January is a time to make plans and set goals for the coming year. When we reach September, it’s a good to time to look back and re-visit our goals, evaluate what has been accomplished and tackle what remains with new vigor. It can also lead to revising or discarding some all together. Like that enormous list of books that I planned to read this year. Rather than checking off each book I’ve read, one-by-one, my to-be-read list only seems to have grown beyond what I can manage. Time to reassess.

For me, autumn puts a sharper focus on family. August or September means getting the kids ready to go back to school, then birthdays and holidays are right around the corner. My family has a lot of birthdays during this time of the year. From mid-November to the end of December, we celebrate one or more birthdays each week, all while making plans and preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I cherish every moment with family, but I also need my precious alone time to get away and read, to relax and rejuvenate.

With the topic of this month’s blog being autumn reading, I took a look back at the books I have read, and some I’ve even re-read, over my life time. I discovered something. I’m partial to either a book series or long novels that span decades and generations. I love getting to spend more time with the heroes and heroines, following their lives and those of their families. Many excellent books cover just a short period of time, but I find myself wondering what happened earlier. And definitely what happened after the words ‘The End.’ Most romance novels take place in a time frame of a few months and end with the insinuation the couple lived happily ever after. But did they really? Inquiring minds want to know. And if they did, how did they overcome the difficult moments of their HEA?

In elementary school, I read a whole lot of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books, to satisfy my love of mystery. I’ve read probably every book in the WIZARD OF OZ and THE BLACK STALLION series. Interesting side note: My work in progress, ROSES & REBELS, contains a heroic black stallion, which happened by coincidence, not by design.

In high school, two of my favorite reads were GONE WITH THE WIND and THORNBIRDS. Looking at my more recent reading habits, I looked forward to every release date in the Harry Potter Series. I anxiously await the next Savannah Martin cozy mystery, and am saddened that I will never be able to finish the Sue Grafton alphabet series. I’ve read every one from A through Y, and unfortunately there will never be a Z. Now I am starting a new series, THE AMBITION AND DESTINY SERIES: A HISTORICAL FAMILY SAGA.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I am currently writing a family saga, or that future books I hope to write are also in that genre.

I’m curious how others select their next read? A favorite author? Best seller? Time period? Location? Please share your favorites books in the comments. I need more books to add to my reading list!