Reading List

A blog seems like the perfect place to keep track of the books I've been reading. Most of the list will be YA novels. I'll read whatever else comes across my path but this is the genre I write and the one I seek out at the library. In case you are wondering whether you should read any further, I will give you a little recap of my loves and hates before we begin.
Loves:
Jane Austen (the whole shebang)
Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse
Eva Ibbotson (you pick)
Shannon Hale
Laura Halse Anderson
Peter Sis (picture books here)
Allen Say (as long as we are talking picture books)
Michael Sowa (illustrator, don't know the stories just like the art)
Edward Gorey (as long as we are talking about artists)
Jacob I Have Loved, Katherine Paterson
Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan
When My Name Was Keoko, Linda Sue Park
Invisible Enemies, Jeanette Farrell (non-fiction about infectious disease)
Peeps, Scott Westerberg (brilliant companion to above, mixes vampires with diseases)
Sunshine, Robin McKinley (all time favorite vampire book, as long as we are talking vampires)
Thirsty, M.T. Anderson (still speaking of vampires)
Whales on Stilts, M.T. Anderson (I love his humor)
Sharon Creech (in general)
Meg Cabot (I am a sucker for romance and she does it brilliantly)
The Penderwicks & sequel, Jeanne Birdsall
Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin
The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Christopher Paul Curtis
Hatchet and Lawn Boy, Gary Paulsen
Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, Ursula LeGuin (a small marvel)
Richard Peck
Ann Rinaldi
Pete Hausmann
Jasper Fforde

I am going to stop now but I know that I have forgotten others that I will kick myself about later. Except for Jane Austen, this is all contemporary which does not mean that I don't like the classics. Lets cut down on negativity and skip the hates which are really more like disappointments anyway.

I've run out of time for the moment so I will post the 2009 beginning later.

If you have read this far, thanks.

Darcy