So Many Books, So Little Time

I LOVE to read, however, I think that I ought to be able to back that statement up with some proof. The zillions of books in our home or the love I have for books themselves might be enough evidence, but then again maybe not - how many of those beloved books have I read lately? The answer (other than the ones that I read aloud to the kids - and we do plenty of those during the year. Not the little story books, but real books) is Two! Lately, I have read two. Kind of pathetic for a woman who claims to love reading, but sadly that number is way up from what I had read in the previous few months - combined. I decided that this year I am going to back up my claim that I love to read. In order to do that, I decided to come up with a reading list. I like goals; lists that I can check off to prove that I am actually getting something accomplished. Some days I add things like "take shower", "make bed" so that I don't end the day thinking I really did nothing. Some days are just that way. You moms know just what I mean. So back to my reading list. I decided to post my proposed reading list here so that I will be more likely to stick to it. If I post it to the world (my mom and two friends!) then I will be really ashamed if I DON'T stick to it. My goal for January was to read "Mansfield Park"/Jane Austen (again!!) and "Passionate Housewives Desperate for God"/Stacey McDonald & Jennie Chancey. I did it....well, I finished one day late and I DID start "Mansfield Park" a couple of months ago but hardly read any of it then and finished the bulk of it in January. So, don't be arguing with me - I got to cross it off my list, so it counts. I would love to somehow fit 2 hours of reading a day into my schedule...pipe dream, I know. But wouldn't that be great? If I ever get it figured out, I will let you know. Okay, so here is the rest of the list. I reserve the right to change my list on a whim, but I will read. These are the ones that I am planning on reading during the months listed, but I do have others that I might insert as well. And this does not include the books that the kids and I read together - these are just my own personal reading choices. Okay, here goes:

Feb. – "Salad Bar Beef"/ Salatin, "The Heart of Anger"/ Prioli
"I Don't Read My Bible Enough" by Ron Smith
Mar. – "Home-Making", "Ben Hur"
April – "So Much More"/Botkin sisters (finish),
"Northanger Abbey" (reread)/Austen
May – "Herbal Antibiotics", "Hidden Art of Homemaking"/Schaefer
June – "Tale of Two Cities"/Dickens, "Age of Opportunity"/Tripp
July – "The Slave’s Champion" (Wilberforce bio.)


Others not yet assigned:
"How does a Poem Mean?" John Ciardi
"Ecomonics in One Lesson"/ Hazlitt
"Quo Vadis"
"Made to be His Helpmeet"/ Debbie Pearl
Something CS Lewis - cannot decide which....Grief Observed?, Surprised by Joy?
I am sure that I will come upon some great kids books to read too.

I will update as I go along. If anyone has any great suggestions, please let me know. Or if you have your own reading list, please post it for me. I started reading "Mansfield Park" because the Curles Girls had to read it for an online essay writing class and Jane Austen is one of my very favorite authors. I figured I would revisit this great piece with them. If you post something that you are reading, maybe I will read along with you!