Be Your Own Lady Mission: Write a Summer Syllabus

My heart is heavy about the state of our world. I'm feeling more angry than I have in awhile. I am paying attention to my elected officials  I am trying to listen to the groups who deserve to have their say. And I am dealing with this the way I deal with most things: books. I am working on my summer syllabus.

I've done this twice now. I wrote about it for Book Riot. I barely ever never finish the full thing, but it's a rite of passage. A look ahead that lets me run through my whole summer. A list for those torturous moments where nothing looks appealing and I have no idea what to read next, an uncomfortable feeling that has been happening more and more lately. It's optimism in list form- sure, I'll really get through all these books! 

I've kept a bunch in mind while researching what I wanted to read this summer. In July our family is moving into a new house. We are planning for two family vacations (which means I'll turn to graphic novels). I want to read some of the authors I'll be seeing at Book Riot Live in November. I'm previewing a lot of middle grade books for the dream book club I'm hoping to get going in the fall. I'm also trying to spend some time resetting my mind. Tuning into the voices of people from different backgrounds and lifestyles. Thinking about how to use my voice on the internet and my role in the lives of my students as a place to encourage inclusivity and open mindedness.  Add it all together, mix liberally with iced coffee and sunscreen, and you've got my summer syllabus.

Books to Prepare for Book Riot Live
Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina 

Bitch Planet Vol, 1: Extraordinary Machines by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro 

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Books to Prepare for The Move

The life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo (for the move) 

*I'm nervous that this might just make me feel crappy. I've heard people rave about how much they've hated and loved it. It's worth a try.

Apartment Therapy: Complete and Happy Home by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan and Janel Label 

Graphic Novels
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

Lumberjanes (the entire series) by Noelle Stevenson and a ton of other talented ladies

*This is a reread, but it's been forever since I've read the first, so I'm going to catch up

Books About Teaching
Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit 

Teaching With Intention by Debbie Miller 

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

Book Club Previews
The Girl In The Well Is Me by Karen Rivers

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

George by Alex Gino

Becoming Naomi Leòn by Pam Muñoz Ryan

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

So there's that sorted: my summer plan for reading to grow my mind, support my goals, and keep me happy in the sun. Here is my mission for you: write a summer syllabus. Add things you've been meaning to watch, listen to, or do. I wrote a how-to article about making your syllabus to help you get started. Whether it's one book or something more elaborate, I'd love to see what shape your plan takes. Feel free to comment here, and if you blog, use the hashtag #beyourownladymission so we can all read each other's work! 

Top Three 2015 Releases

I read more this year than I had in many, many years before it. Even before my kids were born, I was a recreational reader at best, spending a lot more time perusing blogs and rereading the same three or four novels. My word for 2015 was write, and I did, but the one thing I've learned is that writers need to read, and there is a LOT of good stuff out there to get excited about.

So many books touched me this year, but I really want to highlight three that were released in 2015. I mostly read YA written by women, and these three books are no exception. Some books are important to me because they're page-turners, some for their love triangles (I am SUCH a sucker for a good love triangle), and others because something about the plot or structure helps me in my own writing. These three were special on the merit of their stories.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Goodreads summary: Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson...Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

There is SO MUCH GOOD in this graphic novel. I immediately identified with Nimona because she's a chick in a comic with hips and thighs and a belly on her. I was never interested in cosplay before I read this book. The way Nimona looks features exactly zero into this story, which is also refreshing. (She's actually a shapeshifter, so she can look any way she wants. She mostly turns into animals.) Then I started warming to the nuanced relationship between the "evil" Balister Blackheart and the "hero" Sir Goldenloin (YUP) and then I just realized that I was head over heels for all of it, all the relationships and the mishmash of science and magic and Nimona herself, an unsexualized, bloodthirsty, adorable female protagonist with thrills and flaws and humor. (Bonus points: the creator, Noelle Stevenson, is the best on Twitter (@gingerhazing). I cried reading her thoughts of seeing girls in The Force Awakens)

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Goodreads summary: Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen. That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right. Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up. Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

I was waiting for this one. This was my year of Rainbow Rowell- I read Fangirl around this time last year and went bananas. Early in 2015 I flew through Landline and Attachments, started following Rowell on Twitter, and realized what Carry On truly was: a novel featuring the characters and plot that were the basis of all the fanfiction in Fangirl. It's a departure for Rowell, with all the fantasy and magic, but she weaves it into a modern society with this world building that I really enjoyed, and of course, the characters are what makes it worth loving. Penelope Bunce is my opposite and I admire her hardcore and she might be my favorite book girl I met this year. This is the only book I've read twice in 2015, and I know I'll be reading it again soon.

Lair of Dreams (& The Diviners) by Libba Bray

Goodreads summary: In this heart-stopping sequel to The Diviners, Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray takes readers deeper into the mystical underbelly of New York City. (I'm only sharing the last paragraph because this is a sequel and I sincerely suggest you read The Diviners before diving into Lair of Dreams.)

Libba Bray was the YA keynote speaker at the Boston Book Festival this year, and I heard her speak before I had ever read any of her books. She was hilarious (Talking about her process: "I don't outline. I had fourteen outlines for Lair of Dreams. The thirteenth was called 'Help Me Baby Jesus.' The fourteenth was called 'Jesus Can't Help You.'") and engaging, and when I got home I started reading the first in her most recent series, The Diviners. The book is meticulous and sprawling, set in the 1920s with a large and diverse cast of characters. The background is researched to death (in the best possible way) and the details flesh out a world that you basically inhabit while reading the book. I particularly liked the slang. Sam calling everyone "doll" kind of did me in. Add in a hit of magical mysticism and I was hooked. Like, stop at the bookstore on the way home to pick up Book Two hooked. Lair of Dreams continues with the same characters you come to love and has the same loving attention to detail as the first, with a disconcerting echo of some of the scary social issues we're dealing with today. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

There were other books that stuck with me this year that didn't make the list because they weren't published in 2015 OR had some major problems but I loved them anyway: Evil Librarian, When You Reach Me, The Awesome, The Darkest Part of the Forest. You can see all the details on my Goodreads year-end round up here. 

Here are some other year-end book lists to spark your interest: book punks, 100 damn good books of 2015, new york times notable children's books, the mother of all lists (this is a HUGE list of OTHER top book lists, so get some coffee and have at it)

What was your favorite book you read this year? More importantly, anything you have your eye on for 2016? I'm ready to fill up my TBR pile. Here we go.