It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

We participate in the blog trend of Monday posts about what we have read during the last week (12/21/2020-12/27/2020).

Annamarie’s Reading

Picture Books & Readers:

Everything Else:

Rambling Thoughts: My last What Are You Reading post of 2020! I’ve read a lot this year, though when running some basic numbers, I haven’t really met any of the goals I set for myself in the middle of the year. The stats are important to me–because while it definitely “feels” like I’ve been intentionally reading more diverse books and own voices books, the numbers are more accurate than what my gut tells me. And the stats motivate me to work harder and not fall into old habits.

There has been some notable improvements when I look at specific formats: for example, almost all of the chapter books I’ve read since examining my reading have featured diverse characters (34/37 – 92%), though not as many have been own voices (27/37 – 73%). Other areas, like graphic novels, make up a significant percentage of my reading, but while I make an effort to read every diverse graphic novel for kids and teens, that field is overwhelming white (and very, very rarely features an own voices author). Reading picture books by own voices authors is an area I can try to better work at as, while about 400/700 of my post-mid-year-review picture books have featured diverse people, only about 100 of those 700 books were own voices. I’m already spiraling down the numbers train, so I am going to stop for now and wait until there is a real post on this topic.

Make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!

Reading by the Numbers:

  • 36 Books Read This Week
    • 21 Books with Diverse Main Character (58%)
    • 12 Books by Diverse Authors (33%)
    • 12 Books by Own Voices Authors (33%) (to the best of my knowledge)

Favorites of the Week:

6 Comments

  1. Shaye Miller says:

    I always love seeing a enormous list of books on your posts. Wow! I had Maya and the Rising Dark checked out, but my time ran out on it, unfortunately. I hope you enjoyed it. Have a wonderful New Year!

    « Reply
    • Annamarie Carlson says:

      Thanks so much! Unfortunately, Maya and the Rising Dark wasn’t my favorite (I wanted to like it so much!)–I think I liked Paola Santiago and the River of Tears so much this year, that is was hard for Maya to live up to that one. Have a great new year too!

      « Reply
  3. Completely Full Bookshelf says:

    I appreciate your thoughts on the numbers of diverse books you have been reading—I read a lot of graphic novels myself, and you are right that there are way too few diverse or #ownvoices ones (although, if you are looking for an #ownvoices graphic novel that is one of the best books I’ve ever read, try The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen). I’ll have to tell my sibling that there’s a Lumberjanes spin-off graphic novel—they LOVE that series! I personally loved Zenobia July, so I’m glad you got a chance to read that! I Really Want the Cake, A Bowl Full of Peace, and The Only Woman in the Photo sound great as well! Thanks for the great post, and have a happy new year!

    « Reply
    • Annamarie Carlson says:

      The Magic Fish is sitting on my end table right now! I will bump it up to the top of my to-read pile. I LOVE the Lumberjanes books–I think they are ending soon, which makes me so sad (the individual issues are close to being finished I think, but the volumes aren’t caught up yet). Zenobia July was amazing! I’m glad I picked it up. Have a great new year too!

      « Reply
  4. cweichel says:

    I thought that I was reading a lot of diverse fiction, but have learned that auditing my reading, and setting specific goals has helped me expand my horizons a lot. I focus on own voices authors when I am reading outside my own world view.
    The Kamik series is interesting because each book in the series is written by a different author, but all of them are illustrated by Qin Leng. I sure wish my local library had Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns. I adore Duncan Tonatiuh’s artwork.
    I might have to add Zenobia July to my MustReadIn2012 list

    « Reply

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