Which has got me thinking…what DO I love in a book? And I think I’ve narrowed it down to three factors: the “Ooo!,” the “Awww…,” and the “Ohhh!”

The “Oooo!”

I love an exciting hook/premise. (Okay, so I’m not that much different than the kids I work with.) I like books that make me laugh, that make me go “huh?,” that make me say, “WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?” But the “Oooo!” factor alone does not make a great read for me. I’ve abandoned many, many a book because once I began it, there wasn’t any follow-through. That’s because I also need…

The “Awww…”

Books with characters I care about–ones that are flawed and have to make hard decisions. Books about themes that are deep and resonant. You know, books with HEART. If the “Awww,” is particularly strong, it can overcome a weak “Oooo!”

The “Ohhh!”

And the best of the best: books that surprise me. Maybe it’s with a clever turn of phrase, maybe it’s a character who is not who I expect them to be, maybe it’s with a plot twist I didn’t see coming. I read a lot, and I LOVE it when books surprise me.

So, if they were asking me tomorrow morning what books I loved in 2011*, here’s what I would say:

Best of 2011
(yes, I know some came out earlier than 2011, but this is when I read them, so humor me)

W.H. Beck’s favorite books »

* 2011 was not a great reading year for me. There are many, many books–some on everyone else’s best books lists–that for whatever reason, I haven’t gotten to yet. Also, I kind of flopped on listing everything I read, like I usually do. May 2012 be better!

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Image from BarelyFitz's Flickr Creative Commons

So, it was Father’s Day last Sunday. Per usual, I’m approximately 4 days behind the rest of the world’s calendar. That’s not to say I didn’t give my dad a hug on Sunday (we had him over for a cookout), but I didn’t exactly get his gift to him that day. I delivered it last night.

What do you give a dad who has everything? Who is retired and financially comfortable enough that he has the time and money to get and do whatever he’d like, when he’d like it*? Well, I’ve been giving him booklists. A few years ago, desperate for a gift, I gave him a bookmark with a list of books that sounded “like him.” He carried it around for a year and when he’d come in to volunteer at my school library (yes, he’s that great of a dad), he’d often have one of the books on the list under his arm. He wondered out loud to me once how I had compiled a list of so many great books that tickled his interest.

Ha! Finding books for readers is kinda what I do for a living, Dad. Probably my favorite part.

So, this year, it was time for a new list. And here it is: The Super-Long Father’s Day List of Books. It IS long, in no particular order, a strange mix of nonfiction, mystery, and science fiction/fantasy, and it includes some series halfway through because that’s where my dad is in them. I don’t know why I’m posting it here, except it’s books and it’s a list and I’m a librarian, so pass it on I must in the hopes that someone else somewhere might find their “just right” book.

Enjoy! (And please, I’m always looking for suggestions for next year’s list. Send them my way!)

* Not that he necessarily does. He’s pretty frugal, my dad. Which only makes gift-giving harder because if you give something too extravagant, it might be construed as, well…extravagant.

* I’ve already waxed on about my dad and reading here.

In celebration of finishing, I will indulge in a list. Behold. Here are some things that kept me writing even when the story made no sense at all:

• The Coffee Grounds. Especially their back corner table and their tendancy to not bother you and let you stay for hours. And their scones. I only make it about once a week, but it’s my best, most productive writing time.
• Giving up on writing every day. It was a perpetual guilt trip. Instead, I’ve declared an hour before work on Mondays and Thursdays and Saturday mornings as my protected, not-to-be-interrupted-unless-there’s-blood-or-fire-or-someone’s-unconscious writing time. This works for me.
• Pandora. Especially my Nick Lowe channel.
• The document map feature on Word. I was introduced to this on the Blueboards. How did I live without this?
• Writing scenes out of order. I’ve never tried this before, but when I got stuck near the end of MALCOLM, I jotted down all the scene that I knew were going to happen sometime in the story on Post-it notes. Then I turned them over and picked one at random. It was so wonderfully freeing–I felt silly for not trying this earlier. But I guess I’m just a linear person.
• Post-it notes. See above. Also used for notes to myself of things to do, people to call, and anything else that pops up in my brain as an attempt to draw me away from writing. I Post-it and keep writing.
• The SCBWI WIP grant. And a wonderful critique from Deborah Lynn Jacobs. Both of these came just at the right time. This past year I’ve turned down some other book offers–a professional library one and more school/library nonfiction books–as well as some articles. It felt really wrong and scary to say no to some sure things. But one thing I learned from writing the Follow the Food Chain series is that I only have time for one writing project at a time. And if I want to write middle grade fiction, then I have to say no to the rest. So getting a little encouragement with the fiction really helped quell my panic attacks.
• Visuals. I picked up a stuffed rat at IKEA this summer. It’s Malcolm. It just is. And I also have a picture of  “McKenna School” as the desktop of my computer. I would like to think these things don’t matter, but the truth is, they both get me ready to write.

So, what helps you to keep going?