My prayer is that the Year of Growing will encompass all areas of my life. Two of my goals are to grow in my appreciation of beauty and in my willingness to do hard things. I hope my lengthy reading list will help me in accomplishing both. I've chosen most of these works because I think they will be beautiful, they will inspire me to do hard things, or they are beyond my normal reading fare (which makes the actual reading a hard thing). I want my reading this year to stretch me, teach me about life, and captivate me so that I won't be tempted by lesser amusements.
In no particular order, here are the books I've chosen to read for pleasure in 2013.
~Ethan Frome because I've never read anything by Edith Wharton
~The Scarlet Pimpernel because I can't quite think of tackling Les Misérables and I'm hoping this will inspire me to try.
~The Pickwick Papers because a college professor gave it to me and it's well past time I read it!
~The Kitchen House because I've heard excellent things about this one.
~A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael because I want to know more about her story.
~Home because I loved Gilead and its characters.
~Agnes Grey because I've never read anything by Anne Bronte either.
~Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption because I've really wanted to read this one for a while now and haven't gotten to it yet.
~The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey because her story fascinates me.
~Desperate Sons: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War because I love learning more about the American Revolution.
~A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy because Queen Victoria intrigues me.
~Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times because I want to read the book before I watch the miniseries.
~Ellen Foster because I keep hearing about this one.
~Cry, the Beloved Country because I've been meaning to for a while now.
~Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life because even though I don't always agree with her, I think Barbara Kingsolver writes beautifully. And this topic really interests me.
Next up, the books I'll be listening to this year.
4 comments:
I read Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and loved it. She's a different sort of writer than her sisters, I think. I read Call the Midwife, and I watched the series. The first book is only the first volume. I have the second volume on pre-order. Excellent, excellent book. There were a few things that were disturbing (you can email me if you want to know specifically what), but I loved the writing. I think you will enjoy Dickens. My daughter read his work quite thoroughly during her MA, and she just loved it. I've only read four of his books, and Pickwick isn't one of them.
I love Anne Bronte, she is quite different. And I really like anything Dickens. My Grandmother left me a perfect set of the pickwick papers. I am glad you posted this, I will now have to re-read them. Happy reading!
An exciting list! I'll look forward to hearing what you liked and didn't like. I've read a few but not most of these. Looks like I might have a few more to add to my list...
Some of them sound like ones I'd enjoy. Sigh. I'll add them to my list. =) Thanks for sharing!!
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