For the class I’m taking this semester, I’m required to read some 35 books. Thanks to the library, Overdrive, and Audible, I’ve finished most of them in record time. In between my borrows and holds, I’ve snuck in a few titles from my own list, slowly marking them off too, but I feel as though I’ve hardly made a dent. In fact, after crossing off almost a dozen titles, I uncovered several books that I had yet to catalog, and all my feelings of accomplishment deflated. Then I realized just how many titles from my class I’ve completed. Of the 35, I’ve finished 26 completely with two more titles in progress. Though I can’t claim ownership over most of these titles, I also can’t help but feel as though they should be accounted for in some way. Once the class wraps and the semester is over, I plan on going through many of the titles… ones I liked and ones I didn’t particularly care for. After reading so many, I have lots to say! Thanks to this class, I have a much better sense of what really constitutes a young adult book… And it’s more than just strong-female-characters-in-a-post-apocalyptic-dystopian-world-trilogy.

As for my own personal collection… I continue to plod along. I feel discouraged at times when I look at the three bookshelves bulging with books. I’m very tempted to go through and weed titles out — shocking! — but I’m also having a difficult time choosing which I would part with… at least in any substantial quantities. I could probably come up with a dozen or so, but that number seems so inconsequential.  Each time to try to subtract a title, I justify keeping it, now for the sake of my librarian degree. “Oh, I may need that title for a reference in class one day!” Spring at the latest. That’s when the weeding will happen. If not before… It depends on how awful the winter is.

In other news… I received Veronica Roth’s Allegiant a day before the release date! This never happens to me — getting a pre-ordered item before it hits the streets. I always hear about it happening with books and video games, and I’m always jealous…Except I can’t quite enjoy it this time because I haven’t yet read Insurgent! Ugh!  At least I won’t have to interrupt the flow once I start reading them.  Now that I mention it, perhaps I should have another Gauntlet… Look forward to a throw-down in the next entry!