Here are some reasons why I'm setting out to do this:
- Since leaving school, I have mostly done easy, pleasure reading - nothing too challenging or deep. I've missed reading some of the great literary works or books with strong arguments and themes and so I'm excited to read "deep" stuff again.
- Doing these reviews will encourage me to blog on a more regular basis. I am not going to set out a specific time (like every second Tuesday or something) because I don't want there to be that kind of pressure - otherwise I'll be reading faster than I want to be! But it will be more regular than last year!
- I have some books in my possession which I have borrowed from people for quite some time now (sorry, Mike!) and I'm hoping that this will "force" me to make time to read them, so I can give them back.
- It will force me out of my comfort zone, when it comes to reading. Let's face it. Most of the time, it's far easier to pick up a book that you can read, just to have something to read than to read something which may change your way of thinking or cause you to peel back the layers which the author has created.
- By stating all of this and my goals, it will keep me accountable to follow through with it!
On my list for the year are 20 books. Some are literary masterpieces, others are about historical events, others are more topical and some are meant to challenge. Here is the list, and the order they are listed is not necessarily the order in which I will read them.
1. Passion and Purity - Elisabeth Elliot
2. Calm My Anxious Heart - Linda Dillow
3. Short Stories - Charles Dickens
4. War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy
5. 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die - John Piper
6. The Truth War - John MacArthur
7. Last of the Few - Max Arthur
8. Becoming a Woman of Extraordinary Faith - Julie Clinton
9. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
10. Let Me Be A Woman - Elisabeth Elliot
11. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
12. Hitler: A Short Biography - A.N. Wilson
13. Desiring God - John Piper
14. Joyfully at Home - Jasmine Baucham
15. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
16. Where is God when it hurts? - Philip Yancey
17. The Hidden Life of Prayer - David McIntyre
18. Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper
19. A Man Called Intrepid - William Stevenson
20. The Caravanserai: Collection of Poems - I.Y. Ewan
I'm excited to start this and I'm hoping that you will keep me accountable and maybe read some of them yourself! Stay tuned for the first review. Happy Reading :)
