The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.717: My 2023 Read My Shelves Bingo Challenge

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I’m making plans for success in 2023!  One of my goals is to read from my own bookshelves and I’ve been brainstorming a way to make it exciting and fun.  Enter the Read My Shelves Bingo Challenge!  The goal is to complete the entire board, but I’ll be happy to complete even half of the prompts.  I’ll allow myself the ability to change choices at any time, but here are some of the books on my radar:

Do you need to get your TBR under control like me?  Pick up a bingo board over on my Ko-Fi page!  The file includes one board in color and one that is more printer friendly.  I also included a blank bingo board so you can fill it any way you need.  Happy Reading!

No.682: Reading Goals for the Rest of 2022

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I recently watched a video from a “Booktuber” who shared her reading goals for the rest of 2022.  I was inspired!  I’m typically a mood reader, so pre-planning is a little outside of my comfort zone.  We’ll see how this goes.  Here are my five goals for the next 4.5ish months of the year:

+ Read four books for the Alphabet Fiction Challenge. (Q, R, S, T)

I’m on a roll with this challenge and would like to get as close to the end as possible.  Four possible choices:

+ Read a book from last year’s Mother Culture basket.

I’d like to read Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson.  This would also satisfy “I” for the Alphabet Author Challenge.

+ Read three books for the 20th Century in Books Challenge.

I’ve been working on this challenge since 2019 and am almost to the halfway point.  Oops!  I really need to prioritize this in 2023.  Here are three possible choices:

+ Read three religious books.

Still plugging away on the Daily Spiritual Reading Challenge.  I read these at a slower pace, but still hope to get three finished by December 31st.  Three possible choices:

+ Read two WILLA Award Winners.

And finally, my newest reading challenge!  I’d like to read these two books:

Whew!  13 books with room for a few wildcard picks in between.  I’ll keep you posted.

No.677: A New Reading Challenge // WILLA Literary Award Winners

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Another year, another reading challenge! 

Have you heard of the WILLA Awards?  According to the website, “The WILLA Literary Awards honor the best in literature, featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the West that are published each year. Women Writing the West (WWW), a nonprofit association of writers and other professionals writing and promoting the Women’s West, underwrites and presents the nationally recognized award annually at the WWW Fall Conference. The award is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather, one of the country’s foremost novelists.”

I’d like to read the last six years of award winners (2016-2021) in the Historical Fiction and Contemporary Fiction categories.  I’ve already read a few of them and will update this post as I go!

HISTORICAL FICTION WINNERS

CONTEMPORARY FICTION WINNERS

No.614: I Tried to Read 1,000 Pages in One Week

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Last week, I tried to read 1,000 pages in seven days!  (Around this time last year, I tried to read 24 out of 48 hours, so this has become an unofficial winter tradition.)   1,000 pages equals about 143 pages a day, which is a lot!  I knew going in that I probably wouldn’t be completely successful due to all of my other commitments, but still figured it would be a fun way to spend a chilly winter week.  Here’s how it went:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14

Day One and a strong start to the challenge!  I started out the day reading two chapters of our school read aloud for January, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming.  Really cute so far.

Later in the afternoon, with school finished and everyone off doing their own thing, I focused on a book I promised to read and review for Netgalley called Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson.  I’ve been reading it off and on since October and have had such a hard time getting into it.  Today was the day that I pushed through and finished!  Thankfully, it started to pick up some speed at about halfway through.  It was a decent story and had some thought provoking moments.  I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts with my end of month wrap up.

Before bed, I chose The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life by Father Charles Arminjon.  How about that for a bedtime pick me up, ha!  St. Therese of Lisieux, my Confirmation saint, is quoted as saying that this book was one of the greatest graces of her life, so I’m happy to finally read it for myself.

Total pages read: 214

SATURDAY, JANUARY 15

A big storm was in the forecast for Sunday, so I spent the morning in preparation mode: getting the animals warm and ready, moving fencing, loading up on firewood, and doing all of the laundry in case we lose power.  I finally sat down with a cup of coffee in the afternoon and read a chapter from Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World by B. Brett Finlay, PhD and Marie-Claire Arriera, PhD.  I can already tell that this one is going to be a catalyst for further research.

At bedtime, I tried to keep reading but promptly fell asleep after five pages.  Oops!

Total pages read: 39

SUNDAY, JANUARY 16

After debating the odds of getting to Mass and back before the snow, we ultimately decided to play it safe and stay home.  That turned out to be the right decision since the snow started thick and heavy and didn’t let up all afternoon!  In the morning, I pulled out The End of the Present World again so I could finish the second chapter.  This one was all about the Antichrist – whew!

Later, I picked up my book club book for January, The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor.  (I need to get moving on this one; our meeting is next week!)  I read off and on all afternoon into bedtime and got a significant chunk finished.

Total pages read: 108

MONDAY, JANUARY 17

A day off of school and work for our family!  I spent the morning keeping busy inside while everyone else shoveled the driveway or played in the snow.  (This snowfall wasn’t quite as fun as last time – very icy and crunchy.)  I was able to read a bit more from Let Them Eat Dirt and I’m learning so much about the pros and cons of antibiotic use and the importance of probiotics.

At bedtime, I went back to The Violent Bear It Away.  I wanted to finish the last half, but my eyes were drooping with forty pages to go.  Tomorrow!

Total pages read: 116

TUESDAY, JANUARY 18

Day five!  With just three days to go, I calculated that I would now need to read 174 pages a day to get back on track.  A tall order!  I started the day with two more chapters of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for read aloud.  The kids beg for more, but my voice can only hold out for so many pages.

When the kids went out to sled in the afternoon, I finished the last few chapters of The Violent Bear It Away.  I closed the book and my first thought was, “What in the world did I just read?!”  I know there are many Catholic themes and imagery throughout, but I think I need someone to fully flesh it all out for me.  Really looking forward to book club next week.

Later, I cozied up in bed early and started All Manner of Things by Susie Finkbeiner.  This is a historical fiction novel about a family during the Vietnam War era.  I read about 90 pages before falling asleep.  Solid three stars so far.

Total pages read: 166

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19

For school, I finished reading the last two chapters of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with the kids.  We really liked it!  I ordered the 1960s movie of the same title (with Dick Van Dyke) and we look forward to seeing how accurately it follows the story.

The rest of Wednesday was a blur.  So much going on and no time to sit down and read!  Such is life… I feel like this week is a pretty accurate representation of how I fit my reading in those little pockets of free time.  Sometimes there’s a big stretch, sometimes there are only a few minutes, sometimes I don’t pick up a single book until bedtime.  Every day is a little different.

At bedtime, I read about half of a chapter from Let Them Eat Dirt and then returned to All Manner of Things.

Total pages read: 128

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20

A cold, overcast winter day seemed like the right kind of day to wrap up this challenge.  We picked a new read aloud for school, Ben and Me by Robert Lawson.  The book is about Benjamin Franklin and a mouse named Amos and it has a bit of a Ratatouille feel!  While the kids did their math, I was also able to read a few more pages in Let Them Eat Dirt.  I’m learning so much!

I had high hopes of getting into bed early and hitting that 1,000 page goal by finishing All Manner of Things.  Ahh, you know what they say about best-laid plans…

Total pages read: 110

FINAL THOUGHTS AND STATS

With a little bit of planning and a blind eye to chores, I definitely think I could accomplish this 1,000 pages in a week goal someday.  I think the key is finding another small pocket of time in the afternoon, since I often fall asleep quickly while reading at bedtime.  Maybe next year!

Total pages read: 881
Books finished: 3

No.575: TBR Tuesday // The Booktube Spin, Round Four

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I’m late to the party (as usual) but wanted to participate in the fourth round of The Booktube Spin! With this challenge, you pick 20 books from your TBR and list them by number.  This time, I copied Krista at Book and Jams and chose 10 of the highest rated books on my Goodreads TBR shelf and 10 of the lowest.  My one caveat was that I had to have the book already on my shelf.  Here’s my list:

1. The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise by Cardinal Robert Sarah (4.44 rating)
2. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (4.41)
3. The Brothers K by David James Duncan (4.38)
4. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (4.38)
5. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (4.36)
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (4.32)
7. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (4.32)
8. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (4.32)
9. Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell (4.32)
10. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (4.31)
11. The Red Leather Diary by Lily Coppel (3.41)
12. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure (3.48)
13. Ursula Under by Ingrid Hill (3.71)
14. Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work by Jeanne Marie Laskas (3.82)
15. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier (3.82)
16. Still Life by Louise Penny (3.89)
17. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (3.89)
18. What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People by Joe Navarro (3.89)
19. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (3.92)
20. The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (3.93)

The creator of the challenge spun a wheel and the arrow landed on…number 8!  For more adventurous readers, he spun a second number and it landed on number 5.  The challenge is to read one or both books by December 31.  I’m excited!

No.495: March Reading with Ireland, Mysteries & Middle Grade

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February was an awesome reading month for me (I blame it on the relentlessly bad winter weather) and I read 11 books!  Here are a few things I learned about myself during that time:

  1. I can only read so much about World War II at one time.  In all, I read four books centered around that time period and it was too much.  By the end of February, I was even starting to have strange, slightly disturbing dreams at night!  I think these historical books are important and necessary, but I’ll probably go a good stretch before picking one up again.
  2. This makes me sound like a weirdo, but suspense thrillers are great palate cleansers to read in between heavy books.  They’re generally fast-paced and all relatively the same, but entertaining and fun.
  3. Reading about a deadly pandemic had me taking all the prepper notes.  Lots of “What would we do if..?” questions while I read.

I read most of the books I had picked out for the readathons, but I also allowed myself some random choices throughout the month.  It was a good mix of structure and mood reading.

With spring on the horizon, bringing my focus and time to things outside, I know my reading will soon slow down considerably.  But you know me – I still couldn’t help browsing around for some reading inspiration!  I’m sure I won’t get to all of these, here’s what I found for March:

March Mystery Madness

The prompts for this challenge are “Single, Number, Person, Place, Weather, Color, Time and Space” plus a bonus.  I found four books from my shelf that fit:

The Irish Readathon

I admit that my knowledge of Irish literature/authors is quite limited, so I’m looking forward to diving into both of these highly recommended works:

Middle Grade March

Except for school read alouds, I don’t read a lot of middle grade, so this wasn’t a challenge immediately on my radar.  There are a few exceptions that I’ve had tucked away and maybe this is the time to actually read them?  Hoping to read at least one of these:

The Booktube Spin

I still need to read the book from Round One: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, but positive news: I also picked up and read two other books I had on the list.

The Buzzword Readathon

The word for March is “time” so I think I’m going to choose The Time in Between by Maria Duenas.  It’s a little intimidating at over 600 pages!

Your turn!  I’d love to hear what book is on your nightstand.

{Linking up again with Rosie}

No.489: 24in48 Reading Challenge // February 2021

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One of my bookish goals for February was to try the 24in48 Reading Challenge!  The challenge goes from 12:01AM on Day 1 to 11:59PM on Day 2 and I worked this into my schedule on Friday and Saturday.  The goal is to read 24 of the 48 hours and obviously, I didn’t get anywhere near that! Even so, it was a fun way to start a winter weekend and a really good excuse to tuck away my phone.  Here’s a recap:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12

6:40 am // Good morning!  I was up before the little ones, so I got in a few pages from Diaries of the Chinese Martyrs while I drank my coffee.  This quote was particularly thought-provoking:

Someone has called what we were experiencing in 1949 and 1950 a persecution.  But I wish to be precise toward the atheistic Chinese government.  I do not wish to call persecution the confiscation of goods, the occupation of our churches, of our residences, and of our works; or the restrictions on worship, the semi-house arrest, et cetera; I wish only to call them warning signs of the persecution.  At this point, the persecution was at the door, and it burst in on us like a hurricane. (p.22)

I drank about half of my mug before truly starting the day: making the bed, tidying things up and getting kids fed.

7:45 am // With everyone’s needs met, I snuck away with my breakfast (oatmeal, per usual) to read my current fiction novel, The Truth According to Us.  I had to force myself to get moving after 30 minutes, but I’m so close to being done!  Two chapters to go.

9:00 am // After taking a shower and starting a load of laundry, off to school we go!  The bigger kids do a lot of independent work, but I stay close in case they need me or have questions.  In fits and spirts, a few minutes here and a few minutes there, I continued reading and finished The Truth According to Us.  It was a different story than I expected, but I liked it a lot.

1:35 pm // More schoolwork, lunch, laundry and a long conversation with my oldest boys (big kids are fun to be around) before I could sneak away for more reading!  I started a new book called The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff, which is about female secret agents during World War II.  After 35 minutes, I was three chapters in and hooked!  So good so far.

2:50 pm // Another little pocket of time to read The Lost Girls of Paris.  I loved this quote:

Grace…liked a certain order to her world, took comfort in its mundaneness.  Now the whole apple cart seemed toppled. (p.49)

Me too, Grace.  Me too.

5:00 pm // The rest of the afternoon was a blur!  I had the night off from dinner duty (my husband made homemade pita bread and we ate it with hummus, feta and olives) and instead cuddled a sleepy 4-year-old.  He fell asleep as I read a few more pages.

8:00 pm // I got into bed with every intention of making up some time and reading as long as I could…aaaand I was sound asleep by 9:30.  Better luck tomorrow!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13

6:50 am // Day two!  I read more of The Lost Girls of Paris while drinking my coffee, but tore myself away to start the morning’s chores and throw in a load of laundry.

8:20 am // Finally sat down to breakfast with some homemaking inspiration.  I read a few pages from Home Economics and then read the Introduction chapter to Theology of Home II: The Spiritual Art of Homemaking.  I think I’m going to like this one even more than the first!

9:15 am // It is absolutely miserable outside with sleet and ice everywhere.  Mark thankfully made it back safely (on our rural untreated roads!) with groceries, so I helped put everything away before heading back to The Lost Girls of Paris.  I had to take a few short breaks to accommodate children, but otherwise read for almost three hours!

1:15 pm // I broke for lunch and an afternoon cup of coffee, then went back to reading.  The Lost Girls is definitely a page-turner, but I haven’t decided about how I feel about it as a whole.

3:45 pm //  Finished!

4:30 pm // Hoping to put in a few extra reading minutes before starting dinner, I read the first chapter of Theology of Home II.  This quote was good:

Fundamentally, fruitfulness is about relationships – about sheltering, birthing, midwifing, cultivating, nourishing, and being receptive to the needs, gifts, and potential of others.  It is like the conductor who knows which part of the orchestra needs his attention, when to tone things down, when to step them up, when to encourage and when to silence, when to focus in and when to let go.  Such activity requires really knowing others.  This type of womanly knowing can happen outside of the home, in the workplace, in schools, in spiritual motherhood, or in mentorship of others.  But while certainly not limited to the home, the home is the natural environment for this sort of intimacy, knowledge, and responsiveness to take place.  More and more women are beginning to make these connections and return to valuing home life. (p.33)

7:00 pm // Time for a new fiction pick.  I decided to go with a recent thriller called Never Look Back.  I learned about this one from someone on Youtube and I’m going into it completely blind.  One chapter in and I’m not sure if I’ll like it.  We’ll see.

8:00 pm // In bed and ready to get some hours in.  Never Look Back is picking up speed!  I read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open at 10:00.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS AND STATS

This challenge is a little tricky if you have children and responsibilities, but still completely doable!  When I would be tempted to pick up my phone or my computer, I’d try to pick up a book instead.  I was reading, but available to my family and they generally played or hung out around me.  With over 14 years of motherhood under my belt, I can tune out just about anything.  This was such a good challenge for a chilly, winter weekend.  I think I may try it again this summer!

Total hours read for Friday: 4 hours 22 minutes
Total hours read for Saturday: 6 hours 46 minutes
Total hours read for the weekend: 11 hours 8 minutes

Total pages read: 580 pages
Books finished: 2

No.269: My First ScallywagAThon

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Last month, I randomly came across a week-long readathon called the ScallywagAThon.  I loved the graphics and got all excited to complete it…only to realize that it was last year’s challenge and 2019 had something entirely new.  Ahh, always late to the party.  Since I had already had figured out most of my books, I went with it anyway.  The goal is to complete at least four of the challenges in a week’s time, which is way faster than I read, hah!  So instead, I’ve just gone at my normal pace.

Here is the “path” I chose, the books and my short thoughts on each:

1 // SIREN’S SONG – HAS MERMAIDS OR SIRENS
I picked The Mermaid by Christina Henry.  This is a historical fairy tale about a mermaid who leaves the sea to become an attraction in P.T. Barnum’s show.  The premise had a lot of promise, but the book itself was just…meh.

7 // SHARK BAIT – HAS RED ON THE COVER
I picked Big Girls Don’t Cry by Connie Briscoe.  This is a coming of age novel about an African American girl in the 1960’s.  I enjoyed how it explored her struggles and growth through the years.  Head’s up though – there is quite a bit of sexual content.

B // THAR SHE BLOWS – A BOOK THAT’S EXPLODED WITH POPULARITY THIS YEAR
I picked Click Here to Start by Denis Markell.  This was a bit of a stretch, but both of my big boys read and loved it, so it’s definitely popular around here!

9 // BLOW DOWN THE MAN // A BOOK BY A WOMAN AUTHOR
I picked These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy E. Turner, an American saga told in journal entries about a brave woman living in an unfamiliar frontier.  I didn’t realize until I started, but this would also work for Prompt #6, Treasure Map – A book that has a map in it.

Have you completed the ScallywagAThon before?  What path would you take?

No.255: The 20th Century in Books // A 100 Book Reading Challenge

In January, I quietly started a fun reading challenge to expand my reading to more than just the newest bestseller.  The idea started after taking a peek at my reading stats on Goodreads:
I’m reading almost exclusively from the last 20 years and while there really is nothing wrong with that, I also think that it’s difficult to be wise about the future without learning from the past.  SO!  New ongoing challenge is to read one published book for each year of the 20th century.  100 books!  I’m not putting an end date on this, but I hope to be more mindful as I choose what to read in the coming years.  I’ll update the post with the full list of 100 books at the end.  
UPDATE: You can find the current status of this challenge on this page.

No.71: Into the Depths of Catholicism – Book #1 and A Reading Challenge

“…I try to project a joyful, confident presence.  To be honest, I think the smile goes a long way.  I hope they see a joyfulness in being Catholic, that there’s more to it than the scandal we’ve been through – without for a second denying those scandals, and how terrible they were, but there’s more to it than that.  I like to believe that gives people hope.” (p.219) 

I think I first stumbled upon Bishop Robert Barron’s work with Word on Fire last winter.  After hearing glowing reviews, I purchased his Catholicism DVD series for Mark’s birthday and we have really enjoyed watching them.  Barron has a way of making challenging theological concepts approachable and understandable and in a non-threatening way.  His evangelization method is a bit unique, so I was excited to read more in his new book, To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age.

To Light a Fire on the Earth is the result of hours of conversations between Bishop Barron and journalist John L. Allen Jr.  The book reads like an interview, with commentary from Allen and long quoted passages from Barron.  It is a healthy mix of biography, reflection and down-to-earth advice.  I like Barron’s strategic use of beauty as an invitation for individuals to learn more about Catholicism:

In Christian tradition, beauty, goodness, and truth are known as ‘transcendentals,’ linked to the three core human abilities to feel, to wish, and to think. Jesus refers to them in the Great Commandment when he talks about the mind, the soul, and the heart and inducements to take the wrong path with each of the transcendentals formed the core of his temptation scene in the Gospels. While Barron is convinced that Catholic Christianity represents the fullness of all three, he’s equally convinced that the right way to open up the Catholic world to someone is with its beauty…
“There’s something winsome and less threatening about the beautiful. ‘Just look,’ the evangelist might say,’ at Chartres Cathedral or the Sainte Chapelle or the Sistine Chapel ceiling or the mosaics at Ravenna. ‘Just read,’ he might urge, ‘Dante’s Divine Comedy or one of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poems, or Chesterton’s Orthodoxy.’ ‘Just watch,’ he might suggest, ‘Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity at work among the poorest of the poor.’ The wager is that the encounter with the beautiful will naturally lead someone to ask ‘What made such a thing possible?’” (p.41)

I appreciated Barron’s analysis on a wide range of topics concerning Catholics today, everything from prayer to science to social media.  Lots of food for thought.  This book is a great choice for someone interested in a new way of evangelizing faith to a skeptical and/or uninterested generation.

I received this book from Blogging for Books and all opinions are my own.

_________________________________________
One of my 2018 goals is to “Dive deep into faith” and this book was just the inspiration I needed to get started.  This quote really stuck out to me: 

…Barron’s stock advice to aspiring evangelists is to “read, read, read,” meaning to immerse oneself in Catholic thought and teaching, and in the great works of Catholic literature.  Secular nones sometimes ask a lot of smart questions of believers, Barron says, and without a solid intellectual foundation, evangelists will find themselves flustered, frustrated, and ultimately, ineffective. (p.126)

Faith is like a muscle – I need to do the work to make it stretch and grow.  I need to ask – and be able to answer – “What do I believe and why do I believe it?”  So to make it fun (and keep me on track!), I created this handy little reading challenge.  Feel free to use it too!  While the challenge was made with Catholicism in mind, it certainly can be adapted to other denominations too.  I’d love to know your favorite books – help me fill in the blanks!

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