So many books...

As anyone reading this blog can tell, I read a lot. From time to time I wonder if I should challenge myself to read more or different books. Perhaps I should read at least one award winning novel every month, or more non-fiction written for youth. I like to think that my reading choices are a lot like my music collection – varied and eclectic, but are they really?

There are the times that someone mentions a book that is considered a classic or an author who is noted as one of the best in children’s literature and I realize that I have no clue what or who that person is talking about. What does that say about me and my career of choice?

I’ve always been a voracious reader. As a child I devoured books by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume. I gobbled up Baby Sitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins books like they were going out of style. The Secret Garden? Check. Anne of Green Gables series? Check (thanks to a paperback set as a birthday gift from my Aunt M.). A Wrinkle in Time? Check. I delved into books about mythology and parapsychology (how many middle school kids know that word?), and read as much as I could of fables and fairy tales. But what have I missed? Am I lacking because I’ve missed those Great Works of Literature?

It stands to reason that there are more books for youth being published today than there ever has been. That’s logical considering the technological ease of publishing compared to just a few decades ago. Is this an excuse to skip over those classic youth novels?

So, I sit here contemplating my ever growing list of books to read, and wonder if there are some missing. As the saying goes, “So many books…so little time.”