I have set the same reading goal for 2017, 2018, and now 2019. I want to read 52 books in a calendar year. One book a week. When I was a teenager, I could read multiple books in a week. Chapter books.

Things tend to change when you become an adult and have actual responsibilities like other lives depending on you for things like making them food and forcing them to shower. Superfluous things like leisurely reading tend to fall by the wayside. Then as those other lives do things like make their own plans and have hobbies and activities that you have to drive them to, you lose the time for even the helpful reading (like books that teach you how to not screw up those other lives).

What am I blathering on about? Basically, I haven’t read enough books as an adult and it is all my kids’ fault. Well, not really. As I said in last week’s post, I haven’t always handled things well. When you are struggling to keep up with household work, you need to put aside reading for that season. It’s a choice I made, even if by default.

Enough chitchat. Today’s post is a list of the books I am currently reading and from my Want to Read list that I am most excited about reading this year. These are the top priority books for me.

Currently Reading Books

These are the books I’m wanting to finish first in January. Most of these I started in 2018 so I’m a good way’s through them.

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• The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis – I actually started this one in 2019. I am participating in #thecslewisproject hosted by Whitney at The Unread Shelf. The goal is to read one C.S. Lewis book a month. I have two on my shelves, so that is where I am starting.
• 101 Simple Ways to Show Your Husband You Love Him by Kathi Lipp – Started last month, a quick read unless you are mad at your husband. #truthbomb Not that I ever get mad at my husband..
• How to Write Dazzling Dialogue by James Scott Bell – I am working on my creative writing again. Also, I teach a creative writing class. I kind of stopped reading once break hit and my brain stopped working.
• Letters to the Church by Francis Chan – We are considering this for our next bible study read.
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – A classic that I never finished.
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare – First time reading as an adult. First time really understanding anything. I assisted in a class with a teacher that really loves Shakespeare and it made all the difference.
• Sing!: How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church by Keith and Kristyn Getty – Our current bible study book. We will finish this in mid-January.
• Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille – I have been working my way through this one for a while. I began studying about Leadership Education last year.

I have about four more books sitting on my Goodreads “Currently Reading” shelf, but I’m not actively reading those right now. I’ll tell you about those when I am.

Books I Am Most Excited to Read in 2019

These aren’t necessarily new books, they are just the ones that I’m most excited about this year, in no particular order. Also, I have over 300 books on my “Want to Read” shelf on Goodreads. I have plenty to choose from. 😬

• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman – Bought forever ago, will read this year.
• Book Girl: A Journey Through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life by Sarah Clarkson – As a fellow book girl, I feel this one will speak to me.
• Comfort Detox: Finding Freedom from Habits that Bind You by Erin Straza – Totally on topic for 2019.
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer – I want to see the movie, but would like to read the book first

• Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – We saw the movie and enjoyed it, now I want to read the book.
• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom – A friend lent this to me and I’m starting it as soon as I finish a book or two from my currently reading list.
• I’d Rather be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel – Because duh.
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis – Not on my bookshelf yet, but one I want to read for #thecslewisproject.

• Your Morning Basket by Pam Barnhill – I just finished Better Together which is all about morning time and I’m all fired up to bring this into our home.
• Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples by Francis Chan – Just a subject that is on my mind lately.
• Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp – Food for thought in this parenting journey.
• Renegades by Marissa Meyer – I’m a fantasy fan and ready to read another good fiction novel. I hope this is it.

 

• Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick – I’m a sucker for memoirs, love them. I just hope this doesn’t go the way of my last “celebrity” memoir. I’m looking at you, Anna Faris…
• A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro – It’s a twist on Sherlock Holmes. I also like retellings.
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – This is one author I haven’t read, but my oldest is asking to read some of her series so I’m checking her our first. I don’t always do this, but I’ve heard that this author’s works are better suited for older teens and I’d like to find out why before letting my daughter loose with her books.
• Word-Filled Women’s Ministry: Loving and Serving the Church by Gloria Furhman – Just another “on my mind” topic.

Through the making of this post, I have come to realize that I need to cull my “Want to Read” shelf. I’m not so interested in some of the titles on that list anymore. This actually excites me since that list has kind of had me feeling even more “behind” with my reading. It will be nice to shed some of the weight off my mind.

But since I am a glutton for punishment in that I love to add books to my huge “Want to Read” list, tell me about the books you are most excited about this year!