maricopa County Library District's adult summer reading program. I'm so glad my library has a summer program for adults as well as for kids! I think it was just our local Queen Creek library that did the program for adults during my first two years of participation, but then the other libraries in the county decided it was a great idea, so now the adult summer reading program is county-wide.

The theme this year is "Groundbreaking Reads". The goal is to read four books. I kind of wish the library would give more guidelines and/or suggestions, but they probably want to keep the program relatively open and free to attract a larger audience. However, since I love specific challenges, I have decided to add an additional requirement to my "Groundbreaking Reads" summer program. I will try to read at least four books off the list of Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century. I can't take ownership of this idea, however; I did a Google search about "Groundbreaking Reads" and discovered that a library in Georgia, or Virginia, or somewhere like that was asking their adult summer reading participants to read banned or challenged books. I thought this was a fun idea, so here I go!

Caldecott Medal Winners

I have decided to begin a reading challenge with my two sons. I want to read through the Caldecott Medal winning books in chronological order (as much as possible). Gabriel, 23 months old, loves to read and is always excited to tell me what he sees in book illustrations. Philip, almost 3 months, is just beginning his reading journey, since mama sometimes reads to him while cuddling.

We're using the American Library Association's handy list, which shows the Caldecott Medal winners from 1938 to present. We certainly have our work cut out for us, but our library's summer reading program has just begun, and we are eager to read these new and exciting books.