Yesterday I took a little time to reflect on what I read and what didn't work for my reading life in 2019. Last year I read a lot of slow books and didn't give myself the freedom to change things up with familiar re-reads like I usually do. Because of that, I continually lost momentum and a lot of the books I read (even the great ones) seemed to drag.
But it's a fresh new year and I've created a fresh new list. Cody and I spent the morning pulling books off the shelves to read in 2020, and I'm excited to tackle my 2020 list. (I think Cody may share his list on the blog this week and he might even contribute some guest posts this year. Keep your fingers crossed.)
In the meantime, here are the books I hope to read this year. As always, if you are interested in reading any of these with me, shoot me a message and I'll be happy to let you know when I start the book so we can read it together and discuss it. Here we go!
Lies Women Believe : Nancy Leigh DeMoss
This Momentary Marriage : John Piper
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World : Joanna Weaver
John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit : James Traub
Andrew Jackson : H.W. Brands
The Passions of Andrew Jackson : Andrew Burstein
The Four Loves : C.S. Lewis
The Diary of a Young Girl : Anne Frank
All's Well that Ends Well : William Shakespeare
Cymbeline : William Shakespeare
David Copperfield : Charles Dickens
Gone With the Wind : Margaret Mitchell
Middlemarch : George Eliot
The Age of Innocence : Edith Wharton
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall : Anne Brontë
Something Wicked this Way Comes : Ray Bradbury
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass : Lewis Carroll
A Little Princess : Frances Hodgson Burnett
Ballet Shoes : Noel Streatfeild
All the Light We Cannot See : Anthony Doerr
Hum If You Don't Know the Words : Bianca Marais
See any of your absolute favorites there? You may have noticed that David Copperfield, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and All the Light We Cannot See got carried over from last year's list, and I finally decided to ditch the Unger biography of John Quincy Adams in favor of James Traub's. I'm secretly hoping to make it through a third president this year to make up for only reading one last year, but we'll see how it goes. My list consists of 21 books and I'll be shooting for a total of 24 in 2020. Let's go!
Happy New Year & Happy Reading!
What are you planning to read this year? Do you make a book list for yourself? Are you interested in reading any of the books from my 2020 list along with me?
Great list. I am going to do it. I am going to read all the Harry potter Books in a month. I am going to do it so I can have a coherent conversation with my children the next time we are together. You, Hannahbelle, are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear what you think of them!
DeleteI am excited for this list. Let me know when you are going to start reading Andrew Jackson's biography. I just read a book on Sam Houston and it made me interested in Andrew Jackson's life. Should we read the same biography and discuss it or one by different authors and compare?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Go Dad!
Well, I actually have two books on Jackson on my list. Dad gave me the book by Burstein because he liked it so much. The one by Brands is more of a complete cradle-to-grave biography though. I'm game to discuss the same book or compare and contrast different ones; it's up to you. Are you planning to buy a book on him or use the library? You should see what your options are. It'll probably be a few months before I get to him.
DeleteOooh yes, definitely some crossover here - I'm hoping to get to Gone With The Wind and Middlemarch too! And really looking forward to hearing what you think of The Age Of Innocence, and David Copperfield. You're in for an awesome reading year by the look of this list! Enjoy! 😍
ReplyDeleteThanks! It always feels good to come up with a fresh list!
DeleteI'm going to leave a long comment, simply because I can, and I know you looooove reading them ;) - Also, the reason I deleted this comment the first time is because I found a couple of typos to correct. You're welcome :P
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, what I think of your picks, and if I would ever read any of them:
Lies Women Believe : Nancy Leigh DeMoss - we're already reading this together, and it's such a good read that I've already inspired ANOTHER women's reading club to read it! How cool is that?!
This Momentary Marriage : John Piper - hmm, I've never heard of this one, but I'm wondering what exactly it's about...
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World : Joanna Weaver - we're going to read this together, and I can't wait!
John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit : James Traub - umm, your love of history is something, as you know, I don't share, so this is a no go for me. However, I think it's awesome that you're reading through all the presidents!
Andrew Jackson : H.W. Brands - see above comment
The Passions of Andrew Jackson : Andrew Burstein - ditto
The Four Loves : C.S. Lewis - I just bought this book, and it's a definite contender for me to read this year (if I get through the other 12 books on my list and have time!)
The Diary of a Young Girl : Anne Frank - is this different from "The Diary of Anne Frank" that I read in school?
All's Well that Ends Well : William Shakespeare - never read it, but I totally would. I'm assuming this is the comedy for this year?
Cymbeline : William Shakespeare - which would make this the tragedy, right? I've actually never heard of this one.
David Copperfield : Charles Dickens - okay, confession time. I've heard of this book practically my whole life, but I have no idea what it's about.
Gone With the Wind : Margaret Mitchell - woof. I saw the movie and wasn't a fan. You'll have to let me know if Scarlet is as detestable and bratty in print as she was on screen.
Middlemarch : George Eliot - yet another book I've heard of, but I don't actually know what it's about.
The Age of Innocence : Edith Wharton - this is my SECOND favorite Wharton book (of the three that I've read so far). Didn't you read "House of Mirth" last year? Or is that one you have yet to read?
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall : Anne Brontë - haven't read this one yet, though it's on my life list (which exists only in my head at this point)
Something Wicked this Way Comes : Ray Bradbury - ooo, what's this one about??
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass : Lewis Carroll - yayyyy! I've always wanted to read these. Have you read them before, or will this be your first time?
A Little Princess : Frances Hodgson Burnett - I LOVE this movie. You'll have to let me know how you like the book. Have you seen both the Shirley Temple and the 90's remake movies?
Ballet Shoes : Noel Streatfeild - never heard of it! What's this one about?
All the Light We Cannot See : Anthony Doerr - I've heard of it, but I don't know what it's about...
Hum If You Don't Know the Words : Bianca Marais - I seem to remember reading the summary of this when I was at your house recently, and I didn't think it was a book that appealed to me because of its emphasis on history and emotionally intense themes.
So there you go! I'm really proud of how faithfully you have blogged. I've finished 4 books this year so far, and I'm thinking about blogging about them in a new and creative way, so you'll just have to check my blog to see when those posts come out ;)
LOVE YOU, BEST FRIEND!
First of all, you know I love this book of a comment. You da real MVP.
ReplyDeleteSo, what women's reading club did you inspire to read Lies Women Believe??
According to Chuck Colson, This Momentary Marriage by John Piper is "a highly original contribution to Christian teaching on marriage." I actually put this one on my first book list in 2015, but never got to it. 2020's the year!
We should read The Four Loves together! Like, we can just be reading and discussing a book together for the rest of the year. The question is: should we do The Four Loves after Lies Women believe, or Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World?
As concerns Anne Frank: definitely the same as what you read in school.
All Well that Ends Well is the comedy which does indeed make Cymbeline the tragedy. Although if I remember correctly, Cymbeline is one of those crossover plays that could kindof fit in either category (tragedy OR comedy).
David Copperfield: same. Haha! I really try to go into every book I read as blind as possible.
Gone With the Wind: this seems to be a polarizing book. You either love it or hate it.
Age of Innocence will by my first book by Wharton. I own House of Mirth but decided to do Age of Innocence first because it won a Pulitzer.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: (from the back) "For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooper & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering Halloween a week early. A calliope's shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes...and the stuff of nightmares." Planning to read in October!!
Will be my first time reading Alice!
I'm reading A Little Princess right now and I plan to watch both adaptations (which I own) once I finish!!
Okay, so you know in You've Got Mail after she closes up her shop and she's sitting in Fox Books watching all the Christmas shoppers and the lady comes in looking for the "Shoe Books" and the guy who works at the store has no idea what she's talking about and Kathleen knows the name of the author, all about the books, and gives her a recommendation of which book to start with?? Well, that's what these books are! Cody got me 4 of them for my birthday—Ballet Shoes, Theater Shoes, Skating Shoes, and Dancing Shoes—and Ballet Shoes is the first one! I'm so excited to read it!
All the Light We Cannot See is a recent Pulitzer winner and is WWII fiction. This was on my list last year, but I didn't get to it.
Can't wait to read some new blog posts from you!!!!!!
My boss is in three different book clubs on Facebook, and she was inspired to recommend LWB to one of her book clubs!
DeleteEhh, I'll probably skip out on any book about marriage for the immediate future.
I think we should read The Four Loves next!
Anne Frank - intense.
How's can a play be BOTH a tragedy and a comedy?!
Interested to know what you think of David Copperfield, Gone With the Wind, and Age of Innocence.
Something Wicked This Way Comes sounds like a super thriller!
Awwwww, Alice! I think it would be a fun read-aloud book!
I want to watch The Little Princess movies with you!!
Love the backstory behind the shoes books!
WWII fiction - no thanks.
Can't wait to write some new blog posts for you to read!!
Yes! I totally agree about The Four Loves!
DeleteHave you read much Shakespeare? I personally thought Macbeth and Hamlet were both hilarious and they're both tragedies.
Hopefully, I will stay on top of my recap game this year so you will have my thoughts on all these books!
Alice probably would be fun to read aloud. But I usually choose books I've already read to read out loud so that it's not a big deal to me how fast or slow we go with them.
I'll let you know when I'm planning to watch the Little Princess movies! I'd love some company. =)
Can't wait to read some new blog posts from you!