Wrapping up 2012 in Books

Sixty-two books. The grand total of books that I finished (or came very close to finishing) in 2012. Considering I had a couple of months where I did well to finish one book, that’s not too shabby. You can find the whole list of my 2012 reads here as well as what I highlighted as the best of the year.

My December goals were:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I finished this for the December 2012 selection of the Reading to Know bookclub and thoroughly enjoyed it. I spent several evenings at the beginning of the month under the afghan, munching on homemade chex mix and reading Dickens. Thanks Carrie, for challenging me to check this classic off my list.

• 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… This book was excellent and I could not put it down. I think it’s safe to say that while it is billed as a marriage book there is so much more in here about abiding in Christ and how to grow the fruit of the spirit in our lives. This will be a resource for me for years.

• Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age by James P. Steyer. Didn’t get to this one…

However, I also finished:

Shepherds Abiding (The Mitford Years, Book 8), Jan Karon A Mitford Christmas story.
*The Prairie Thief, Melissa Wiley (read-aloud) Finally finished and thoroughly enjoyed this read-aloud with the girls.
*Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe, Sally Mae & Sally Clarkson Just encouraging mama words from my favorite Sally Clarkson (and another mama blogger) that I enjoyed spending time with as the year starts fresh.

January now looms ahead and I’m going to continue with my monthly bookish posts. They have helped me set some short term goals and I’ve actually gotten some of those books that I’ve wanted to read checked off my list. For 2013, I am also going to make a concerted effort to buy less books and plow through the ones that I already own and haven’t gotten to. That’s not to say I WON’T buy any this year … I’m not ruling anything out. : ) So, that said, for January I’m going to try and tackle:

• The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. I have started this and am about two chapters in. So far … I’m enchanted.
• French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters I grabbed this at the library. 

For the January Reading to Know bookclub, I’m also tacking on a couple L.M. Montgomery books. I’m reading Jane of Lantern Hill aloud to the girls (our first LMM selection to be read aloud) and Jane is one of my favorites. (I read Jane for the 2009 LMM Challenge and blogged her here). I want to reread Rila of Ingleside on my own for the challenge. It’s been a while since I’ve spent time with her. : ) I’d love to add a few more books to my list, but I’m trying to be realistic. Activities start back up this week and there is school planning to be done as well, but I’m going to try and keep my reading momentum going!

Happy Thursday! Back to school for us today – I’m ready for a little routine and order around these parts though I’ve loved our days off!

2012 Monthly Reading Goals: December’s post will take you to all the posts for 2012.