2016 Reading Challenge

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love to read. And that I have entirely too many books on my to-read list which is endemic to anyone who loves books. I am going to challenge myself this year by jumping aboard the Modern Mrs. Darcy's 2016 Reading Challenge. Here's what it is:



This is what I am planning:

- A book published this year
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi


I finished this yesterday. I don't have the words to describe it, only that I am very thankful to have read it and that the message of living each day with purpose and courage is one that is not shared often enough. I am only peripherally acquainted with the family through my dear college friend Emily who married Paul's brother Jeevan, but I can only imagine how much they miss him. *I* missed him by the end of the book. His voice is so clear, witty, wise, and poignant through the pages and it was with delight and heartbreak that I read it. Word to the wise: make sure you have Kleenex handy when you read the Epilogue, written by posthumously by his wife Lucy.

- A book you can finish in a day
For the Love by Jen Hatmaker

Jen Hatmaker makes me laugh. A lot.

- A book you've been meaning to read
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (I KNOW, I KNOW)


For years and years and years people have been gasping when I have told them I have never read these books. So I'm finally going to read the first one this year.

- A book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller
The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde

I could cheat on this since I am in LIBRARY SCHOOL with many future librarians, but I think I'll run up to my local branch and see what he would recommend. [update] I talked to my librarian and he asked what genres I liked and I said that I'm partial to the classics: Austen, Dickens, Eliot. And he recommended this book, which is the first in a series. I'm excited to try it :)

- A book you should have read in school
1984 by George Orwell


In spite of being a goody-two-shoes in school, I was assigned this book and never read it. I guess this is the year to correct that wrong.

- A book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, child, or BFF
The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Looking at this list of people, the chosen book would vary quite dramatically depending on which person I select. I have chosen my husband, who has been recommending for the past 13 years that I read it. I have started reading this before but couldn't get through it. I will consider this challenge to be a success if this is the only book I end up reading this year.

- A book published before you were born
Betsy, Tacy, and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace


Caroline & I are reading these and finished this one last week :) Several of my Facebook friends recommended this series to Caroline and we are both enjoying them. We're currently in book #3.

- A book that was banned at some point
The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank


I am a terrible person. I have never read this book.

- A book you previously abandoned
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer


I typically don't abandon books. But I abandoned this one because I was too convicted by it. Time to try it again.

- A book you own by have never read
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros


There is an appalling lack of Latino authors in my literary diet.

- A book that intimidates you
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo


This is my all-time number one intimidating book. I have picked it up at the library and set it right back down a few times. I am not going to commit myself to it this year, but I'm putting it out there and maybe I'll get the courage to start it.

- A book you've read at least once
Persuasion, by Jane Austen


At least once? How about 100 times? In turn for reading The Brothers K, I am making Chris read a Jane Austen this year. While he's watched many of the movie adaptations with me, he's never read a book by her.

Anyone want to join me on the challenge? I would love the company and accountability!