Tuesday, January 6, 2009

My Reading Goals for 2009

This is a challenge for me, to say the least, because I am such a by-the-seat-of-my-pants reader.  If I read a good review by a respected writer, if Masterpiece Theatre is producing a new adaptation of a classic, or if I feel convicted to read less fiction and more biographies or histories, I will just pick up that book and run with it.  With me, reading goals tend to become infected with the Netflix-syndrome: the list just gets longer and longer until you find you will never get to that movie ((or book)) in this lifetime.

But, since the words came to form sounds in my mouth, I have had an open book.  So, when Terry posted her reading goals for the year, it challenged me to make my own goals less haphazard.  I mean, without a plan and with a strong tendency toward OCD, I missed, in 2008, quite a few hopefuls from my somewhat-mental list.  Ouch.  I don't want that to happen again.  So, here's my humble list of wanna-reads for 2009, in writing, so you can make loads of fun when I read everything but:

Classics (Masterpiece Classic's winter schedule)
  • Tess of the D'Ubervilles, by Thomas Hardy
  • Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
  • Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens
  • David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
  • Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens
  • Old Curiosity Shop, by Charles Dickens
Christian Living
  • Mere Christianity, by C.S Lewis
  • The Reason for God, by Tim Keller
  • Christless Christianity, by Michael Horton
  • Love or Die, by Alexander Strauch
  • Polishing God's Monuments, by Jim Andrews
  • Respectable Sins, by Jerry Bridges
Biographies & Histories
  • John Adams, by David McCullough
  • Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor, by D.A. Carson
  • Amazing Grace, by Eric Metaxas
  • John Newton, by Jonathan Aitken
  • The Life of Charlotte Bronte, by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • 1776, by David McCullough
Contemporary Works
  • Amsterdam, by Ian McEwan
  • Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt
  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz
  • The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen
  • Shadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen
  • The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O'Farrell
Let's see if I can commit, without modification.  Haha! says my honest friend, Tash.

I am such a biblio-rebel.

Don't forget to check out what Terry's reading this year:
Breathing Grace: Some (Hopefully) Good Books I Plan to Read This Year

3 comments:

  1. Impressive list, Laura Lee! I love that you included classics and things like that. I tend to choose books based on what interests me rather than stretching myself to read things because they may be good FOR me to read.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your inspiration!

    I wish I could say the classics were a stretch for me. Without forcing myself to balance my book diet with biographies and histories, they would be all I read with one or two compelling theology books thrown into the mix. I struggle most to read contemporary works than anything else, though: language has really "evolved" in a most backward fashion, IMVHO.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I usually have about three books on the go, but I get easily tempted away to a new book. Having a list is a really good idea. I like the look of all of those books. Some I have read but would like to read again. I would like to read 1776, but every time I go to buy it I can't justify it because of the huge pile of unread books I dust regularly! Put your feet up and have fun!!

    ReplyDelete

I'm gonna shut up now. Please, tell me what YOU think.