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I am determined to read in 2013...

One of the many lovely ladies at one of my favorite blogs, The Broke and the Bookish, wrote this week's TOP TEN TUESDAY post and focused it on the books that she is resolved to read in the coming year. The only challenge or list I have committed to reading from is for the Classics Club. I tried to do a read-a-long/challenge last summer, but didn't like reading by a schedule. It was too much like school for me and that definitely sucks the joy out of reading for me. And I also didn't like committing to reading one set of books back to back. Sometimes I can do that (like right now I'm reading all of the Harry Potter books), but at other times I need to take a break after one or two books in a series. So, I am a bit hesitant at times to commit to saying that I am going to read specific books by a specific time. But, I thought that this weeks TOP TEN would be something that I could easily do because it's just picking 10 books that I want really to read at some point in the year. I read 55 books this last year and think that this year I can do just as many if not more. And so picking out 10 specific titles may not make that much of a difference in what I read. But then again, maybe it will. Who knows? Anyway, it was tough to pick out 10 titles (it's hard to pick 10 books for any of the TOP TEN topics) because there are so many books I want to read and have sitting on my shelves just waiting for me to pick them up and carry them with me for a few days while I explore the stories and settings within. But after some thought I think I have it... and so here are the TOP TEN books that I am determined to read in 2013:

1. Becoming Human by Jean Vanier
2. Forgotten God by Francis Chan
3. Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen
4. The Just Church by Jim Martin 
5. What Color is Your God? by James & Lillian Breckenridge
6. Aesop's Fables 
7. Agnes Gray by Anne Bronte
8. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
9. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
10. Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell 

The first 5 are some of the Christian ministry/discipleship books that I own, but have never felt a strong desire to read. Until now that is. They are ones that I think will deeply affect my own personal faith and maybe help me as my husband and I continue to learn to navigate doing ministry in the American Church. The last 5 are ones that are on my list for the Classics Club and I don't feel bad at all picking them instead of others on my "Want to/Need to Read" list. They are some of the Classics that I specifically want to read this year. Not sure why. They just are the ones that I am excited to read right now and the ones that jumped out at me as I reviewed my lists. In looking at the above list, I think that no matter what happens this coming year, my reading will be all over the place again like it was last year. I will go through phases where I devour a certain genre or author or topic and then switch to phases where I may not read at all for a while. And that's okay. I don't mind. I will read. I will love every minute of it. And hopefully I will love everything I read. It's going to be a good year of reading. I can already tell and I'm definitely excited!

Comments

  1. MabelJanuary 1, 2013 at 4:41 PM

    I adore Agnes Grey. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. KDanaeJanuary 1, 2013 at 6:48 PM

    I am really looking for to it. That and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I read Jane Eyre last summer and loved it. So I'm hoping her sister's books are just as good. From what I have read from you and a few others they are. I'm excited to read them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. oJanuary 2, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    I hope you love Anne Bronte :) Both those books are absolutely wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJanuary 9, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    I'm interested to see what you think of the last 4. All of them are books I want to read someday. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete

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