December Reading

I feel like I need to start this post with the obligatory “how is it December already?” question. : ) No matter how incredulous I am, it is December and I have one more month of book-ish goals to wind up the year. November was a good month for reading for me! A small hiatus from Facebook led to (for me) an impressive six books finished last month. I don’t know the last time I read that much in a month.

My goals were:

• continuing on with Dancing with My Father by Sally Clarkson I set this aside and forgot about it. I still really want to get to this one.
• reading Life as Mom’s new cookbook Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze cookbook as well as… Loved this one! I marked a ton of recipes I want to make and have already made a couple. Delicious.
• my More with Less cookbook that has been on my shelf for some time. Nothing says cozy reading to me like perusing cookbooks. Eh. I know lots of people swear by this cookbook, but there is a lot in here that my family just wouldn’t eat. It does have some great basic tips and bread recipes and for that I will hang on to it.
• The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. I picked up a copy at the library because Amy has been reading it with one of her girls. It’s been on my to-read list for a LONG time. Still on my nightstand….
• revisiting Mitford. Maybe just one book, maybe the whole series. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve read the whole series and I miss those characters. Having a random thought that I might blog my Mitford-a-thon and, along with it, make some recipes from my Mitford cookbook. Hmmm. There’s a thought… : ) Yes! I reread book one and Mitford is still just as delightful as I remembered.

As you can see, I didn’t do much damage to my actual list that I started with. However, I also read:

• The Hobbit (or There and Back Again), J.R.R. Tolkien. This was a reread, but since the last time I read it, it was in around 6th grade, I'm counting it as new again! And, I do think I enjoyed it much more this time. : ) I now officially can’t wait until the movie comes out. The copy above is from my paperback set that my Dad bought when he was in seminary, i.e.. a LONG time ago. It need a little of my washi/scrapbooking tape love on the cover to keep it together for this read-through. : )
• Jewel of Persia, Roseanna M. White (link to my review/comment at Reading to Know). Wasn’t crazy about this book but as it was only a little over $3 on my Kindle, it wasn’t a huge financial loss.

• Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure, Lissa Evans. I pulled this one off N1’s shelf (it was one of her birthday presents, based on a recommendation from Carrie) and I loved it. Loved it. If you have an 8-12 year old boy (or girl) you need Christmas ideas for, I highly recommend this book and it’s sequel…
• Horten's Incredible Illusions: Magic, Mystery & Another Very Strange Adventure, Lissa Evans

For December, my goals are:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I have never read this classic (for shame!) and as I’m up to the 4th chapter now in my post-kid-bedtime reading, I feel fairly confident I’ll finish this this month. I have to say Dickens is quite a bit funnier than I expected. FYI, reading this along with the Reading to Know bookclub for December … and I can’t wait until Carrie blogs her plans for 2013. : ) Also, FYI, I’m not reading from the copy below. Hee. : ) My book is the one in the top picture … I pulled this one off the shelf to hopefully entice small children with.

• The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce by Hailey DiMarco. Amazon offered me a copy of this book for a review and I took them up on it after Carrie (again!) posted a great review of it on her blog. Eager to get into this one because I’m sensing a fruit of the spirit theme will be happening around here starting the first of the year. More this soon I hope…

• Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age by James P. Steyer. A friend of mine who makes her living running the social media websites for a well-known Christian media company just did a little class for parents on kids and social media at our church. I consider myself fairly social media savvy, but it’s given me much to think about (and made me very thankful I’m quite a few years away from this with my own munchkins!) Ironically, I recommended this book to her because I had heard good things about it and she reported back that it was great. It’s now purchased and waiting for me on my Kindle.

And that should hopefully wrap up 2012 quite nicely. More reading may get done than this. Who knows. : ) I would love get in two more solid weeks of school before we break for Christmas. This week holds a few evening activities for us, but our daytime / out-of-the-house activities decreased to only ONE this week for which I am very thankful. Last week was a whirlwind of fun but I need to do some work around the house this week … and it’s hard to do that when you are out having fun. : )

Happy Monday! It’s grey and rainy here today and we don’t have to leave the house once. Yay. : ) Plans are for some school this a.m. and some Christmas baking and snowflake making after lunch. Sounds good to me.

Past 2012 Monthly Reading Goals:
January
February
March
April
May
June/July
September
October