Spring Reading Thing 2009
19 Mar
Over at Callapidder Days there is a spring reading carnival going on. Since I love to page through the links and see what other folks are reading, I decided this time around I would post my own reading list for the spring!
I thought for a while about what challenge to give myself. I’ve been doing well with my New Year’s challenge (an informal 52 in 52 challenge for books that are new-to-me and not specifically kid-related) – I’ve read 15 books so far this year (see my sidebar for a current list). But I’m apt to pick books because they were given to me or because I ran across them somewhere. There are so many great books on my TBR list that I don’t own, and they tend to linger there. In the winter we don’t go out to the library much, and in the summer we’ll be living away from the library for a few months, so spring seems like a great time to have a library challenge.
So my contribution to the Spring Reading Thing 2009 is to challenge myself to read at least six library books in the next 12 weeks! Here are six from my TBR list that I know are owned by the two libraries closest to me (though I’ll probably have to put holds on a couple of them in order to snag them):
1. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson. Yes, I think I may be the last person to read this (unless Sara hasn’t read it yet!) but I’ve heard that this true story of a man working to build schools is very inspirational. (Finished, and reviewed here.)
2. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Another true, sad, but inspirational memoir, I hear, this one about a boy who made it out of Sierra Leone. (Finished, and reviewed here.)
3. The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman is the story of the director of the Warsaw Zoo – and his wife – who sheltered hundreds of Jews and Polish resisters in their cages and animal houses during WWII. (Finished, and reviewed here.)
4. World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler. This one is a post-apocalyptic novel – how do we reconstruct society after a breakdown? I’ve heard great things about it.
5. Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen. A novel about life, love and the circus – told in flashbacks by a man who worked with the elephants during the Great Depression.
6. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. A light novel about a group of mothers who meet and form a writers’ group in the 1960′s. This one is being released in paperback in May, so maybe my libraries will pick up extra copies then. (Finished, and reviewed here.)
Of course I reserve the right to substitute if something else catches my eye at the library! PisecoDad found me Hood by Stephen Lawhead – I read it and reviewed it here. I also had him check out December by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop – I reviewed it here. On Easter afternoon, I read the charming novella The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, and reviewed it here. Even more spring reading: I read The Book Borrower, Handle With Care, The Noticer and The School of Essential Ingredients – two of which were from the library – and I briefly reviewed them all here. Let me know if you decide to join in. I love to read reading lists.
I love your book selections!
Good list!
Great list! Water for Elephants is a good one. I think your library spin on the challenge is great! Good luck.
Great list – I have added a couple to my future list. I’m mostly a fiction reader but would like to expand my horizons a bit
Great list! I read The Zookeeper’s Wife recently and enjoyed it. Good luck!
good list, the only one I am familiar with is Water For Elephants and I really want to read it. Happy Reading!
So glad you decided to join in! And I love how you structured this, as a library challenge to get to those books that were just hanging out on your TBR list. Great idea! I’ve been curious about The Zookeeper’s Wife — looks good!
Thanks for being part of the Spring Reading Thing!
I’ve not heard of any of these, but I wish you good success on getting through them.
Happy Reading!
Great list. I have read several on your list. Three Cups Of Tea is a favorite of mine, I have an autographed copy in my library that I treasure. I have several friends who have heard Greg Mortenson speak and I think you are in for treat with that one. He is a wonderful man. Good luck with your reading.
I love the fact you’re using library books
And I too love reading book lists!
You’re not the last one to read the first book you listed — I’ve never even heard of it.
Looks like a good group of titles!
Your list looks wonderful. The Zookeeper’s Wife might need to get added to my list. I’m halfway through the Anita Shreve one on my list and can’t put it down. Enjoy your books!
What great choices! I read Water for Elephants and enjoyed it.The rest I have on my TBR list! Good luck and happy reading!
Great list. I have ‘Three Cups of Tea’ on my tbr list too, though not for this challenge.
I tried listening to ‘A Long Way Gone’ on audio, read by the author, but I couldn’t finish… too sad. Maybe I’ll try again some time.
Good luck with your reading!
Great to do a library challenge!
I see a theme with the zookeeper and Water for Elephants.
If you want to round that out sometime you should add Life of Pi (kind of odd, but interesting) and Hannah’s Dream (which I LOVED).
Water for Elephants was recommended to me by someone at work too. She liked it but is outside my usual books.
I hope to read The Zoo Keepers Wife too! Loved Water For Elephants.
You have a nice mix of books. Happy reading!
15 books…wow. I’m impressed. I’ve enjoyed looking through your blog today. Thanks for leaving a comment on mine. I’m obviously very new at this blogging thing!
I can tell I can get some great creative “mommying” ideas from you as well. I love the muffin tin Monday idea.
Looks like a great list. You have some on there that I really want to read. Have fun reading this Spring
Great list! I loved Water for Elephants, read Three Cups of Tea with my book club, and have The Zookeepers Wife on my tbr list. Happy spring!
I have to warn you, parts of the Ishmael Beah book are more than sad — there is GRAPHIC violence. DO NOT read that one right before bed or when feeling blue; there is plentiful nightmare fodder, and you will understand why Beah suffers PTSD to this day. It’s an excellent book, but really, be careful.
Great list. I have several of these books. I probably need to pull them out and actually read them.
Sounds like a great list…I’ve read Three Cups of Tea and enjoyed it. Several of the other ones you listed sound really interesting…I’m going to check them out further on Amazon.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and the suggestions. I’m going to add the adoption one and Stuart Little to my future list!
Happy reading!
I put The Zookeeper’s Wife on my *someday* list last fall. It’s still there, but someday…
I always end up substituting. Always!
What an excellent list. You are going to one well-read woman when you are done. I look forward to reviews/thoughts.
Oooh, I must say, I can’t handle much more than the “sunshine and lollipops” kinds of books these days! Some memoirs and historical stuff really gets to me, especially when they’re about our world’s darker times. Yikes, heavy stuff!
I like your library challenge! I’ve heard good things about #3 & #5 and #6 sounds VERY interesting. I may add it to my library list.
I’ve seen Three cups of tea but haven’t picked it up yet! The Zookeeper’s Wife also sounds like an interesting read.
Nice list. I would like to check out #2 and #3. Good luck with your reading.
Good list. I forgot about Three Cups of Tea; might have to add it to my list.
Great list…I have heard great things about Water for Elephants…I am adding it to my TBR list
Thanks for stopping by my blog
thanks for stopping by my blog. I read the book that you mentioned, A Year of Fog. It is a good read.
I will be interested to read your reviews on your books.
Happy reading.
I didn’t enjoy Three Cups of Tea or A Long Way Gone, but I’m not a big fan of memoirs. The Zookeeper’s Wife didn’t turn out to be what I expected, but it’s still pretty good. Happy reading!
My mom or grandma read Water for Elephants and said it was really good. I’m glad you found some on my list to read too!
Thanks for visiting!
I do not really know any of the books on your list, but I just added The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story to my amazon wishlist.
Those first 2 look really good – I’ve wanted to read both of those too. Good challenge you have set for yourself.
I only have two books on my list. LOL!
I really enjoyed Water for Elephants! Great list!
Interesting list! I keep seeing Three Cups of Tea and it does look good. Water for Elephants was excellent. Good luck with the challenge!
looks great! happy reading!
Jolanthe
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