Update on the 888 Challenge

I've changed some of the genres and titles around to fit my need to go down "rabbit trails." I like the idea of having a game plan for reading. Yet, I know that I need the freedom to explore other books. Of course, there are some books that I'm reading now that don't even fall into any of these categories.

1.) Jane Austen related Books

1. Jane Austen in Boca by Paula Marantz Cohen (April)

2. Jane Austen in Scarsdale by Paula Marantz Cohen (April)

3. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James (April)

2.) The First in a Series of Mystery Books

1. Fr. Brown Mysteries by Chesterton

2. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries by Carrie Bebris (March)

3. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Club by Alexander McCall Smith

4. Beatrix Potter Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

5. Jane Austen Mysteries by Stephanie Barron (March)

6. Brother Cadfael Mysteries by Ellis Peters (March)

7. Father Blackie Ryan Mysteries by Andrew Greeley

8. Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle

3.) Historical Fiction

1. O Pioneers by Willa Cather

2. The Fighting Ground by Avi (January)

3. My Brother Sam is Dead by Jame Collier (January)

4. Land of Goshen by Shirley Wietzel(February)

5. The Heaven Tree Trilogy by Edith Pargeter

6. The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone

7. Crispin : The Cross of Lead by Avi (February)

8. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

4.) Fantasy

1. At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald (February)

2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (February)

3. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia by C.S. Lewis (March)

4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (March)

5. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (March)

6. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (May)

7. The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

8. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

5.)History

1. Scotland's History by H.E. Marshall (April)

2. Augustus Caesar's World: A Story of Ideas and Events from BC 44 to 14 AD by Genevieve Foster (February)

3. John Adams by David McCullough (May)

4. My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Abigail and John Adams (May)

5. Characters of the Reformation by Hillaire Belloc

6. William the Conquer by Hillaire Belloc

7. The Crusades by Hillaire Belloc

8. The Great Heresies by Hillaire Belloc

6.) Christian Oriented Books

1. The Inklings : C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their friends by Humphrey Carpenter (February)

2. Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Maisie Ward (March)

3. Collected Works of St. John of the Cross vol. 1 by St. John of the Cross

4. Science of the Cross by Edith Stein

5. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (February)

6. The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald (February)

7. The Light Princess by George MacDonald (February)

8. Collected Works of Theresa of Avila vol.1 by St. Theresa of Avila

7.)Women Authors

1. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (February)

2. Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age by Fiona Maddocks (February)

3. A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep by Rumer Godden (March)

4. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (January)

5. The Joy of the Snow by Elizabeth Goudge (February)

6. The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer (January)

7. Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge (March)

8. Tiger Lillie by Lisa Samson (February)

8.) Hobby

1. Hillside landscaping by Hazel White

2. The All-in-one Garden : Grow Vegetables, Fruit, Gerbs and Flowers in the Same Space by Graham Rice (February)

3. The Backyard Berry Book : A Hands-on Guide to Growing Berries, Brambles, and Vine Fruit in the Home Garden by Stella Otto (February)

4. The 60-minute Flower Garden : Have A Yard Full of Dazzling Flowers in One Hour A Week by Ed Ball

5. 100 flowers and how they got their names by Diana Wells

6. Flowers, the angels' alphabet : the language and poetry of flowers with an American floral dictionary and twenty-eight literary calligraphy illustrations by Susan Loy

7. Mary's flowers : gardens, legends & meditations by Vincenzina Krymow

8. Fallscaping : extending your garden season into autumn by Nancy J. Ondra and Stephanie Cohen

6 Week Update

I've been enjoying the books immensely. Cranford made me smile at the simpleness of the ladies. I could see this as a Masterpiece Classic film.

I'm not a fantasy type of person. However, reading that George MacDonald's books were the inspiration behind C.S. Lewis' Narnia books was intriguing enough for me. At the Back of the North Wind was a surprise for me. I did find the first few chapters hard to get into. I'm glad I stuck it out. I now see why so many others like it.

The Fighting Ground and My Brother Sam is Dead both presented a different view of the American Revolution. These were short reads but they didn't rank there as worth reading again.

Kristin Lavransdatter was a very long book but worth reading all the way through. There were many sad parts throughout the book but it is something that I would read again.

The Fighting Ground by Avi (January)
My Brother Sam is Dead by Jame Collier (January)
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald (February)
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (February)
The Light Princess by George MacDonald (February)
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (February)
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (January)
The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer (January)

My Lofty 2008 Reading Book List

I'm going to do the 888 Challenge this year. Here are the rules if you are interested in joining in.

Sitting down to come up with 8 categories and 8 books for each category was fun. It helped me to organize all the books that were rambling around in my mind.

Humor
1. James Thurber
2. P.G. Wodehouse
3. Peter Mayle
4. James Herriot
5. E.F. Benson
6. Edmund Love
7. Robert Benchley
8. Clarence Daly
9. Thyra Bjorn*
10. Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth*

The First in a Series of Mystery Books
1. Fr. Brown Mysteries by Chesterton
2. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries by Carrie Bebris
3. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Club by Alexander McCall Smith
4. Beatrix Potter Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert
5. Jane Austen Mysteries by Stephanie Barron
6. Brother Cadfael Mysteries by Ellis Peters
7. Father Blackie Ryan Mysteries by Andrew Greeley
8. Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle

Historical Fiction
1. O Pioneers by Willa Cather
2. The Fighting Ground by Avi
3. My Brother Sam is Dead by Jame Collier
4. Land of Goshen by Shirley Wietzel
5. The Heaven Tree Trilogy by Edith Pargeter
6. The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone
7. Crispin : The Cross of Lead by Avi
8. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes


Fantasy
1. At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
2. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
3. The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
4. The Light Princess by George MacDonald
5. Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
7. Watership Down by Richard Adams
8. Redwall by Brian Jacques

5.) History
1. Phillip II by William Walsh
2. Augustus Caesar's World: A Story of Ideas and Events from BC 44 to 14 AD by Geneiveve Foster
3. Characters of the Inquisiton by William Walsh
4. Christ the King, Lord of History by Anne Carroll
5. Characters of the Reformation by Hillaire Belloc
6. William the Conquer by Hillaire Belloc
7. The Crusades by Hillaire Belloc
8. The Great Heresies by Hillaire Belloc

6.) Books on Catholics
1. The Inklings : C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their friends by Humphrey Carpenter
2. Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Maisie Ward
3. Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age by Fiona Maddocks
4. A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep by Rumer Godden
5. Isabella by William Walsh
6. Collected Works of Theresa of Avila vol.1 by St. Theresa of Avila
7. Collected Works of St. John of the Cross vol. 1 by St. John of the Cross
8. Science of the Cross by Edith Stein

7.)Women Authors
1. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
2. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
3. From Childhood to Adolescence by Maria Montessori
4. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
5. The Joy of the Snow by Elizabeth Goudge
6. The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
7. Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge
8. Tiger Lillie by Lisa Samson

8.) Hobby
1. Hillside landscaping by Hazel White
2. The All-in-one Garden : Grow Vegetables, Fruit, Gerbs and Flowers in the Same Space by Graham Rice
3. The Backyard Berry Book : A Hands-on Guide to Growing Berries, Brambles, and Vine Fruit in the Home Garden by Stella Otto
4. The 60-minute Flower Garden : Have A Yard Full of Dazzling Flowers in One Hour A Week by Ed Ball
5. 100 flowers and how they got their names by Diana Wells
6. Flowers, the angels' alphabet : the language and poetry of flowers with an American floral dictionary and twenty-eight literary calligraphy illustrations by Susan Loy
7. Mary's flowers : gardens, legends & meditations by Vincenzina Krymow
8. Fallscaping : extending your garden season into autumn by Nancy J. Ondra and Stephanie Cohen

* In case my library doesn’t have some of these authors, I've had a few more to my list.

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England by Daniel Pool

If you are a fan of 19th Century British Literature, as I am, you may find this book helpful in understanding such things as why marrying for money and not love was so important and why rich Londoners would venture to the country in the summer or why the workhouse was as bad if not worse than the prison. While I did borrow this book from the library, I could see myself referring to this often if it sat upon my bookshelf.

How the Reformation Happened by Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc sets up all the events leading to the Reformation. Unlike what most American textbooks tell us, Belloc believes that, among other things, it was hatred toward the clergy due to abuse and corruption that led to what he calls the "Flood of Revolt." Belloc explains in detail the people and events occuring in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Scotland and England that helped the Reformation happen in the 16th Century.

At 180 pages, it would appear to be a short read. However, I found it chock full of information that I had to digest in small bites.

Life in a Jewish Family: Her Unfinished Autobiographical Account (Collected Works of Edith Stein, Vol 1)

This is the autobiography of Edith Stein, a Catholic convert, who would later be known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Edith, the youngest of eleven children, grew up in a family that was lukewarm to their Jewish faith. While attending college, she became fascinated with Husserl and his idea of phenomenology. She became his student and received her doctorate based on her thesis “On the Problem of Empathy.” Later she converted to the Catholic faith after reading St. Teresa of Avila's autobiography.

The Importance of Being Foolish - How to Think Like Jesus by Brennan Manning

After reading this book, I can see why Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical , has been influenced by his writing. Brennan Manning has the ability to flesh out Jesus in a way I hadn’t quite seen before. He has shown me how Jesus thinks from the heart. It is a different perspective and it has given me several “Aha!” moments.

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

What happens when you put a guy from Tennessee in a suburban Philadelphia college? You get a "yankified" guy on fire for serving the "least of these." The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical is a story about Shane Claiborne and his spiritual journey from Tennessee to Philadelphia to India and to Iraq. His story is told in a down to earth, no nonsense way. It is a way in which you feel like you've known him for ages. Shane shares about the people, places and moments that have transformed his life. In sharing these life changing moments with us, Shane changes the lives of those who read this book.

Quaker Summer

Heather Curridge has everything - a large house with an in ground pool, a husband who is a doctor and a darling son who attends a private school. But does she really have everything? Quaker Summer is a story about suburbia and the drive to be accepted by everyone. In the process of gaining acceptance in her social circle, she loses herself. She fills her time with shopping sprees and then feels guilty about her purchases once she is home. She justifies her spending by giving away her "old" items, like deck furniture, to her friends.

Then events happen in Heather's life that challenge the way she thinks and acts. She starts to see that there really is more to her life than shopping. She reaches out to others by serving the poor, the drug addicted, the alcoholics, the lonely and the homeless. The void that Heather was trying to reach by shopping is now filled by serving. Quaker Summer will leave you feeling blessed and inspired to serve the "least of these." There is no excuse to avoid God's calling if He has tapped you on the shoulder after reading this book. Lisa Sansom, the author, had the foresight to add a list of places to volunteer at the end of the book.

Change of Plans

I thought I was going to sink a large amount of time devouring the works of Edith Stein this past week. Instead, a friend has loaned me several books on philosophy. I am hoping that I will have a better background and understanding by the time I get to Edith Steins works.

The books that I'm reading are:

Aristotle for Everybody:Difficult Thought Made Easy by Mortimer Adler.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosopy by Jay D. Stevenson

and

A Shorter Summa:The Essential Philosophical Passages of St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica edited and explained by Peter Kreeft.

Guess What Just Came in the Mail?

Our friendly postal carrier has delivered Life in a Jewish Family by Edith Stein and Essays on Woman by Edith Stein. I am just so excited! These books can be ordered through ICS Publications.

P.S. Shipping is much faster than Amazon.

Waiting on Amazon

I've been waiting several weeks now and I suspect I'll be waiting several more weeks for my book order. I'm not at all thrilled with their new shipping policy. Besides ordering several children's books that could only be ordered online through Amazon, I also ordered these books by Sofia Cavalletti:

Living Liturgy: Elementary Reflections
History's Golden Thread: The History of Salvation
The Religious Potential of the Child: 6 To 12 Year Old

Perhaps I should have ordered from the publisher themselves. I think it would have been faster.

I have no excuse anymore

Once upon a time in the dead of winter in the Dakota territory, Theodore Roosevelt took off in a makeshift boat down the Little Missouri River in pursuit of a couple of thieves who had stolen his prized rowboat. After several days on the river, he caught up and got the draw on them with his trusty Winchester, at which point they surrendered. Then Roosevelt set off in a borrowed wagon to haul the thieves cross-country to justice. They headed across the snow-covered wastes of the Badlands to the railhead at Dickinson, and Roosevelt walked the whole way, the entire 40 miles. It was an astonishing feat, what might be called a defining moment in Roosevelt's eventful life. But what makes it especially memorable is that during that time, he managed to read all of Anna Karenina. I often think of that when I hear people say that they haven't time to read.
- David McCullough, "No Time to Read?"