Reading Wrap-up: My Year in Books
This was the first time that I had planned my reading out for the year ahead. I found out that my list was much too ambitious to allow for all the books I would pick up that weren’t on the list. Instead of doing the same thing for 2007, I have compiled a Master To-Read List that I will choose from (I’ll be posting it soon), but with no time limits attached. That allows for all the new releases and loans from friends, etc., that will come up along the way. Here’s what I did accomplish this year:
Reading from my planned list for the year:
Cooks Overboard
1776
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
favorite passages
Homestead
The Fulness of Times by Ron Rennick – 3 and a half stars
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids On 25 Words Or Less
Imagined London: A Tour of the World’s Greatest Fictional City
The Year of Magical Thinking
Club Sandwich
Light From Heaven
Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
Jack’s Life: A Memory of C. S. Lewis
S is for Silence
Good Grief
Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
The Rule of Four
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
The Novelist
Atonement
Fresh Brewed Life
The Falls
Obsessed
Last Light
Where Is God When It Hurts?
Odd Thomas
Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church
Pride and Prejudice
Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh – 3 and a half stars – favorite passage
Trinity
The Things They Carried
Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading: Finding and Losing Myself In Books
A Long Way Down
Levi’s Will
Patrick: Son of Ireland
The Myth of You and Me
A Circle of Quiet
Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton – 3 stars – my thoughts, favorite passages
The Ha-Ha
Blue Like Jazz
A Year With C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings From His Classic Works
“Off-the-List” Reading:
Everything and a Kite
At Home in Mitford
Winter Solstice
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child’s Classroom
A Charlotte Mason Education
A Light in the Window
A Common Life
The Way of the Wilderking
These High Green Hills
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Out to Canaan
A New Song
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling – 4 and a half stars
In This Mountain
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling – 5 stars
Shepherds Abiding
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling – 4 stars
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling – 4 stars
Night Light by Terri Blackstock – 3 stars
Monster
The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (audiobook) – 4 stars
Letters to Children by C. S. Lewis – 4 stars
Pirates by Celia Rees (audiobook) – 4 and a half stars – review
Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen (audiobook) – 4 stars
Persuasion by Jane Austen – 5 stars – favorite passage
Child of My Heart
Sisterchicks Say Ooh La La!
Looking for God in Harry Potter
Great Expectations
How Reading Changed My Life
The Thirteenth Tale
Sisterchicks Down Under
Angels in the Snow: A Novella
No Room at the Inn: A Novella
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
Reviewed for Active Christian Media:
Living Under God
Connecting With Your Kids
The Witness
Credo: Believing in Something to Die For
Global Deception: The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom
The Bark of the Bog Owl (The Wilderking Trilogy, Book 1)
The Secret of the Swamp King (The Wilderking Trilogy, Book 2)
Presumed Guilty
Divine
He Talk Like a White Boy
Before I Wake
Reviewed for the author:
Magdalene
Confessions of Super Mom by Melanie Lynne Hauser – 3 and a half stars – review
Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Phillip Yancey – 4 and a half stars – review
Straight Up
Books I read aloud to the kids:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
The Horse and His Boy
A Wrinkle in Time
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
Books on my list that I’m currently reading and will finish after New Year’s:
Education of a Wandering Man
The Collected Works of Emily Dickinson
Books on my list that I didn’t get to:
The March
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
A Widow’s Walk: A Memoir of 9/11
Fourth Dawn
Plain Truth
More Than Words: Contemporary Writers on the Works That Shaped Them
The Last Disciple
The Last Sacrifice
The Elements of Style
God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It
Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution
The Glorious Cause: A Novel of the American Revolution
Never Let Me Go
Guns of August
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression
Atlas Shrugged
Seven Types of Ambiguity
To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian
Rating system:
1 star – Hated It!
2 stars – Didn’t Like It
3 stars – Liked It
4 stars – Really Liked It
5 stars – Loved It!
Hmm… Not one with only one star! Does this mean that even if you didn’t really like it (2 stars) at least you didn’t read any stinkers? *LOL*
December 21st, 2006 at 5:49 amMama – I was lucky this year. Usually if I really hate a book after 50 pages or so, I stop reading, but I didn’t do that this year.
December 21st, 2006 at 10:31 amWhat an eclectic list!! I’ve read lots of them and others are on my “to read” list…and then there’s others I hadn’t considered reading. I love the variety in your list!
December 21st, 2006 at 2:11 pmWow, wow. That is a VERY long list! I’m hoping that I can find more time for reading in 2007; even so, I doubt that my list would be that long.
December 21st, 2006 at 5:06 pmBethany – that was one of my goals this year – more variety.
Paradise – well, if you noticed there are a LOT of audiobooks on there. That way I can “read” while I fold laundry, wash dishes, etc. Otherwise it would be a lot smaller number.
December 21st, 2006 at 8:47 pmCarrie, I didn’t take time to count, but it’s a mighty fine list. (How many *did* you read? I really am curious) And how long did it take to write that post with all the links. You go, girl!
I’d love to hear how you got into reviewing books. Or have you written about that already? (Yours is one of the blogs I’d like read through the archives. It’s one of my fun activities [reading blog archives] when the guys in my house are watching a movie not to my taste.)
BTW, I grew up with Jim Wallis. His father performed my dad’s wedding ceremony (second marriage after my mom died). He was older than I, but our families spent summers at bible camp together. We have traveled quite different roads theologically, but I kind of chuckle and whisper “Jamie” in a tone of someone-who-knows when I see his name.
I also appreciate that you stop reading a book if it isn’t worthy. I didn’t learn that until I was about 30 years old. In the same vein, it’s hard to drop some books that I didn’t get to on my current list.
I thought I would love Martin Luther’s Table Talk and I just cannot get into it. No sense keeping it on next year’s list.
Blessings and Merry Christmas to you.
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:13 pmCarol – I think I counted 92. A lot of them were audiobooks, though, or else it wouldn’t be so long. What can I say – I’m addicted to books!
I started reviewing books for Active Christian Media last year. You can go to this link to sign up: http://blogforbooks.com
I also read Angela Hunt and Lisa Samson’s blogs – that’s how I was sent a review copy of their latest release. And I can’t remember how I got on the list to get an advanced copy of Phillip Yancey’s book – the publisher e-mailed and asked me, if I remember correctly.
Now I will definitely make sure I read Jim Wallis’ book and I can think, “I “know” someone who knows him!” as I read.
There are just too many good books out there to waste my time on one I hate. That’s why I never finished The Poisonwood Bible. To some people that’s like blasphemy – but I couldn’t stand it. I gave it nearly 100 pages and then gave up. Maybe it was where I was at the time and I might try it again later in life. Then again, I might not!
Merry Christmas, Carol – I hope your holiday is a blessed one.
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:21 pmI love this list. I did a Fall reading challenge from a list I made, and while I loved that it made me stick to what I had thought was important to read, I agree that it didn’t leave books that I might want to read because of a timely nature (such as some books on writing I wanted to read, and books on potty training that I didn’t particularly want to have to read).
So, I love this idea. I am visiting at my in-laws, but I want to come back and read through some of your reviews I might have missed.
Merry Christmas!
December 23rd, 2006 at 12:59 pmMerry Christmas, Jennifer!
December 23rd, 2006 at 3:01 pmI was just amazed about the amount of books on your list. I hope to participate in this latest book challenge.
December 23rd, 2006 at 3:38 pmWonderful recap! I’ll be back when I have more time to read slowly.
Wishing you a reflective Christmas!
December 23rd, 2006 at 4:34 pmMerry Christmas, Rona and Janie! Thanks for stopping by.
December 24th, 2006 at 10:38 am[...] 7. Carol (Barchester Towers)8. Carrie K. (My Year in Books)9. Cathy (Winter Birds and Leave Me Alone I’m Reading)10. Snapshot (books read and reviews)11. kimbofo (The GIngerbread Woman)12. Libromancy (The Museum of Lost Wonder) [...]
December 26th, 2006 at 3:32 pm[...] Carrie, aka Mommy Brain posted a link to her Year in Books at last Saturday’s Review of books, but I thought it should be included here, too. She gave 5-star rating to books by Diane Setterfield, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Jan Karon. I think we have similar tastes. oh. I went back through the list, and Carrie also give 5 stars to a book called Homestead by Rosanna Lippi. It’s set in Austria? I think I’ll have to add it to my list. [...]
December 28th, 2006 at 11:39 pmWe have similar tastes in books. Looks like you went through all of Mitford last year–good for you! I still have the last one to go. I read Pride & Prejudice for the first time in 2006 and can’t wait to read more Austen.
Enjoyed reading your list!
January 8th, 2007 at 1:02 pmLinda – yes, I read all the Mitford books. I had read the whole series a couple of times before, but I listened to the newest one on audiobook and enjoyed the man who read it so much that I went back to the beginning and listened to them all! This was the first time I read P & P also, and I immediately followed it with Persuasion. I now own the rest of her titles and will be reading them this year.
January 9th, 2007 at 12:35 pmWhen you are done with Ms. Austen and her books, I would suggest the Bronte sisters. Of course, they might have to go on next year’s list, but they’ll wait.
January 9th, 2007 at 3:47 pmAndrea – I’m actually reading Jane Eyre by e-mail through DailyLit.com right now! And loving it. They send one piece a day, but then I keep hitting the “send next fragment immediately” link so I can read a chapter or two at a time.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:10 pm