Fall Into Reading 2012 - The Updated List

Callapidder Days
It's been quite some time since I took part in one of Katrina's reading challenges. Even though I have a ton going on right now, I'm come to a recent realization....I don't read books anymore! Now, anyone who knows me would find this a shocking statement. I, myself, find it a shocking statement! 
This past Christmas my hubby surprised me with a Kindle Fire. Earlier in that same month for my birthday, he blessed me with a smartphone. Between these two pieces of technology I have read a grand total of about three real books and probably a dozen or so eBooks - and that's probably pushing the totals on both.  Being connected all the time isn't always a good thing.
So I thought this was a great time to jump back in to a reading challenge. And for me, my list will include only real, honest-to-goodness, paper books.
My list may change up a bit during the challenge, but my goal is simple - to get back in the habit of reading real books - daily.
So without further ado....here is my list for the 2012 challenge.

• Walk By Faith by Rosanne Bittner
• A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller
• The Well by Mark Hall with Tim Luke
• The Sons of Jude by Brandt Dodson (A Kregel Publishing book review book)
• By Faith, Not By Sight by Scott MacIntyre with Jennifer Schuchman (A BookSneeze review book)
• One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
• Raising Real Men by Hal & Melanie Young
• I'm Outnumbered!! by Laura Lee Groves

Just five books for the season - at this point. But I will be adding more. And so I have already.

I just added the last three books today (Saturday, September 22nd). Do you see a theme yet in those books? I seem to have a lot of non-fiction in my list which is quite unusual for me. I much prefer fiction. I found many of these newly added books just languishing on my bookshelf as I was sorting and packing for our upcoming move. They need to be read as we move in to this new season of life. And as the mom to three boys, I really need all the help I can get to figure out how to raise these young ones into godly men.

I will also be adding in daily Bible reading. I belong to a "Life Transformation Group" that meets weekly. We read through chapters of the Bible on our own during the week and then meet for accountability and to discuss what we've read. Our current book is Daniel, but this changes weekly. We're working on doing a chapter in the Old Testament (the last one was Jeremiah) and then the New Testament (Philippians - don't judge - after 52 chapters of the "weeping prophet  we needed something short and simple!). We've only been meeting for about a month. 

I have also picked out two devotional books to work through as well. The devotionals are:

• Made to Crave Devotional by Lysa TerKeurst (a 60 day devotional)
• I Need Your Strength, Lord by Emilie Barnes

If you'd like to join the challenge, you have time to do so. Check out all the FAQs at Callapidder Days blog. Then either write up a blog post or, if you don't have a blog, leave a comment for Katrina and she'll add you.

Happy Reading!

And to clarify an earlier statement about all of these being actual paper books...while I have a Kindle Fire, I typically don't read books on it. It's another bad habit I've developed of using it to read blogs, check Facebook, play Solitaire, but not so much reading. I will be working to change that as well. Prior to the start of this challenge I actually did read and complete a great short story called The Pastor's Wife that I picked up when it was free for Kindle. I'll be adding in reading more books on my Kindle, but I'll be focusing on the paper books for now in order to complete this challenge.

Please note: None of the links are affiliate links. I simply linked to the books at Amazon in case any readers wanted more info.

Fall Into Reading 2009 - The Wrap-Up

Wow, it's really hard to believe that fall is gone. It seems like just yesterday that I posted my list for the 2009 Fall Into Reading challenge. So how did I do?

Here is what I had hoped to read and notes after each as to whether I managed to finish them or not.

• Jessie by Lori Wick - completed & loved it
• Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado - started but still working on this one. Non-fiction is my downfall....
• The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall (blogging for books) - completed & adored it! My review for it is here.
• Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh (blogging for books) - completed & liked it. My review for it is here.
• What Matters Most (book #3) by Melody Carlson (blogging for books) - completed & liked it so much I read all in this particular series & went on to find more of her books to read. I've liked most of them so far. My review of this book is here.
• Limelight by Melody Carlson (blogging for books) - completed & liked it okay but not my favorite of this authors. My review for it is here.
• White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner (blogging for books) - completed & liked it. My review is here. 
• It's a Green Thing (book #2) by Melody Carlson - completed & really liked it.
• A Not-So-Simple Life (book #1) by Melody Carlson - completed & really liked it.
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (reading to discuss with B13) - completed & loved it. Much better reading it as an adult. ;-)
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (pre-reading for B13) - started but never finished.
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer (pre-reading for B13) - never started.
• It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan For Living a Richer Life With Less Stuff by Peter Walsh - started but never finished.
• The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook: A Creative and Stress-Free Approach to Homeschooling by Raymond and Dorothy Moore - read most but didn't finish
• Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring - never read.

I had a bunch of other books that I know I read but didn't make the list. I'm really such an avid reader that the challenge is more about getting me to read some non-fiction to do some learning & to find new authors. 


Thanks to Katrina for hosting this yet again! I look forward to the next one!

Fall Into Reading 2009

So I don't forget, this is going at the top....Katrina over at Callapidder Days is once again hosting her "Fall Into Reading" challenge. I love to read & I love challenges so I am once again participating even though I know my list is going to definitely change throughout this challenge due to my "blogging for books" commitment. But that's okay - it keeps things fresh right?

The challenge runs throughout fall which starts today (imagine that - the first official day of fall is TODAY! It's crazy I tell ya!) September 22nd & goes through until December 20th (which means the very next day marks the official start of winter - waaaahhh! ooops, sorry...)

Here is what I think I'll be reading but there are no guarantees what this list will look like come December 20th. (I am including links to Amazon when I can.)

• Jessie by Lori Wick
• Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado
• The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall (blogging for books)
• Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh (blogging for books)
• What Matters Most (book #3) by Melody Carlson (blogging for books)
• Limelight by Melody Carlson (blogging for books)
• White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner (blogging for books)
• It's a Green Thing (book #2) by Melody Carlson
• A Not-So-Simple Life (book #1) by Melody Carlson
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (reading to discuss with B)
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (pre-reading for B)
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer (pre-reading for B)

I'll call that list good for now. I know I'll add more on & probably won't get to all of these, but for now, this is a good start. Happy Fall Reading!

Be sure to go to the Fall Into Reading page to check out what everyone else will be reading and also to sign up!

Edited to add....

Apparently I should have checked out lists before posting mine. I just posted my list about 10 minutes ago & here I am already adding books to it....

• It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan For Living a Richer Life With Less Stuff by Peter Walsh
• The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook: A Creative and Stress-Free Approach to Homeschooling by Raymond and Dorothy Moore
• Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring

Fall Into Reading 2008 - Wrap-Up

I had grand plans when I started this challenge back in September. I had 14 books on my list. Twelve of those were from a sci-fi series I was going to go through from start to finish. Here is the list of books I hoped to complete....

• Finish I Second that Emotion: Untangling Our Zany Feelings by Patsy Clairmont (I may have read a couple more chapters but this little book is still begging to be done.)
• Finish Glorious Appearing by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins (finished!)

The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind will make up the bulk of my reading for this challenge.

• Wizard's First Rule (finished - enjoyed it as much as the first couple of times I've read it.)
• Stone of Tears (finished - enjoyed it for the most part)
• Blood of the Fold (finished - okay....)
• Temple of the Winds (started & decided I just didn't want to do this series after all)

All the rest of these books went unread.
Debt of Bones
Soul of the Fire
Faith of the Fallen
The Pillars of Creation
Naked Empire
Chainfire
Phantom
Confessor

However, I did read....

• God's Gift by Dee Henderson. I couldn't remember if I had read it before or not. I had. It's good. It's short & sweet.

Now I can't remember what else I read but that may have been it. I stayed busier than I typically do this fall since I took on watching two toddler girls. That didn't leave me a lot of downtime.

Thanks again, Katrina, for hosting this!

Fall In to Reading - My Book List

I love reading challenges. I love to read. It's such a win-win situation. ;-)

Here is my list for this years Fall In To Reading 2008 challenge hosted by Callapidder Days.

• Finish I Second that Emotion: Untangling Our Zany Feelings by Patsy Clairmont


• Finish Glorious Appearing by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins

The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind will make up the bulk of my reading for this challenge. (I've read most before but not the newest ones so I'm going through it again - good sci-fi series & I'm not a huge sci-fi fan.)

• Wizard's First Rule


• Stone of Tears


• Blood of the Fold


• Temple of the Winds


• Debt of Bones


• Soul of the Fire


• Faith of the Fallen


• The Pillars of Creation


• Naked Empire


• Chainfire (hated this one the first time round but there are two more I haven't read since it was put out so hopefully the next two will actually tie up loose ends & advance the characters for pete's sake!)


• Phantom


• Confessor

I'm pretty sure this list will keep me busy from now until December. So what are you reading?

Fall Reading Challenge - Almost Done!

I began the Fall Reading Challenge thinking I had picked out WAY too many books to read. I never dreamed I would add so many "extra credit" titles to my list. Once again I struggled to get through my non-fiction pile. There are still many there I just didn't get to. I did pass along the Boyhood and Beyond book to my hubby to read through with our boys instead so I guess I should have just taken that one right off the list.

I was never able to get my hands on the newest Yada Yada book. Now that it's been out for a while I can probably get it through the library. I think there were about 12 holds or some such thing on it. Hmmm, I should look in to that!

I did discover that I really, really, REALLY like reading Dee Henderson & Lori Wick. I am a huge fan of the Karen Kingsbury "Baxter" series of books (the Redemption, Firstborn, & Sunrise series). I think I may have found one I like better. It is the "O'Malley Family" series. I did a review of some of the books this time around once I finished the first two. I would definitely read these again. I have been able to read a lot more of her books through our church library.

Another new favorite was called Pretense by Lori Wick. This is another book I discovered at the church library. I almost didn't finish it. I was about 2-3 chapters in to thinking it was nothing like her usual books & maybe I didn't need to spend the time reading it. However, I was talking about it at Awana one night & the other two ladies there really encouraged me to continue. They said it was their all time favorite of hers. Well, I kept going & I would have to agree. It was a really great book!

Again, I loved doing the reading challenge. It was a ton of fun & it helps me not have to think about what to read next. If I could only manage to get through those non-fiction books. Well, maybe next time!

Book Review: Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick

I have this book on my bookcase & I was in need of something to read. I've read it before & remembered it was good & that I liked it. I remembered the general story line, but it was such an enjoyable read the second time through.

Sophie is a young girl (late 20's) who has immigrated to America from Czechoslovakia. She eventually becomes a housekeeper for a widower and his three children. The book follows their lives over the course of a few years. Sophie shows how she doesn't just talk about her faith but lives it out through prayer & the way she touches others lives.

I really enjoy Lori Wick's books. I've yet to read one I haven't liked! So I would highly recommend this one.

Book Review: Dee Henderson's O'Malley Series

Book #6 (last in the series)

As I mentioned before with my first book review of this series, I thoroughly enjoyed them. I finished this series a few weeks ago. If anyone out there loves Karen Kingsbury's books about the Baxter family, I found the O'Malley series to be just as good. I would highly recommend them.

A bit of background, the book series (seven total) are called the O'Malley series as that is the last name of the family involved. However, they are an unusual family - they are all orphans, met in an orphanage, adopted each other & legally changed their last name when they were adults. They became a family by choice.

The first book is a prequel, Danger in the Shadows, but one of the main characters shows up in the first O'Malley book. There are actually no O'Malley's in the prequel but still a very good book. This book makes the total number of books seven, but there are six actual O'Malley books.

What I liked best about the books was that the religious theme was woven through & was subtle but powerful. I didn't feel like I was getting bonked over the head with it all. It was just fact. It was the way the characters were. It made them feel more real to me.

The books should be read in order. You can go to this link here to the official Dee Henderson site which lists all of her books in order. You can also read the first chapter in each one.

I will definitely be getting more of Dee Henderson's books to read!

Book Review: The Negotiator by Dee Henderson

I have read one of Dee Henderson books a while ago, The Witness, which I really liked. While I was compiling my list for the Fall Reading Challenge, I decided to try some more of her books. I was glad I did. The books I chose are from her O'Malley series. In fact, I mistakenly read them out of order, but it didn't really detract from them. I should have read Danger in the Shadows first as that was the prequel to the series, but it all worked okay.

I really liked the two books I've read to this point. I have the rest of the series on order from the library. I use a state library-by-mail program since I live in such a rural part of the state. While we have two small libraries in the area I can use, they don't have a lot of books. So I request them through the state system on-line, they mail them to me free of charge, & then I have to return them. They used to provide return postage too, but thanks to state budget cuts I now have to either pay to return them or drive the 1-1/2 hours to them & return them in person. It's still worth it to me.

Back to the book...

The O'Malley series has one book for each sibling. They were all orphans at the same orphanage & joined together as a family - going so far as to all change their last name to the same one - O'Malley. The author does a great job of weaving in Biblical tidbits without bashing you over the head with it. In other words, they all felt like really, real people. I hope that comes across okay. :-)

This particular book deals with the oldest girl, Kate, who is a hostage negotiator for the police. She ends up dealing with something from her past that she never knew about it - her distant past. It was a good "who-done-it" type book with a good prospective of faith in there as well. I do like this author's style & plan to read more.

And just in case I've totally blown this review & you want to see what Amazon had to say about the book, just click here.

Book Review: Harry Potter Book #7

I hesitated to include the Harry Potter books in my fall challenge. While my husband & I thoroughly enjoy them, I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding the reading of them, particularly in the Christian community. However, I have been waiting to read book #7 & I had even started with Book #1 so I could have all the context in order. It's something I typically do whenever a new book comes out in a series. Sometimes it can take quite a while to get all the way back up to the newest book!

Anyway, I have to say that I am a big fan of these books. I find them very engaging & I like J. K. Rowling's style. I had heard much talk of the books about four to six years ago before I actually jumped in to read them myself. In fact, I think the first four were out before I started the series & only then at the urging of my older sister. She had just had surgery & read them while recovering.

Book #7 or Year 7 was the best to date in my oh-so-humble opinion. It was well worth the wait. I will even confess to this publicly - I did virtually nothing but feed my children & sleep for the last two days as I barrelled through this book eager to see how it all was going to turn out in the end. Yes, I read the 759 pages of this book in two days & I am actually thinking of reading it again very soon.

While I know Rowling's wrote these books for children, I would caution anyone in allowing their younger set to read anything from book #5 onward. The last three books of the series have more violence in them - understandably for those who know the series content. The last book, in particular, should really only be for ages 14-15 and up.

So for those who are Harry Potter fans, even though I'm a bit late on this, book #7 was worth the wait & Rowling's did a fabulous job of tying up all the ends - for the most part. :-)

Fall Reading Challenge

I love reading. I always have. As far back as I can remember, I was reading books. I still spend plenty of time every single day reading. Maybe not as much as I would like some days, but always every day.

For me the reading challenges are a good way of keeping a list of books on hand to read. In actuality all but one book is in my home right now. Some are library books, some are borrowed & some have been on my shelves far too long so they earned a spot in this go-round.

If you'd like to check the official rules, please go check out Callapidder Days. The challenge goes live on the 23rd - the first day of Fall. You have plenty of time to get your books together.

My list is rather long this time. I even decided to take a photo - make sure you scroll all the way down past my list. You'll see what I mean about a BIG list.

I'll be marking the books I'm currently reading in read. They will be marked off when I finish them. Review links will be provided at the end of each if I post a review.

In no particular order....

Fiction

• Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowlings
• Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowlings
• Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowlings
• Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowlings
• Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowlings Review
• 4th of July by James Patterson with Andrew Gross
• The 5th Horseman by James Patterson with Andrew Gross
• The 6th Target by James Patterson with Andrew Gross
• The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out by Neta Jackson
• Sweet Boundless by Kristen Heitzmann
• The Tender Vine by Kristen Hietzmann
• Danger in the Shadows by Dee Henderson
• The Negotiator by Dee Henderson Review
• The Guardian by Dee Henderson
• The Truth Seeker by Dee Henderson
• The Quickie by James Patterson (I know, I know, my sister highly recommended it.)
• Dawn of Empire by Sam Barone

Non-Fiction

• Beyond Survival by Diana Waring
• Protecting Your Child Through Prayer by Karen Scalf Linamen
• Raising Kids to Love Jesus by H. Norman Wright & Gary J. Oliver
• For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
• Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz (read aloud with my boys)
• To Train Up a Child by Michael & Debbie Pearl
• Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp
• Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Extra Credit (like I didn't have enough on my list right?)

• The Protector by Dee Henderson
• The Healer by Dee Henderson
• The Rescuer by Dee Henderson
• Courting Trouble by Lisa Scottoline
• Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline
• Summer by Karen Kingsbury
• Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey
• Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick Review
• God's Gift by Dee Henderson
• Pretense by Lori Wick
• True Devotion by Dee Henderson
• True Valor by Dee Henderson