One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year was to read at
least 12 books I’ve never read before. I did this because I have a tendency to
read my favorite books over and over and over again. For instance, throughout
college and early marriage I read the Chronicles of Narnia every year. Last
year I read the Hunger Games three times. So I need to finally start hacking
away at my long list of “Books To Read”.
It is now July and I have read 9 books this year. If I do
not hit 12 before October I will have to take a break from “new” books and
re-read the Hunger Games in preparation for Catching Fire coming to theaters.
Otherwise, it has been refreshing to read new books.
Last post on literature I said it was time for some Dickens.
I have only read “Great Expectations” and “Oliver Twist” before. So I wanted to
read the rest of his more popular works. Of course, not back to back because
that would be downright depressing. I started with “David Copperfield” and kept
drawing similarities to “Jane Eyre”, which I read earlier this year. I haven’t
finished it though so don’t tell me how much it is actually different.
I set down “David Copperfield” to try to knock out a couple
light reads I had borrowed from my Mom. I figured if I finished them while in
Oklahoma I could mail them back to her instead of moving them to Tennessee with
us. I finished them, call her to tell her, and she tells me I can just keep
them. Well, at least that’s four more books I can cross off my to-do list.
Are you familiar with Karen Kingsbury? I classify her works
are Christian romance novels. I started reading her books in early high school.
I loved them back then and still think her earlier works are my favorite. I
have re-read them in adulthood and appreciate them even more now that I am married
and have a child. After reading 10 or more of her books though you start to
become a little disillusioned. She is still a very talented author and she
still gives hope and encouragement through her stories, but some of her
storylines are similar. So yes, read her works, but maybe read other books in
between so you can properly appreciate them. I don’t think any of hers don’t
involve a love story, so if that isn’t your interest then best leave them on
the shelf.
I fell in love with the Baxter family in her Redemption
series. I think most of her readers did because two more series revolve around
that family and they appear in other series as background characters. I haven’t
read the Firstborn series, but skipped to the Sunrise series- just because my
mom had all of those. So recently I have read “Sunrise”, “Summer”, “Someday”,
and “Sunset”. This is the continuing story of the Baxter family and I can only
imagine the trials they went through in the Firstborn series. I feel like these
characters are my friends, which is part of the draw in her books. I typically
don’t enjoy modern literature too much, but her characters are very real and
struggle with things I struggle with, making them that much more loveable. Yes,
there was a bit of repetitiveness in these books, but I felt it acceptable
since it was a sister series.
I also read “This Side of Heaven” by Karen Kingsbury. I
actually read that first. It again tore at my heart and made me want to be a
foster parent. Matt and I go back and forth on this, but that is for a
different post if I ever decide to write about it. My heart ached for the
little girl, Savannah, in the story. My heart ached for the mother in the story
who lost her adult son. No matter the age of the child, no parent wants to bury
their children. It is the natural order of life that parents should die before
their children. I cannot imagine the heartbreak of learning my son was dead.
Before having a child I would still tear up while reading her books, but after
knowing that love firsthand, I literally cannot imagine the grief. I cannot
imagine life without Jackson there to smile at me in the morning. Life is so
“normal” now with him that if he suddenly were not there I would have a
difficult time learning a new “normal”.
Part of me feels like reading Karen’s books are cheating
because they are rather easy reads. Of course, living with a toddler makes
things much more difficult than they used to be. But I suppose I have two Ender
books (Orson Scott Card) sitting on my shelf waiting for a read also and those
are rather enjoyable.
Reading is such a release. It stirs up my brain, which has
been taking it easy since I am no longer in school. I like to pretend I’m
exercising my brain when I practice the ABCs with Jackson, but let’s be honest,
I don’t even think when doing that! Oh, and I also can “read” “Brown Bear Brown
Bear” and “Mr. Brown Can Moo” by heart while turning the pages as the
appropriate times for him. Kinda nice so I can either dose or think about other
things while he wants me to read those over and over and over again! We read
them at least 5 times in a row every day before I hide them behind the couch
cushions. He also like “You Are My Sunshine”, which I can also do from memory.
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