After joining the Spring and Summer Reading Challenges over at Seasonal Soundings then completing an Autumn reading list on my own, I was in the mood for something a little different this year. Being deliberate about my reading made a big impact in my literary life, and it is important that I continue to be intentional about the things that are priorities to me. Reading is one of those things. I want to stretch my mind and imagination. I want to learn new things. Feel something new. Go on adventures. I want my boys to see me reading.
In that spirit, I’ve decided to make a book list following (most of) the rules of the 888 Reading Challenge. Eight book catagories. Eight books in each catagory. Eight books may overlap catagories. In the year 2008, of course. 56 books. Very ambitious for me.
But I don’t want to read the books on my list just to complete the challenge. I want to get out of each book what I need and be sensible to the other priorities in my life. More than eight of my books overlap catagories, not all of them will get read, some of the books are re-reads, and I’m sure to change my mind a few (or more) times over the course of the year.This list excites me, and I am looking forward to digging in!
Literature Set in Ancient History:
Ben HurQuo Vadis(With Levi:)In Search of a Homeland (The Aeneid)Black Ships Before Troy (The Iliad)The Wanderings of Odysseus (The Odyssey)The Bronze BowDetectives in TogasThe Cat of Bubastes (unabridged audio CD)
Children’s Fiction with Levi:
Swallows and AmazonsLittle BritchesOwls in the FamilyThe Great BrainUnderstood BetsyEmily’s Runaway ImaginationAll-of-a-Kind FamilyLittle Pear
Christianity:
The Life of Our Lord (Charles Dickens)
*Ben Hur*Quo VadisVictor Journey Through the BibleFrom Jest to Earnest (E. P. Roe)Hard Questions, Real Answers (William Lane Craig)The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis)The Problem of Pain (C. S. Lewis)
Education/Parenting:
The Intellectual Devotional
The Closing of the American Mind (get around to finishing)Family Matters (re-read)Protecting the Gift (re-read)Bringing Up Boys (re-read)The Well-Trained Mind (re-read)The Essential 55 (Ron Clark)For the Children’s Sake (Susan Schaeffer Macaulay)
Book Club:
Watership Down
Me: Stories of My Life (Katharine Hepburn)*From Jest to Earnest (E. P. Roe)The Murder of Roger Akroyd (Agatha Christie)Life With Jeeves (P. G. Wodehouse)(7 more books to be decided at a later meeting)
Non-Fiction:
*The Closing of the American Mind
Crunchy ConsAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver)The Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey)Eats, Shoots, and Leaves (Lynne Truss)A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences (Kitty Burns Florey)* Protecting the Gift
Just For Fun:
*The Murder of Roger Akroyd (Agatha Christie)
*Life With Jeeves (P. G. Wodehouse)Tears of the Giraffe (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Book #2)The Guardian (Nicholas Sparks)A Tom Clancey Novel (not sure which one…)Hotel Pastis (Peter Mayle)The Thirteenth Tale*A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
Literature:
*Ben Hur
*Quo VadisA Wrinkle in TimeAnimal FarmBrave New WorldMessenger (Lois Lowry)Taming of the ShrewA Midsummer Night’s Dream(*Books listed in a previous catagory)
What’s on your list? Or are you the type of person that avoids lists at all costs and thinks I’m insane? Wicked grin.