Katrina at Callapidder Days has been hosting a “Spring Reading Thing” for the past couple of years. The idea is to post a list of books you’d like to work on for the next three months, then at the end write up your results. You can do book reviews along the way if you’d like, and Katrina will have a link set up for those so we can see each others reviews, but you don’t have to. It’s also ok to vary from your list — it’s not meant to be hard and fast or pressured. It’s meant to be fun and perhaps to help us be a little more intentional in our reading. For me personally, it has helped me get some of those books I have always wanted to read “someday” actually into my hands. Plus it is fun to see other people’s lists, get ideas for more books to read, and see what others thought about books you might be interested in. And — there are even prizes involved!
More information and the list of participants is here. I hope you’ll join in!
I am currently working on three books that I plan to finish over the next few weeks. Those who read here regularly are probably getting tired of me mentioning the unabridged Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, but I am still at it. The end is in sight, though: I am on page 1,238 of this 1,463 page book (it felt so good to pass page 1,000!) I am also reading Passionate Housewives Desperate For God by Jennie Chauncey and Stacy McDonald and rereading To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson about Americas’ first missionary, Adoniram Judson.
Others on my bookshelf waiting for me:
Fiction:
Every Now and Then by Karen Kingsbury
This Side of Heaven by Karen Kingsbury
Thread of Deceit by Catherine Palmer
American Haven by Elisabeth Yates. I had mentioned somewhere a book I had read as a child about a girl named Merry from England, but I couldn’t remember the title or author, and Sally mentioned this might be it.
Plain Perfect by Beth Wiseman.
The Heirloom by Colleen L. Reece and Julie Reece-DeMarco, given to me by my friend, Carol.
No Place Like Home by Brad Williams.
The Centurion’s Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke.
House Blend: Warm Stories From Your Favorite Authors.
Small Acts of Grace by Alice Gray
A Touch of Grace by Lauraine Snelling
Lightning and Lace by Diann Mills
Prints Charming by Rebeca Seitz
A Bride So Fair by Carol Cox sent to me by Julie.
An Unexpected Love by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller, a continuation of the Broadmoor Legacy series.
Non-fiction:
Dr. Frau: A Woman Doctor Among the Amish by Grace H. Kaiser.
Hannah’s Hope: A Journey of Faith by Hope Houchins about Hannah Sobeski, a young woman with cancer who had lived in our state.
How to Read Slowly by James W. Sire
The Cross and the 357 Magnum by Phillip T. Hicks
I have a few more non-fiction books on the shelf, but since I am a little slower with them, I won’t make any promises: Making Your Home a Haven by Cyndy Salzmann, In Trouble and In Joy: Four Women Who Lived for God by Sharon James, a couple about writing, plus a few others. We’ll see.
Plus I usually chose at least one classic book for each challenge, but I have spent so much time with Les Mis, I want to just get through some of these shorter, quicker works.
I don’t know how many I’ll finish, but I am looking forward to reading however many I can.
[...] Transverse Myelitis Spring Reading Thing 2009 [...]
[...] The Spring Reading Thing that Katrina hosts each year. I love reading and love seeing what others have on their lists, and I [...]
You’ve got some good ones. Here’s mine.
http://sallysreadingchallenges.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-reading-thing-2009.html
Great list – enjoy your reading!
This looks like a good list! All of that *and* finishing Les Mis is very ambitious!
Yes, it does look like a great list — full of titles I’m unfamiliar with. Good luck! I’m sure you’ll throw a party when you finish Les Mis!
You are hugely ambitious to read the unabridged Les Miserables – I hope to do that, too….someday.
Keep plugging away on Les Mis. I know when I read it (1/2 the pages of yours!), I would think the same thing, “Oh – I got past page 400,” but then I’d realize I still had 2o0 to go!!
Great list! Good luck and happy reading.
Looks like a great list, Barbara. And good for you for tackling and hanging in there with Les Mis. I won’t even try!
Thanks for being such a faithful challenge participant! I always look forward to seeing what you’re reading and then reading your thoughts about what you’ve read.
How to Read Slowly sounds interesting. Usually we hear about how to read ‘faster’ or speedreading. I can’t wait to read what you think about the book.
Happy participating in the Spring Reading Challenge!
Love the list! Have fun reading this Spring! I am adding the How to Read Slowly to my TBR pile.
I recently read The Centurion’s Wife – very good! So nice to have a new Janette Oke book to read.
Great looking list! I see a couple that I need to check out!
You’re doing great with the unabridged version of Les Mis, I’ve only read the abridged! I think those are two Kingsbury books I haven’t read and I thought I’d done all of hers. Happy reading!
prints charming is an adorable novel, I love seitz’s books. enjoy.
I’m here from the UBP. This reading-challenge thing seems like a cool idea, but I sort of started one at the beginning of the year (if you like looking at lists you’ll see mine in the right sidebar of my blog).
“How to read slowly” from your list is on my whiteboard– I’ve heard good things about it.
Strange thing is other than having a tracking list for myself I’ve not figured out the huge appeal of these “challenges.” Are you supposed to keep checking in with other readers? Are you supposed to figure out who’s reading something similar to you, so you can discuss it?
I guess I’m not committed enough to the whole project if I haven’t figured it out…
But anyway, hi.
)
Hope you’re enjoying the party.
Amy, With this particular one, people post a list of books they are planning to read at the beginning, and then at the end they post what they read or didn’t read, what they enjoyed or learned, etc. Some post book reviews along the way, and Katrina, the hostess, has a place on her site to link up to those. The appeal is in finding other book recommendations and discussing books that I’ve read that others have also and comparing notes. We don’t keep up with each other along the way so much, unless we read the reviews — it’s mainly just visiting around the other participants and the beginning and the end. This kind of thing is making my TBR list a mile long.
Thanks for your answer–
That was very helpful.
I’ve enjoyed several of your titles and not read several others. You’ll enjoy the ones I’ve read.
Intersting list – good luck with the challenge. You are medal worthy for making it through Les Mis – good for you!
[...] am not sure which of the books on my Spring Reading Thing list I will pick up next, but I would like to go through some of the Christian fiction books I have [...]
[...] that I’ll probably read The Secret, new out from Beverly Lewis, and then something from my Spring Reading Thing [...]
[...] This is the first time I didn’t finish more than I did finish — I had listed pretty much all the books I had picked up at an earlier clearance sale at the Christian book store plus a few others. But the length and nature of some of the books plus an ultra-busy spring meant I didn’t get through very many. That’s okay, though — I have always viewed these challenges as a loose goal, and these books are awaiting me over the summer, so I have a lot to look forward to. My original list is here. [...]
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