It’s terrible to admit, but although I’ve always been a writer, I haven’t always been an avid reader. To me this is inexcusable since I firmly believe that reading improves your writing. But I’ve either been too busy, too tired, (insert excuse here) to make reading a habit.

And while I’m confessing things, I might as well cop to the fact that I have only recently started the Harry Potter series. This feels like a sin for a children’s writer, but I’m not generally into fantasy so I kind of overlooked them in favor of other books. But my interest was piqued after seeing a snippet of one of the movies, so I started on my own Harry Potter adventure. And they’re great, of course, so the remainder of the series is on my list.

So here’s my list so far. I don’t plan on reading them in any particular order, but I do want the list to be varied and not just titles I know I’ll like. I’ve been adding titles here and there as I come across recommendations on other sites. Certainly if you have any you recommend, by all means leave a note!

• The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
• Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
• Mars Trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson
• Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
• The Island of the Day Before, Umberto Eco
• The Compound, S.A. Bodeen
• Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult
• The Road, Cormac McCarthy
• Two Years, No Rain, Shawn Klomparens
• The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley
• Books 3-7 of Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling
• Positively, Courtney Sheinmel
• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
• Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
• Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
• The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
• The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
• Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan
• An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, Jim Murphy
• Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick
• The World More Full of Weeping, Robert J. Wiersema
• Brains: A Zombie Memoir, Robin Becker

Photo by: Spotrick