my january reading goals.

This month's book list has me really excited, but I guess that's true most months.  Either way, it's a good-lookin' stack staring at me from the corner of the console table.

1.  The Holiness of God by RC Sproul.  This book has been staring me down for months.  (In fact, in reading through old reading lists from previous years, I discovered that I had it on my To Read list for 2012, after not having gotten to it in 2011.  It's been a long time coming.)  I'm about halfway through it, and loving it, so I'm determined to finally finish it this month!

2.  The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis.  This one has been eyeballing me for a while as well.  I've really enjoyed what I've read of it so far, but as this has been my 'purse book', the one I bring with me to Atticus' speech appointments and whatnot.  But I'm finding I should just start over with it at home, since I think I'll retain more of it if I'm able to read it in longer, less-frequently-interrupted stretches.

3.  A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  I am so stinking excited to read this.  I read Bill Bryson's, "The Road to Little Dribbling," and just adored it.  His travel narrative, his insight, his humor.  Just excellent.  This one is in a similar vein, but instead of documenting a course through Britain, he writes about his travels along the Appalachian Trail.  And y'all know how I love a book with a sense of place, and how I especially love it when that place is somewhere in the South.  This is going to be so good.

4.  Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck.  I love love love Steinbeck.  And it's another colorful travel narrative.  Count me in.

5.  The Life of Prayer by Edith Schaeffer.  I swear I've been slowly working my way through this since like August or something.  It's excellent stuff, and I have a girl crush on Edith Schaeffer, but if there's one present difficulty in reading her work, it's that she's not terribly succinct.  It takes me a while to wade through all the words, so I need frequent rest stops.  But this is the month I finish, friends.  This is the month I finish.  Lord willing.

6.  The Sonnets of William Shakespeare.  I just started these the other day, and I have been surprised by how much I have loved them.  Like, all-in adoration.  I find myself thinking about them when I'm doing the dishes, and going to back to re-read them in order to find some especially satisfying line or thought.  Who'd have thought Shakespeare would prove to be good and interesting?  Not me, but that's because I'm a Cretan at heart.  But here I am, finding my Cretan heart being melted and civilized and won over.  I'm about to become one of those priggish farts that calls him the Bard and refers to him like we're best friends.  "Well, just this morning, the Bard mentioned blahblahblah."

7.  The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.  This is a year-long collection of readings from ancient stoics, so obviously I won't be finishing it this month.  I'm enjoying it so far.

8.  The Town that Food Saved by Ben Hewitt.  Ben Hewitt's book, "Homegrown" was a favorite among last year's books, and this one seems to be kind of in the same vein as one of my perennial favorites, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Barbara Kingsolver.  I'm a sucker for agriculture/food systems journalism, and this falls right in there, but I'm about fifty pages in and I'm still waiting to get really engrossed.  So we'll see.

9.  Mother and Son: The Respect Effect by Emerson Eggerichs.  This is by the same author that wrote Love and Respect, if you've read that.  I'm really excited to dig into some of the ways the principle of respect should affect how I'm parenting my boys, especially as they get older.  Should be good.

10.  (Not Pictured) The Call of the Wild by Jack London.  I'm listening to this on audiobook when I walk on the treadmill.  I'm enjoying it so far!


And in case you'd like to read any of them along with me, I figured out how to make this fancypants thingy.


On to conquer January's books! What are you reading this month?