Books, Books and More Books!

Well, I did it! Way back in December of last year, I told you about a challenge that Karl Rove and then President Bush had regarding how many books each had read during the year.

I challenged myself to read twenty-four books. It seemed a reasonable goal. I homeschool my children, I have other pursuits-politics is just one, and I felt like two books a month was going to be a stretch.
Surprise! Or not I suppose; I know I am a fast reader, but really, I read 33 books! I had no idea I could read that many, and still provide a hot meal for my family on a regular basis! I’ve read two just since Christmas; Ok, so one was like eating cotton candy and I read it in less than 12 hours, but I DID read it!

I thought I would read mostly nonfiction, that is my “preferred” genre, but I surprised myself.
I read a wide variety of books, including “The Hobbit” that I read for the very first time, and “The Screwtape Letters”, both of which I enjoyed very much. I read two from Michael Crichton, and two from Shannon Hale; Hale being the cotton candy type, Crichton being more of the “makes you wonder” kind of book.

I read a series from the LDS market: “The Brothers.” The series of six books is by Chris Stewart and starts out in the Preexistence, moves to the days after a nuclear attack on Washington D.C.; very interesting series.
Book 6(or is it seven?) in my favorite series “Outlander” came out in September, and while usually the world stops when Diana Gabaldon’s books come out, not so this time. I had a much harder time with this one; I’m still anxious for the next one however.

I read a couple of books with a spiritual message or theme, one about the women in the Scriptures, and one about Moroni, an ancient prophet from the Book of Mormon. Both recommended. I also read “The Life of our Lord” by Charles Dickens; a lovely little book.

I will admit a few failures-well, not failures so much as “ugh! I am going to finish these if they kill me” kind of books, and I really WILL finish them, but they were not terribly engaging, and while mostly interesting, I did move on to other things; they do still have the bookmarks in them though, making finishing them easier to do!

I have numerous books on my “shelf”, waiting their turn. I’ve also just started Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” which I received for Christmas, and am quite excited to read. I’m on chapter four and I love it already. I’m also reading “The Real George Washington” which I am enjoying immensely; we need more heroes like him.

In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be listing what’s on my shelf, and taking down the “Books read in 2009”, so if you’re interested in any of the titles, you can find them on the sidebar for now.

I also challenged those of you who were reading this blog last year to do the same. Did you? I’d love to know what you read, what you liked, and what you put down. Care to share?

Books, Books, and more Books!

I don't know how many of you read my post in December on reading , but I've met my goal, and it's only June.
Reading 24 books wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, probably because I am a fast reader.
I also surprised myself, and read some books that my daughters have been wanting me to read for a couple of years. I don't usually read much fiction, but I enjoyed the books I have read so far.

Now, on my nightstand are some heavy books, most notably Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." This book is over 1000 pages, so it's going to be some time in the doing-unless of course it's very engaging, then it won't take too long; I did read the 600+ Harry Potter in 3 days :)
I've also got "My Dearest Friend: the Letters of John and Abigail Adams" on my nightstand,a couple on the Constitution, a couple Religious tomes a couple fiction that I'm anxious to read and "The Real George Washington" that's 829 pages.
I'm also adding a couple of fantasy books, "Fablehaven" that my friend Marian recommended a while back, and "Inkheart," that was made into a movie this year.
It should be a busy, engaging second half of the year!

As I stated before, I'd love to hear what you all are reading, and if you haven't started a reading goal for the year it's not too late :D