Reading Goals for 2020

My reading challenges for 2019 were a complete bust (too much time in transition) so I hesitate to make new lists, but I've decided on several light goals.

First of all, I want to slow down and re-read several favorite books. (Wind in the Willows, Persuasion, etc.) I don't do this enough because I'm always anxiously pursuing my next book. I don't want to ANXIOUSLY read anything this year.

Secondly, I want to continue the Fairacre series by Miss Read. (more unhurried reading)

Thirdly, I want to read 10 literary classics. Not too daunting considering that I have several of them in audio book form. These are books that feed my soul and I need to make them a priority. (Anna Karenina and Silas Marner are two titles I hope to read.)

Fourthly, I want to always have a Christian classic on hand to read for a few minutes after my daily Bible reading. (Andrew Murray, A.W. Tozer, etc.)

What about you? Any goals for the year? How did you meet last year's goals?

Blessings,

2017 Reading Challenge for Christian Books

I was looking around for a book challenge targeted at Christian books and found this one at Goodreads. They suggest 52 books in 52 weeks. Even though that is more than I'm aiming for, I decided to join so that I'll have some semblance of accountability.

Here is the challenge:(on the Goodreads page they even list possible titles for each category) The 20+books marked in brown are my (flexible) plans. I'm thrilled to finally be attacking my TBR list of Christian books on my Kindle.

1. A book about Prayer. - Power of Praying for Your Adult Children 8/13/17
2. A book about Forgiveness
3. A book by a Chr. conference speaker. Divine Design by MacArthur 7/26/17
4. A book by or about a Pastor's wife. - Church-Planting Wife by Hoover 9/25/17
5. A Christian Novel - Refuge on Crescent Hill 9/30/17
6. A Christian Non-Fiction book. - The Cross of Christ by Andrew Murray 4/22/17
7. A Memoir.
9. A book by or about a missionary. - Climbing by Goforth 8/10/17
10. A book by C.S. Lewis. - On Stories 5/8/17
11. A book with the word "Gospel" in the title. - The Gospel in Ten Words by Ellis
12. A book about Christian Living.
14. A book by your Favorite Christian Author - By the Light of a Thousand Stars by Jamie Langston Turner 1/17
15. A book on Marriage
16. A book longer than 400 pages. - The Island of the World by O'Brien
17. A book you own but have never read. - Songs of Heaven by Coleman 1/17
18. A book about a current controversial issue. - Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield 10/11/17
19. A book with a one-word title.
20. A book more than 100 years old or takes place more than 100 years ago. - Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts
21. A book published in 2016.
23. A book recommended by a Christian Friend. - Death by Living 5/26/17
24. A book about Joy or Happiness.
25. A book whose title comes from a Bible Verse. The True Vine by Andrew Murray 11/24/17
26. A book on Theology. - Creed by Winfield Bevins 5/10/17
27. A book by an Indie Christian Author.
28. A book on Christian Growth. - Don't Waste Your Life by Piper 3/22/17
29. A book about Church or a specific Church.
30. A book with Heaven in the title.
31. A Christian Romance novel.
32. A book about Christian Persecution.
33. A book on Spiritual Warfare.
35. A book about a Religious Cult.
36. A Christian Dystopian book. Seek and Hide by Amanda G. Stevens 2/14/17
38. A book by a Christian Author you've never read before - Because we are Called to Counter Culture by Platt
39. A book that was a Christy Award winner. - Heartless by Stengle (I got through 193 pages) DNF
41. A Christian science fiction/fantasy book.
43. A Christian fiction book with a beautiful cover. The Elusive Miss Ellison 3/22/17
44. A book with 100 pages or less.
45. A historical Christian book.
46. A Historical Christian Fiction book. - Vienna Prelude by Thoene 3/12/17
47. A book on Evangelism. - Nudge by Sweet - DNF
48. A book about a Faith different than yours - Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias 3/17/17
49. A book with God in the title.
50. A book with Jesus or Christ in the title. - The Loveliness of Christ by Rutherford 8/30/17
51. A book of the Bible.
52. A book of your choice. - Weakness is the Way by J.I. Packer

Blessings,

 

Reading Goals for 2017

I don't often join book challenges because I like to read where my whims take me, but I know that joining a few of them (Classics Club and Cozy Mystery) has made me more intentional in my reading habits. I wish someone would start a Christian non-fiction challenge so I would read more of that.

Anyway, based on what I read in 2016 here are some of my loosely planned goals for 2017.

1) No more Christian fiction unless the author can convince me in the first 20 pages that it's worth my time.

2) 15 non-fiction books by Christian authors

3) One Charles Dicken's title

4) C.S. Lewis' On Stories - because my husband read it this year and I was so jealous.

5) The last five titles in my Classics Club Challenge list: Jane Eyre, Eugenics and Other Evils, Silas Marner, Pilgrim's Inn and Heart of the Family

6) 10 audiobooks - because I own over 40 that I haven't listened to.

May your new year be replete with good food, good books, good company, and God's blessing.

Shakespeare in One Year

I agree with my friend, Carol, that the best way to do Shakespeare is to read each play in one sitting. I once set a goal to read just three a year, but I rarely remembered to stick to it. When I did remind myself, I was not always sure where to start. So I was delighted to see this article at First Things with a plan to read the entire Shakespearean canon in one year. 

It is unlikely I'll be able to devote the half hour a day necessary to complete this challenge, BUT it is a lovely way to do Shakespeare in bite-sized chunks and to have a suggested order for reading. I'm going to give it a try.

Each individual play is available for free on Kindle, but I think I'll use The Complete Works of Shakespeare since it will put everything (plays and poetry) in one place.

Bible Reading Plan for the New Year

I have always scorned those lists where you check off three chapters a day to get through the Bible in a year. It seemed too speedy to leave time for reflection and application.

Well, I'm here to eat humble pie. My husband actually read TEN chapters a day last year (yes, that's almost three times through) and his knowledge and love of the Scriptures has grown exponentially. Tim Challies posted a link to a list from Church of the Cross (from Grapevine, Texas) that I've been using since Dec 1st. (The link is at the bottom of the above web page.)

This plan covers the Old Testament in two years, the Psalms twice a year, and the New Testament three times. I REALLY love this plan.

First, It follows the church calendar with appropriate passages for Easter, Christmas, etc. Secondly, the New Testament passages are read three days running. For example, Mark 1-3 is the reading for December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. This gives me the time to soak in the words of a passage (which I felt was lacking in most read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans.) Third, I love it that I'm reading this with hundreds of other Christians I'll never meet or see, a picture of the unity of the invisible body of Christ. Fourth and last, I love waking up each morning to see what my new reading assignment will be. I haven't missed a day because I'm relishing this Scripture-reading guide.

If you don't start on December 1st, I'm not sure if you can jump in later, but it would be worth checking out. If you don't use this plan, there are MANY others available for free online. Ligonier Ministries always publishes a nice variety of options.

Happy Reading!

Intimidating Classics

Although I was an English major in college and have a masters in philosophy and theology, I am intimidated by certain books. I sometimes wish I still had an English teacher to walk me through them. But I've discovered the next best thing: simplified (but not dumbed down) versions.

The less-daunting language helped me get over my qualms about these titles and it didn't take long to recognize their well-deserved classic status. The books I have tackled this way are:

Beowulf (Serraillier's children's version)
Paradise Lost (comes with a plain English version next to the poetic version)
The Odyssey (retold by Charles Lamb)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Morpurgo's version for young people)

Another favorite method for getting through a difficult book is to listen to the audioversion, but this doesn't always work for books that requires careful, slow reading. Here are a few titles I would not have read (and enjoyed) if it had not been for the audioversion:

Shakespeare plays, The Turn of the Screw by James, Heart of Darkness by Conrad, Emma & Northanger Abbey by Austen, Daniel Deronda by Eliot and Moby Dick.

Even though I know they are worth the extra effort I'm still avoiding:

Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Spencer's Faerie Queen, Canterbury Tales, The Aeneid, and Dante's Divine Comedy. Oh, and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

What about you? Are there any books you've been afraid to try?

Reading Goals for 2015

My goals for this year are pretty straightforward. I'll continue to "shop" my Kindle and to chip away at my Classics Club Challenge list.

But I have six specific fiction titles I want to tackle:

Paradise Lost (I read the first half TWO years ago and loved it. Why haven't I ever finished it?)
North and South  by Gaskell
To Kill a Mockingbird
Our Mutual Friend by Dickens (I'm listening to a fantastic audio version)
Two Shakespeare plays: King Henry V and The Winter's Tale

I also want to schedule in six non-fiction Christian books, but I'm not as certain about those titles. Possibly Eugenics and Other Evils by Chesterton, Art for God's Sake by Ryken, If I Had Lunch with C. S. Lewis, Pilgrim's Progress, Simply Christian by N.T. Wright, and The Scarcity of Praying Men. (because they are already on my Kindle.)

May your new year be replete with good food, good books, good company, and God's blessing.

Reading Goals for 2014

I'm a free spirit when it comes to reading and don't like to be hampered by "must read" lists. I have learned, however, that some goals are good. (The Classics Club Challenge has kept me reading the classics even when "I didn't feel like it.") Apart from my book-a-week goal, I have only two new goals this year: To read the Bible from cover to cover and to read four Shakespeare plays.

First, It seems odd to admit it that I have never read the Bible through in a year. I have always thought disparagingly of this method, which seemed to emphasize quantity over quality. But I've heard too many friends rave over how this type of reading gives them an overview of all the major biblical themes so I want to give it a try.

Second, Carol, finally convinced me that there is a way to read Shakespeare that works. She suggests reading through the plays in one sitting (seems too obvious, but I never really thought of it.) She has two helpful posts on the subject: here and here.

I will continue to chip away at my Classics Club list and to read books that are already on my Kindle.

Goals for 2012

I avoid book challenges because I don't like to be hemmed in by other people's book choices for me.  On the other hand, after reading other book bloggers' lists of "Best of 2011", I'm tempted to add a few titles to my list for the year.

To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee (because my son says it's one of the best books he's ever read.)
The Return of the King by Tolkien (because I loved the first two books that I read in 2011)
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (because my sister liked it)
Jeff Shaara's trilogy of World War II novels (because I found one of them for a quarter at the Goodwill and because I love WWII history)
Unbroken by Hilenbrand  (because it's about WWII and because almost everybody who read it said it was their book-of-the-year)
Gold by Moonlight by Amy Carmichael (Xmas gift from a dear friend)
The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge (because it's about time I've revisited this favorite author)

Other than that, I plan to "shop" my own bookshelves and the local university library, following my whims, while saving my Kindle books for when we return to Brazil next summer (Lord willing).

Reading Goals for 2011

Inspired by the many lists I read over the weekend, I have set goals for the coming year. These are so vague that they will be of little use to anyone but me, but I’m putting them here so I can periodically check back and see how I’m doing.

All last year I wanted to re-read something by Austen and this year I’m determined to do it. Probably Mansfield Park.

My new Kindle already has ten free books on it and three are titles that have been on my wish list for ages: Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed, Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Teddy Roosevelt and The Judge by Rebecca West.

Dickens and Trollope are also on my radar for 2011. And I’ll intersperse my literary endeavors with some theology books and a few about World War II. Also, this may be the year I finally read Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Last of all, more than one blogger raved about Christian fiction writer, Athol Dickson. I will give him a try and hope against hope that he’s not too fluffy.

Reading Goals for 2010

I have never set specific goals for the year (other than one book per week). But last year's World War II challenge encouraged me to be more intentional about book choices. Still, I don’t have actual titles on my list as much as I have a general idea of what I’d like to accomplish in 2010.

1) The Chronicles of Narnia

2) Two non-fiction WWII books

3) Four classics; one must be by Dostoyevsky (since I have 3 of his on my TBR pile). I'd also like to tackle Anna Karenina, but we'll see. The Classics Book Club may help me stick to my goals.

4) More Wendell Berry

5) Jane Eyre (re-read) and something new by Trollope (probably Rachel Ray since it came highly recommended by my blogging friend, Carol.)

6) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card because it's been on my TBR list for years.

End of year summary: I read Ender's Game and did not find it as amazing as everyone said it would be.  The Narnia Chronicles, on the other hand, were outstanding.  Rachel Ray was okay and I didn't meet the other goals except for one WWII book, London 1945 by Waller.  Russian literature, when will I ever find time/interest for you?