Mid-Year Check-In: 2014 Reading Goals

Can you believe we are already halfway through 2014?! I feel like I blinked and here we are at the end of June! Which means it's time for a mid-year check-in on our 2014 Reading Goals to see how we're doing thus far. Spoiler alert: if you need to feel better about yourself today, you've come to the right place. :)

Lesley Anne's 2014 Reading Goals - An Update

1. Read at least 40 books. I've read 16 out of 40 books so far, which means I'm currently 4 books behind schedule. I'm not too worried about reaching this goal, though, since at any point in the year it's easy to be behind or ahead of schedule depending on life circumstances.

2. Read a book of the Bible every month. This goal is going to have to change a little bit. Our small group has been doing a study on the book of Romans since January, and since we only meet twice a month, that means we've spent a lot of time in Romans this year. Which is totally fine with me -- Romans is full of GOOD stuff!

3. Read all of Jane Austen's novels. I'm doing ok on this one. Back in February I wrote an entire post dedicated to this and listed out my planned reading schedule. So far I've read Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, and loved them both! I've started Mansfield Park, but I have a feeling it's going to be the bane of this entire project. I just can't get into it at all, but I know I'll trudge through it eventually.

4. Read more of my eBooks. Um, no comment?

5. Keep a quote journal. I had every intention of keeping an actual journal for this, but it's so much easier to keep this up electronically. My method has been to take a photo of the page with the quote while I'm reading (so I can remember who said it and the page number), and then go back and type it up in a Google spreadsheet later. This method is definitely not perfect, and doesn't work for me every time, so if y'all have any tips on what you like to do for quotes (especially for audiobooks), I'm all ears!

Jenny's 2014 Reading Goals - An Update

1. Read more non-fiction.  I am doing awesome on this one. My secret? Research for my thesis! I know, it's kind of not fair that I am using books I have to read to fulfill this goal. Aside from my thesis, I have been doing okay on this goal.

2. Stop finishing books I hate. Not doing so great on this one. There were a couple of books this year, one in particular, that I was so bored with but had to finish because it was part of a series. Oh, well.

3. To have more self-control regarding reading (i.e.- stop putting off tasks that need to be done just so I can finish a book). I am doing okay on this one. There have been several times when the laundry was not done due to a book being published that I had been waiting to read. My thesis (again) is helping me out with this one because I am actually having to be more disciplined in what I do read. I am not reading as much fun stuff as I would like. So... I'm kind of doing well on this one? That sounds good.

4. Trust others' book recommendations.  I just read The Peach Keeper based on Lesley Anne's review (found here) and I LOVED it. I want to devour all books by this author now. I also found two series I am loving right now- The Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series- based on a friend's Goodreads review. So far, so good!

5. Check out more books from the library. This one is a complete fail. I still do not have a membership to our local library. I am killing it at the UGA library, but those are a bunch of books about allegory and Grendel- not what I was talking about when I made the resolution.

The next time we revisit these goals, it will be December and we'll be doing an end-of-the-year wrap up! I'm sure it will be here before we know it! So let's discuss: How are you doing on your 2014 reading goals so far?  

Top Ten Books on My Birthday Wishlist

Today's my birthday! And it's Tuesday. Which means I'm ignoring today's TTT topic, and listing the books at the top of my birthday wishlist instead. A girl's gotta rebel every now and then, right? So here are the fiction and non-fiction titles I've had my eye on lately -- and wouldn't mind adding to my shelves really soon! :)

Top Ten Books on My 2014 Birthday Wishlist

Fiction
1. Forever With You by Robin Jones Gunn
2. Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers
3. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
4. The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
5. The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Non-Fiction
6. Wives After God by Jennifer Smith
7.  How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
8. The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport
9. Creative, Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco and Joy Deangdeelert Cho 
10. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Throwback Thursday: Wayside School

Lesley Anne and I are life-long readers; that is, we have loved reading our whole lives. Sure, we played football at recess with the boys, but we also had at least 4 books checked out from our school library at all times. We thought a fun way to showcase the books that solidified our love of literature at a young age is to put a bookish twist on the ever-popular Throwback Thursday meme. If you, too, started your love affair with books as soon as you learned to read, you will probably recognize a lot of these titles. If your love of reading was something acquired later in life, you might have missed these gems. These books are near and dear to our hearts in a special way; it is through them we first learned the hidden power of words and imagination. The beauty of these books is that they remain just as wonderful to re-read as an adult. Ahh, the power of nostalgia :)

The Vitals

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Release Date: 1978
Page Count: 118
Genre: Children's
Target Audience: Children/Middle Grades
Series: Wayside School #1
Source and Format: Purchased; Paperback

Summary (From Goodreads)
There was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor.

Notes on Wayside
I remember discovering this series in 3rd grade. My best friend at the time, Spencer, had started reading it and really liked it. I was a little hesitant because I thought it was going to be too childish. And, let's be honest, Spencer was a boy and had a weird sense of humor sometimes. I, being the mature 8 year old I was, did not want to read a chapter book that I considered to be below my intelligence. (I was pretty insufferable). Spencer finally talked me into it and I ended up loving the series. There were only three out at the time and our whole class devoured them. Lesley Anne, unfortunately, was in another class so I am not sure about her feelings on this book. Looking back, it is funny to realize how a class of such diverse students all loved this weird, quirky series so much. I honestly do not know how to tell you what this book is about. My niece discovered it at 2nd & Charles a month ago and asked me about it. All I could tell her was I loved it and it was really funny. I know this post is not very helpful for those of you who have not read it. It is, however, one of my all time favorite children's books because of the sense of community it gave my 3rd grade class. Not that we knew it as such at the time, of course. I think the weirdness of the books appealed to everyone, even me who had (and still has) a hard time enjoying things that are just silly.

Overall Diagnosis

Memorable Quotes
“You need a reason to be sad. You don't need a reason to be happy.”

“It's funny how a person can be right all the time and still be wrong.”

Jenny: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Books You've Read So Far This Year. These are not in any particular order, other than the first one. I have read 85 books this year, so it was a bit hard to narrow down the list. I have, it seems, developed an affinity for the fantasy genre.

Top Ten Books Jenny Has Read So Far This Year

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This is also one of my new all-time favorite books. You can read all about my feelings for it here.

2. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. One  of my best friend's little brother recommended this book and I was not disappointed. It got a bit cyclical towards the end- hero is doing well, does something stupid, ends up paying for it, repeat. But, as far as books I've read this year, it is definitely one of the best.

3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. This was my (and my students!) favorite book of the semester. You can read my review on the novel here.

4. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I was initially skeptical about this book because I had been disappointed in the last two trilogies I read- here's looking at you Hunger Games and Divergent- and was not looking to start another. Lesley Anne convinced me to give it a try and I am so glad I did!

5. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien. THIS BOOK. I cannot even begin to tell y'all how amazing it is. The catch- only those who have studied the poem will be able to really appreciate how incredible this book is. But don't let that stop you from reading it!

6. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. I have no idea why I gave this book a try, but I'm glad I did. It is paranormal fantasy without the overwhelming erotic overtones that are so prevalent in the genre. Briggs is a smart writer and her character development is fantastic.

7. The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. Her books are hit or miss for me and this one was definitely a hit. The dialogue and characters are perfect.

8. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. It is hard to put my finger on what, exactly, I love about this book. The characters, the world building, the pacing, all of it works together beautifully. I read this one before I read The Hero and the Crown, which is the first book in the series and did not have a problem understanding what was going on. I am glad I did read them out of order because I did not enjoy the first one that much.

9. The Just Church by Jim Martin. This book is a guide for churches and individuals who want to get involved in social justice. What makes it so wonderful is its practicality. Martin does a good job of making sure the reader knows how difficult that line of work is.

10. Pride and Prodigies by Andy Orchard. This book is part of my research for my thesis on Grendel, so don't be misled by the cool title into thinking it is not academic. It is a wonderful introduction to some of the most prominent monsters in Anglo-Saxon literature and it very easy to read. Orchard is an excellent writer, which is harder to find than one might think in the world of academia.