Austen in August? Yes, please!

My friend Leann posted about this reading challenge at Roof Beam Reader (intro post is here, master post is here) and I decided to go all in! I have been unpacking my books a few at a time, deciding which unread ones I want to read (and putting the ones I don't or no longer wish to own in the Paperbackswap.com list or the donation box). I have unearthed five Austenesque fiction and nonfiction books I haven't yet read, so I am going to read them during August. I have filled my July with fictiony fluff, so reading Austen may be a good grounding experience for me.

I will also add Emma to my Kindle as well, because I haven't read it in a while. I reread Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility over the past several months, so it's about time for an Emma reread.

2015 Reading Challenge: 52 Books in 52 Weeks

I posted this link on Facebook at the end of December, and wow, the response I got! I started a Facebook group and it grew and grew as people added their friends. 

You can print the PDF of the list (the link is in the article here) and start checking them off.

Since I read around 100 books per year (and with a huge long road trip this summer I should have no problem finishing some of them), I am confident I'll finish the list.

Read a Latte in 2013

Goal: Cappuccino level of 100 books.

Books read in 2013 are:

1. Ashton Park - Murray Pura
2. Zora and Nicky - Claudia Mair Burney
3. Austentatious - Alyssa Goodnight
4. The Calling of Emily Evans - Janette Oke
5. Sleeping in Eden - Nicole Baart (netgalley)
6. {manuscript by Sara Horn}
7. Moon Over Tokyo - Siri Mitchell
8. Help Thanks Wow - Anne Lamott
9. The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
10. The Do What You Can Plan - Holley Gerth
11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
12. Bread & Wine - Shauna Niequist
13. Reinventing Claire - Darian Wilk
14. Holiday Buzz - Cleo Coyle
15. Great-Aunt Sophia's Lessons for Bombshells - Lisa Cach
16. The Good Daughter - Jane Porter
17. Home Front - Kristin Hannah
18. Stalker in the Shadows - Camy Tang
19. The House at Riverton - Kate Morton
20. Jennifer: An O'Malley Love Story - Dee Henderson
21. A Royal Pain - Megan Mulry
22. Rumor Has It - Jill Mansell
23. The Memoir Project - Marion Roach Smith
24. 
    

Reading Challenges 2013

I completely failed at this year's reading challenge....so this year I'm hosting my own! I plan to read 12 year-long memoirs as a part of my Year-Long Memoir Reading Challenge (which can be found here).

I generally read a minimum of 100 books per year, and of course I wish to read at least 100 this next year. (Currently for 2012 I'm at 105!)

That said, here are my reading challenges for 2013:


The 2013 Year-Long Memoir Reading Challenge

Kimberly's Read a Latte Challenge (books+coffee=awesome)

Goal: Cappuccino level :)

Reading Challenge in 2013

My first challenge to host and to do: The Year-Long Memoir Reading Challenge

Let me know if you would like to join us!

Fall Into Reading 2012 Wrap-Up

Year six--complete.

Thoughts: I still read fiction really quickly. I still read nonfiction really slowly. In some cases with books I know will be convicting, my inner procrastinator takes over and I don't get to them. For evidence:

My original list:

• Seven by Jen Hatmaker
  
  I really, really do want to read this book. I just need the motivation to do so.
  I have read the intro about three times now.
• Letting Go of Perfect by Amy Spiegel
  
  Sometimes, I cling to my perfectionism and use it to beat myself up. This is a pattern I can't seem to break out of. Perhaps in the new year.
• Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist
  
  I am about 2/3 of the way through. Most of Shauna Niequist's essays are so poignant, I can only read one or two before needing a break---then I get distracted by one or three fiction books and soon I'm off and reading something else. But I have loved this book a lot. I *will* finish it.
• Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin
• Wings of Glory trilogy by Sarah Sundin {need to reread the first two to make sense of the third}: A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow

My list of other books I read but which are not on the original list--obviously, I have a problem committing to my list:

• A Brew to a Kill - Cleo Coyle 
• Full Disclosure - Dee Henderson
• Vivaldi's Virgins - Barbara Quick
• The Heart Remembers - Irene Hannon (for review)
• Prom and Prejudice - Elizabeth Eulberg
• Alaskan Hearts - Teri Wilson
• Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Matthew Dicks
• In the Shadow of Lions: A Novel of Anne Boleyn - Ginger Garrett
• The Negotiator - Dee Henderson
• Northern Lights - Nora Roberts
• Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read - William Rabkin
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows {comfort reread, well worth it}
• The Good Woman by Jane Porter
• At Every Turn - Anne Mateer
• The Call of the Wild - Jack London
• The Meryl Streep Movie Club - Mia March

Fall Into Reading Challenge History: 2007     2008     2009     2010     2011

Year-Long Memoir Reading Challenge

I love year-long memoirs. I want to do a reading challenge of year-long memoirs in 2013. I wish I'd been the one who coined the phrase "Year-Long Memoir" but sadly, Google tells me it's not original with me.

If you are even remotely interested, I want to do a group blog thingie with this:

http://yearlongmemoir.blogspot.com/

Let me know! :)

Fall Into Reading 2012

Year six!

For information about this wonderful challenge, click here.
 
Fall Into Reading Challenge History: 2007     2008     2009     2010     2011

My fall book list to read and/or finish:

• Seven by Jen Hatmaker {begun, but set aside}
• Letting Go of Perfect by Amy Spiegel {begun}
• Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist {This book is not one I can read quickly--it must be read in small doses, an essay or two at a time.}
• Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin
• Wings of Glory trilogy by Sarah Sundin {need to reread the first two to make sense of the third}: A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow

My list of other books I read but which are not on the original list--obviously, I have a problem committing to my list:

• A Brew to a Kill - Cleo Coyle {I had about half of it finished before Saturday}
• Full Disclosure - Dee Henderson
• Vivaldi's Virgins - Barbara Quick
• The Heart Remembers - Irene Hannon (for review)
• Prom and Prejudice - Elizabeth Eulberg
• Alaskan Hearts - Teri Wilson
• Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Matthew Dicks
• In the Shadow of Lions: A Novel of Anne Boleyn - Ginger Garrett
• The Negotiator - Dee Henderson
• Northern Lights - Nora Roberts
• Psych: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read - William Rabkin
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows {comfort reread, well worth it}
• At Every Turn - Anne Mateer
• The Call of the Wild - Jack London
• The Meryl Streep Movie Club - Mia March

Fall Into Reading Wrap-Up 2011

For participation info, click here.

I am proud of myself...I finished ALL the books on my list. Usually I end up not finishing one, but this time? Oh yes, my friends, this time I finished.

I have included the content of my original post, with hyperlinks to the reviews I have posted elsewhere on my blog.

Special thanks to Katrina of Callapidder Days for allowing me to send her the link to my wrap-up early; I'm headed out of town for ear surgery.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My List:

• Happy Chaos - Soleil Moon Frye (library)
• A Whisper of Peace - Kim Vogel Sawyer (my shelf; late arriving book review book)
• The Fiction Class - Susan Breen (my shelf)
• Wonderland Creek - Lynn Austin (book review book)
• Lucky Baby - Meredith Efken (my shelf--just arrived from Paperback Swap!)
• Hamlet - William Shakespeare (in the lit book I'm teaching from this semester)
• and...a re-read of Sara Horn's My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife in preparation for a Proverbs 31 challenge (click button in sidebar for more info!)
• Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist (book review book
• Remembering You - Tricia Goyer (book review book)
• Baby, It's Cold Outside - Susan May Warren (book review book)

Books I Also Read But Which Are Not On the List:

Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK by Betsy St. Amant (NetGalley on Kindle)

The Shakespeare Manuscript by Stewart Buettner (Kindle)--did not really like all that much.

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (library find)

Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook (library find)

My Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure (This was my first library loan on my Kindle! What an awesome program!!!)

Murder by Mocha by Cleo Coyle (10th Coffeehouse Mystery book--original ones recommended to me by my Nattie, back in the day...)

All That is Bitter and Sweet by Ashley Judd (it was okay, difficult read)

Delivery by Diana Prusik (disliked the book until the very end....)

Give it All, Give it Now by Annie Dillard (short gift book)

Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos

Harsh Pink by Melody Carlson

The Pioneer Women, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story by Ree Drummond

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

2007 Fall Into Reading

Fall Into Reading

Get Ready, Get Set, Let's READ!!!

Katrina at Callapidder Days has a Mr. Linky ready to go if you're interested in signing up for this reading challenge! Click on the adorable graphic to the left for "the rules," and clickhere to sign up.

AND...there are going to be prizes! I will consider it a fall cleaning of sorts...cleaning out the TBR pile that threatens to take over my living room. Plus, finishing books helps clear the mind clutter. Enjoy the crisp fall weather, because especially here in North Dakota, it won't be long before fall turns into a snowy, below-freezing winter.

The Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs (been in the TBR pile for a while, and I think I'll save it for the plane ride going to Roma's wedding. Also, did you know Julia Roberts optioned the film rights for this book?)

Knitting Under the Influence - Claire LeZebnik (finish - Reading at the same time as Roma)

Get Out of That Pit - Beth Moore (finish)

The Begotten and The Betrayed - Lisa Tawn Bergren (review; begun "The Begotten" and it's intense.)

The Tenth Circle - Jodi Picoult (also a Reading the Author challenge book)

Sacred Marriage - Gary Thomas (reading with a group of gals from W@H)

2008 Spring Reading Thing

Found this on my Xanga. Funny!

Spring Reading Thing

Spring Reading Thing - the reading challenge that, for me, started it all, last year....
March 20-June 19, 2008



Info here. To sign up on Mr. Linky, click here.

I have a lot of unread books, and several other challenges I'm working on. However, these are a few I think I'll try to finish during this Spring challenge time (since more often than not, I don't finish my challenges on time!).

*Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck
*The Secret of Us by Roxanne Henke
*Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson
*Blue Heart Blessed by Susan Meissner
*Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore (finish - ironically, from last year...heh)
*Generation NeXt Marriage by Tricia Goyer (for an upcoming blog tour)

alternates:
*Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (had to return to the library, so who knows if I'll be able to get through it!)
*The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
*The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Happy Chaos

I'll admit it, I'm often a sucker for celebrity autobiographies. So when I saw Happy Chaos with a grown-up Soleil Moon Frye and her daughters on the cover, I was intrigued.

This book, however, is less celeb-bio than parenting how-to guide. I did appreciate much of what she had to say--and I wonder if it's a testimony to the celebrity culture in California that she felt like she was the only mom in the entire world to feel like a failure. Really? I've felt like that before. Often. So have my friends, and I count many friends in three states. And we talk it through and encourage one another. This makes me wonder about her feeling like she had no one to share her doubts with, even just five years ago when her oldest was born. I am glad she found support online. (My oldest is about to turn 15, for the record.)

The best parts of this book are when she ties real-life experiences from her permissive upbringing into her real-life parenting experiences. The rest was just okay for me.

A final note: the title is awesome: Happy Chaos. May all our homes be filled with both happy chaos and forgiveness for our own myriad mistakes as parents.

The Fiction Class

The Fiction Class is a novel by Susan Breen, which tells the story of Arabella Hicks and her mother Vera. And Arabella and her fiction writing class that she teaches one afternoon a week, while working on her own novel at home. I found the book to be easy to read, easy to get into, and I enjoyed it. I particularly liked the characters in her class--and yes, they were characters as in a novel, but "characters" as in different and vibrant people too.

I enjoyed this book.

Fall Into Reading 2011

For participation info, click here.

My List:

• Happy Chaos - Soleil Moon Frye (library)
• A Whisper of Peace - Kim Vogel Sawyer (my shelf; late arriving book review book)
• The Fiction Class - Susan Breen (my shelf)
• Wonderland Creek - Lynn Austin (book review book)
• Lucky Baby - Meredith Efken (my shelf--just arrived from Paperback Swap!)
• Hamlet - William Shakespeare (in the lit book I'm teaching from this semester)
• and...a re-read of Sara Horn's My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife in preparation for a Proverbs 31 challenge (click button in sidebar for more info!)
• Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist (book review book
• Remembering You - Tricia Goyer (book review book)
• Baby, It's Cold Outside - Susan May Warren (book review book)

Books I Also Read But Which Are Not On the List:

• Addison Blakely: Confessions of a PK by Betsy St. Amant (NetGalley on Kindle)
• The Shakespeare Manuscript by Stewart Buettner (Kindle)--did not really like all that much.
• Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (library find)
• Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook (library find)
• My Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure (This was my first library loan on my Kindle! What an awesome program!!!)
• Murder by Mocha by Cleo Coyle (10th Coffeehouse Mystery book--original ones recommended to me by my Nattie, back in the day...)
• All That is Bitter and Sweet by Ashley Judd (it was okay, difficult read)
• Delivery by Diana Prusik (disliked the book until the very end....)
• Give it All, Give it Now by Annie Dillard (short gift book)
• Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos
• Harsh Pink by Melody Carlson
• The Pioneer Women, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story by Ree Drummond
• One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

100 Days Left

There area 100 days left in 2011. I was going to make a list of 100 things to do over the course of those days, but that list seemed too daunting. So I whittled it down to 50 things.

Now, this is not a list of things to DO, to accomplish, exactly. I mean, some of the things are things I need to do. Things that need to be done, and then they will be complete and out of my head. Off my shoulders. Crossed and markered off my haunting, taunting ever-lovin' never-endin' to-do list!

But it's also a list including some habits I intend to cultivate. To help change my attitude, to turn my life toward service and away from my self.

Some things I'll share, some will be private, but all of them will help me be a better Pattie.

One thing I'm doing on my Facebook page is listing random Alaska facts of the day. One goal is to learn something new about my new state each day. This means I should have a nice long list when I'm finished.

I'm also dusting off my gratitude journal and working on that 1000 Gifts list again. Remembering that all is grace.

One other thing I'll be seeking is my 2012 theme.

How about you...will you have a personal challenge over the course of the last 100 days of 2011?

Spring Reading Thing 2011 Wrapup

http://freshbrewedwriter.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-reading-thing-2011.html

So I'm a few weeks late in reporting on this. Other than one book that I didn't finish, I read 11 books of the 10 I intended to read.

Thanks to Katrina...and sorry I never reported on time.

Spring Reading Thing 2011

This is my 5th Spring Reading Thing! Yay!

For more info for this year's challenge & guidelines, click here. As always, a special thanks to Katrina who hosts a great challenge each spring and autumn.

• Mr. Monk is Miserable - Lee Goldberg
• The Book Thief - Markus Zuzak
• No Safe Haven - Kimberley & Kayla Woodhouse
• Tea for Two - Trish Perry
• The Life Ready Woman - Shaunti Feldhahn (finish)
• and now I'm going to do what I really don't ever do and am not sure is allowed, but since I did list specific books, hopefully will be acceptable: I will read five other books (which I will then get rid of) from my shelves before we move to Alaska around the end of this challenge.
• 1. All Eyes on Her - Poonam Sharpa (trade)
• 1. The Cowboy Takes a Bride - Debra Clopton (in bag of giveaways)
• 1. Texas Ranger Dad - Debra Clopton (in bag of giveaways)
• 1. One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp
  (gave to a friend)
• The Yokota Officers Club - Sarah Bird (trade)
• Good Things I Wish You - A. Manette Ansay (giving to a friend)
• Perfect Blend by Sue Margolis (trade)

2011 From the Shelf Reading Challenge

Learn more here.

Where Do I Go? - Neta Jackson (Traded in at Paperback Swap)

Who Do I Talk To? - Neta Jackson (Sent back to my friend)

Who Do I Lean On? - Neta Jackson (Sent back to my friend)

The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie (Sent to a friend)

Traveling Mercies: Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott

It Happens Every Spring - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman

Summer Breeze - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman

Falling For You Again - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman

Winter Turns to Spring - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

Mr. Monk is Miserable - Lee Goldberg

Don't You Forget About Me - Jancee Dunn (Traded in at Paperback Swap)

TBR 2011

I'm joining the TBR challenge this year--I took last year off, but I'm back this year! For more info, go to the blog here.

Here's the list:

1. Where Do I Go? - Neta Jackson
2. Who Do I Talk To? - Neta Jackson
3. Who Do I Lean On? - Neta Jackson
4. The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
5. Traveling Mercies: Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott
6. Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott
7. Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott
8. It Happens Every Spring - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman
9. Summer Breeze - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman
10. Falling For You Again - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman
11. Winter Turns to Spring - Catherine Palmer & Gary Chapman
12. East of Eden - John Steinbeck

All of these books have been on my PBS wish list or bookshelves for at least a year, if not more.

Alternates:

• Mr. Monk is Miserable - Lee Goldberg
• The Ten-Year Nap - Meg Wolitzer
- could not finish this one. I think I gave it about 3 chapters before I gave up.
• Don't You Forget About Me - Jancee Dunn

Fall Into Reading Wrap-Up

This is my fourth Fall into Reading reading challenge here at Fresh-Brewed Writer, and my fourth wrap-up post.

Overall I did not do as well as I'd hoped, but at the same time I also read more books on the side, which seems to be my MO.

• Within My Heart by Tamera Alexander (for CFBA)
• While We're Far Apart by Lynn Austin (for CFBA)
• Do You Know Who I Am? by Angela Thomas (for review) *skimmed*
• I Will Carry You by Angie Smith **oh my goodness, this is so sad and heartwrenching. I'm not sure I can finish it.** Update: I can't finish this one. Gave it away on Wives of Faith.
• Daddy's Delight by Dr. Karia Bunting (for Blog Tour Spot)
• Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern (finish) No.
• The Preacher's Bride by Jody Hedlund (for CFBA)
• Havah by Tosca Lee (e-book) No.
• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
• Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
• Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner **started it, not loving it** Update: Did not finish. Not sure I will. Just not as good as the first one.
• Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman by Beth Moore
• Esther by Chuck Swindoll No.