I’ve not finished many books lately. I was writing a lot as I participated in NaNoWriMo, which took up a good deal of my time, but in addition to that, I picked some books I wound up not liking much to read during the month of November. I’m giving up on [amazon_link id=”140222267X” target=”_blank” ]Willoughby’s Return[/amazon_link] by Jane Odiwe.  I am about halfway through it, and it’s just not grabbing me. There is no agreed upon style convention regarding sharing a character’s thoughts when you’re writing in third person, but I am not a fan of using quotation marks for this purpose. I think it causes confusion with dialogue or speech. Also, when I read a paragraph written in this style and rewrote it in my head to stay within third person, I knew I wouldn’t finish the book. Still, the book was instructive.

I checked Laurie Halse Anderson’s [amazon_link id=”0142411841″ target=”_blank” ]Twisted[/amazon_link] out of our school library. I figured YA would be just the thing after the National Council of Teachers of English conference, where I heard about so much new YA I need to read, and a huge writing project. Plus I have read and loved two other novels Anderson wrote: [amazon_link id=”0142414735″ target=”_blank” ]Speak[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”B004R96SCO” target=”_blank” ]Wintergirls[/amazon_link]. Laurie Halse Anderson shared the coolest picture of herself and Judy Blume on Facebook today. Blume was giving her a Defender of Free Speech award from the National Coalition Against Censorship. If anyone knows what it’s like to be in Anderson’s shoes, it’s Judy Blume. She must have been so excited to receive the award from one of her own personal heroes. I admire the both of them so much for writing the truth about kids.

I have been so out of the loop this month. What are you reading?

photo credit: Glenn Waters ぐれんin Japan now in Milano