I love to read. There's a level of peace my mind achieves when giving it's entire focus to words printed on a page. I don't find it in conversation, nature, watching films or many other pursuits. It's not that I don't find rest in those things, it's simply a different kind. As I traded booklists with friends for 2011 my mouth was almost watering in anticipation of the wisdom and adventures I would find in the dozen or so titles I had piled by my bed. So I've made a decision... I aim to finish a book a week in 2011.
I can't wait.
As I walked through our modest library* pulling out books I crystallised my criteria for the coming challenge. Four things will shape my book list this year: size, subject, ownership and the BBC.
They can't be too big; well unless I create a book buffer getting ahead like now before tacking a beast. I need to choose books I can realistically get through in the time I have to read weekly. (That has meant my re-read of The Lord of the Rings will need to be post-poned!)
I want to enjoy them. Though my book list is varied I really want to enjoy what I read this year. As I glance through the titles I want a sense of anticipation about the stories and ideas they hold.
I'll start with what I own. I am ashamed to realise how much of our book collection I haven't read! So, I have decided I cannot mooch or buy any more books until I go through a good portion of the ones already taking up residence in our home.
I'll take the BBC's advice. Years ago I blogged about how many books I'd read on the BCC top 100 books list. Bizarrely that post still attracts daily visitors to my cyber home and I enjoy watching the comments grow as people chime in. There are some cracking titles on that list so I've been accumulating a few to tackle this year.
Other than the above I will re-read a few things I haven't read in a while, I will take recommendations from friends and strangers alike and I am going to try and blog about each one I complete.
So, in no particular order my 52 books to read in a year include:
Read in 2011:
- The Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
- Acts for Everyone Part 2 by NT Wright
- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- Streams of Living Water by Richard Foster
- District & Circle by Seamus Heaney
- Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
- Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
- Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
- A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
- The Church on it's knees by Jeremy Jennings
- Eat the Word, Speak the Word by Rachel Hickson
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Mathilda by Roald Dahl
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Approaching God by Lisa Borden
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Love Wins by Rob Bell
- Bell Canto by Ann Patchett
- The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
- Ultraviolet by R J Anderson
- The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
- The Art of Prayer by Timothy Jones
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
- The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
- The Role and Ministry of Women by Martin Scot
- Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- The Raggamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
- The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larson
- Revenge by eek I forgot!
- A Walk to Remember by Nicolas Sparks
- The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
- The Hero of the Ages by Brandon Sanderson
- The 24-7 Prayer Manual by Pete Greig
- The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Steig Larsson
- The Children of Lir by Michael Scott
- The Bible by God
Read in 2012 (oh yes the challenge continues):
TBC
Current:
Emma by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Boundaries by Henry Cloud
To read:
With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray
Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home by Richard Foster
Surface Detail by Iain M Banks
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
God Stories by Andrew Wilson
Life After God by Douglass Coupland
Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis
The Long Walk by Richard Bachman/Stephen King
Roadwork by Richard Bachman/Stephen King
Tales from the Perilous Realm by JRR Tolkien
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Anne of Avonlea by L M Montgomery
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
(Books in italics are re-reads, books in bold are from the BBC top 100 books list)
I reserve the right to edit this list at any time. Anyone care to fill in the blanks?
*Can I call one heaving set of bookshelves and four buldging homemade shelves a library? How many books does it take to be a legitimate home library?