Literature

This year, one of my main goals is to read more than I have in the past year or two. Throughout my teenage years, I was quite the avid reader. I loved to read (and re-read) all sorts of books and was constantly doing so. However, between caring for four little ones under six years of age, homeschooling, homemaking, being a wife and friend and confidant to my husband, and staying plugged into our local church body, I have discovered that time for reading is hard to come by.

Well… time for reading my way is hard to find.

You see, I like to read in a certain, favorite way: cuddled under an afghan, cup of tea or coffee or hot cocoa in hand, surrounded by peace and quiet, losing myself for hours in a book. Honest confession: opening a book to read a couple paragraphs at time while nursing the baby and doing my best to tune out the drumming of a five-year-old, the choo-choo’ing of a three-year-old, and the singing of a four-year-old (while not losing track of these little ones entirely!), just doesn’t appeal to me in the same way.

Sometimes, though, it’s time to readjust our expectations and preferences. And that was just what I needed to do in regard to reading.

After all, reading is important. How much one ought to read is going to be different for each person, it’s true, but we all ought to be readers, first and foremost of the Scripture. Our minds need to be renewed! We should be stretching our understanding, our imagination, our comprehension, our thinking through regular reading. Maybe you read slowly, or reading isn’t easy for you, or maybe there are a million other things you’d rather do. Believe me, I completely (and very personally) understand that there are challenges to making reading a priority! But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it.

I want to be a reader again. I don’t want to just start a handful of books each year, only to never finish them. I don’t want to realize at the end of 2009 that blog-reading was the only reading I was consistent about. (Though I sure do like reading blogs and I will be the first to say there are plenty out there that are very great and inspiring reading material!)

With that determination, I have made my book list for the year 2009. At 25 titles, I think it’s a manageable goal of 1 book every 2 weeks. Some books will take less time while there will be others, I’m sure, that will take longer, but my hope is that they will average out so I can accomplish this goal.

Maybe you’d like to join me in this goal of reading more this year (it’s not too late to set goals for the year!). Perhaps I can be of some encouragement to you as I share my 2009 list and write reviews (you can hold me to it!) as I go.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule
The Shack by William Young
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Honey For A Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
First We Have Coffee by Margaret Jensen
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson
Gianna by Jessica Shaver
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Timothy Keller
Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others by Ennis, Tatlock & Patterson
The Duggers: 20 and Counting! by JimBob & Michelle Dugger
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
A Biblical Home Education: Building Your Homeschool on the Foundation of God’s Word by Ruth Beechick
Shepherding A Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp
For the Children’s Sake: Foundations for Education & Homeschool by Susan Schaeffer Macauley
The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth Dodds
Raising Kids Who Hunger for God by Benny and Sheree Phillips
Multiple Blessings by Jon & Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson
Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris
Home-Making by J. R. Miller

Happy 2009, Fellow Readers!