2016 Reading Goals

Hello! Happy 2016! It's the beginning of the year so we are eating healthy and setting goals. 

In 2015 I joined a couple of friends in the most relaxed book club ever. We pick a few books that we want to read and then over the next 2-3 months read them in whatever order. This is helpful because it means we can swap books, if we aren't trying to read them at exactly the same time. At the end of the quarter we get together and discuss all three, plus the fate of the county, education, politics, political correctness, parenting, faith and everything else we can think of... but we do start with the books. : )

Thanks to my book club accountability and some free books to review from Howard Books, in 2015 I read:

What Alice Forgot                        - Moriarty
The Husbands Secret                   - Moriarty
Tiffany Girl                                    - Gist
More Than Happy                         - Miller
If You Find This Letter                  - Brencher
Woodlawn                                     - Gerelds
Their Eyes Were Watching God    - Hurston


I also discovered audio books, and started walking and reading at the same time. Bonus! So I listened to these books as well:

American the Beautiful                 - Dr. Ben Carson
Just As I am                                  - Billy Graham
The Great Divorce                        - C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters                  - C.S. Lewis

There's lots of book challenges floating around out there. One of my book buddies suggested we do this one, of course we'll have to chose together what we'll read for book club, but if I were to fill it out myself, here's what I'd be aiming to read this year:


Here's the challenge:

Read a book...
  • published this year: Raising Grateful Kids --Welch <--I got an advance copy of this and will review it here in a week or so. It is so good!
  • you've been meaning to read: For the Love --Hatmaker  <--I'm also reading this right now
  • recommended by a bookstore:  Fates and Furies -- Groff  <--supposedly President Obama's fav book of 2015 (He has time to read?!?)
  • you should have read in school: To Kill a Mockingbird -- Lee
  • chosen by your spouse: The Language of God --Collins
  • published before you were born: The Keeper of the Bees --Stratton-Porter <--chosen by my mother-in-law, her favorite book.
  • you didn't finish: The Locust Effect --Haugen <-- this is just so heavy and hard to read, but the message is important and I need the reminder that there is evil in the world and it is worth fighting.
  • you own but haven't read: When Helping Hurts -- Corbett <--I have audio plans for this so although, yes, this is the 3rd time I've put it on my list, it is happening this year!
  • that intimidates you: Half The Sky --Kristof & WuDunn <-- this is is the same hard and heavy category as The Locust Effect, so I know it's going to be a tough read, but worth it. Kicking myself that I didn't watch this documentary when it was on Netflix, and hoping it comes back.
  • a book that you have already read: Mere Christianity -- C.S. Lewis  <--another audio plan, I've discovered I love listening to C.S. Lewis rather than reading him. It's just so much easier to digest when I'm hearing it. 
"A book you've been meaning to read" could be it's own list. I'll add to that Rhinestone Jesus by Kristen Welch and Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker, and these two Holocaust books: The Hiding Place and The Auschwitz Escape. I might as well round out my Holocaust category and watch Schindler's List this year too, since I've never seen it. It's not that I want to read about the Holocaust, but I think it's important to know, and to never forget...'



After those I might have to find something lighter to read. : ) I'm sure I'll read some not on this list and there will be several I don't get to again this year, but it's a starting point. What are you reading this year? Have you read any on my list? 

Here's to setting goals and good books!
You are loved!

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