It’s probably not surprising to learn that I was a reader long before I was a writer. I’ll admit that I have days when I struggle with the urge to read and the need to write. I only have so many hours in the day after all. And, unfortunately, I’m not a very fast reader. I used to read primarily one author, but over the years I’ve worked hard at trying new reads. Now that I write, I try to extend my reading reach even more. I wrote up a post over on the group blog I’m a part of, Across the Board, about how I now love embracing an open reading lifestyle. I never used to establish reading goals. I had my book club reads, but beyond that I’d just read what sounded interesting. However, this year I decided to establish a loose reading goal—focus on books already on my shelf and self-published books. The number of books on my physical to-be-read book shelf is expanding rapidly. I’m running out of room, so I need to start knocking some of those off my list. My Kindle has also grown to a number that’s outside of my comfort zone. I…