My Reading Profile

I don’t recall a long period of time when my parents read books aloud to me, since I quickly became an independent reader. The earliest books I loved reading were The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. I latched onto the fantasy genre because of Hale’s and Levine’s stories, and as an adult, re-reading their books feels like I’m seeing an old friend. I devoured every middle-grade fantasy book I could get my hands on, plus some realistic fiction like Judy Moody and The Boxcar Children. When I became a teenager, I practically only read YA fantasy books.

Growing up, I had thought I loved books; my siblings and I went to the library at least once a week. But when I started working toward a degree in English in 2016 (from Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, OH), I found that I really loved books and storytelling. I developed a newfound respect for authors and books. I learned about stories from unique cultures, analyzed classic texts and discovered how they are more than just stories, but often reflections of history, society, and culture. I learned that for most writers, stories manifest after months and years of labor, with a purposeful, careful focus on relaying themes and messages to reach and touch as many readers as possible.

In college, I started to develop a love of classics and realistic fiction. My MLIS classes have expanded my readership too, especially of historical fiction & nonfiction, nonfiction in general, graphic novels, and middle-grade. Although I would still say YA fantasy books remain my favorite; I never tire of being totally swept off to unique worlds full of magic. But I’m starting to expand my book choices to adult; I’m currently reading the first book of the Outlander series. I'm also continuing my Goodreads obsession, and am constantly adding new books to read. 

I love how there’s always something new to discover in books, and there’s no shortage of unique stories to choose from. In this course, I hope to develop a better understanding of conducting awesome adult reader’s advisory that could either help patrons stretch from their original reading “comfort zone” as I have done, or discover new books that impact them so vividly that they give glowing reviews of their experience reading the book when they return to the library. Taking time to focus on learning about quality adult books beyond the obvious popular authors will be important for me to know, since I don't widely read adult materials. As mentioned in our "History & Intro" reading, keeping aware and being knowledgeable of books highly liked by other adult readers is key to reader's advisory because "...advisors, past and present, need a general knowledge of fiction and nonfiction collections, an ability to recognize the quality of the books they suggest, and the ability to describe books well, both orally and in writing" (p. 7). I'm confident that this will a fun and productive journey!