Monday, December 7, 2009

Wrapping up the 2009 4x10 Reading Challenge

Okay, it's time to wrap up the 2009 4x10 Reading Challenge. I've had the link on my sidebar since the beginning of the year and yes, I know, technically, I still have a few weeks to complete it, but I already know it's not gonna happen and guess what? I'm so okay with that. I realized that I started this challenge shortly after having Tess and I was a lot busier this year with a new baby in the house.

1. I have no problem reading 40 or more books a year and most years I read more, but I cannot stick to a list no matter how much I try! As soon as I wrote up the list of books to read in the ten subject areas, I started to revise it. It's because I'm constantly finding new books that interest me and I must have some kind of book ADD or something. Anyway, as I was listening to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a quote (also on my sidebar) jumped out at me and totally described my reading habits:
That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive- all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.

2. I really took off with my knitting this year. I spent a lot of time reading knitting books and this wasn't a category on my list. I also spent more time knitting and when I'm knitting, I usually can't also hold a book.

3. While knitting, I listened to books on my MP3 player. I've long debated with myself whether or not this counts as having read a book. I'm still not sure. Listening is a different skill than reading. I still don't know.

4. Sometimes, less is more.

Here's the final list:

I. Children's Lit ages 6-10
In Grandma's Attic-Arleta Richardson
Betsy-Tacy- Maud Hart Lovelace
The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook- Joyce Lankester Brisley
Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
II. Children's Lit ages 10-14 (or older- YA)
Twilight- Stephenie Meyer
Princess Academy - Shannon Hale
Princess of the Midnight Ball -Jessica Day George
Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson
City of Ember- Jeanne DuPrau
The Hunger Games- Suzanne Colllins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Gone-Away Lake - Elizabeth Enright
Enthusiasm - Polly Shulman
A Door Near Here- Heather Quarles
Bloomability - Sharon Creech
I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy - Ally Carter
Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover - Ally Carter
Waiting For You- Susane Colasanti
The Luxe - Anna Godbersen
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
III. Adult Fiction
The Ten Year Nap - Meg Wolitzer
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Actor and the Housewife - Shannon Hale
Confessions of Jane Austen Addict -Laurie Viera Rigler
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict - Laurie Viera Rigler
Dream When You're Feeling Blue- Elizabeth Berg
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Jillian Dare: A Novel - Melanie M. Jeschke
The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister
IV. Classic Lit
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
V. Parenting/Family
The Duggars: 20 and Counting! - Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar
Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater - Matthew Amster-Burton
Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods - Nina Planck
VI. Education
Christian Uncshooling - Teri J. Brown
VII. Biography/Autobiography
Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau- Jean Bernard
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table- Molly Wizenberg
VIII. Politics, Current Events and Religion
The Mirror Effect - Drew Pinsky and S. Mark Young
IX. Self-Improvement
The End of Overeating- David Kessler
Living Simply: Choosing Less in a World of More - Joanne Heim
X. Science/Nature

It looks like I read a lot of fiction this year especially YA literature. Where will I go next year?? I guess I'll just keep on reading and keep on learning! That's the whole point anyway, right?

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