List of 52 Books I'd like to Read in 2019

I'm going to try something I've never tried before. I am going to set my reading goal for 2019 at 52 books. (You can track with me on Goodreads HERE.) Usually I like to go with the flow of things and pick books randomly as the year trots along and who knows but that I'll do that yet. However, I'd like to conduct a little experiment and see how much I could read from a planned list of books. Let us see.

Out of 52 books I'd like to leave room for 12 random reads because something tells me this experiment doesn't stand a chance unless there's room for some amount of flexibility!

That leaves 40 books to select and put on a Prepared Reading List for 2019.  In no particular order, these are the titles I'd really like to get to in 2019. Many are from my own bookshelves and there are some I'm probably going to be forced to collect. (Wink)

Starting with the most important read of the year and moving on from there -

1. I'll be using the One Year Chronological Study Bible this year again. I've used it for the past 5(ish?) years and I find it the easiest, most consistent way to make sure I read through the Bible every year. It's laid out by date which is ever so helpful as I'm not trying to keep track of a separate piece of paper and keep track of readings. Why that's a challenge for me, I don't know, but I do know that this particular One Year Bible has been tremendously handy and feel I ought to stick with it!

Account for Flexible Reads -

2 - 13. Open slots for flexibility.

BOOKS FOR ME

Fiction - 

14. The Clockmakers Daughter, by Kate Morton. This title was just released this fall. LOVE Kate Morton. My son gave me this book for Christmas and I can't wait to dive in.

15. The Story Peddler, by Lindsay Franklin. Another gift from another son for Christmas. (It was a very good, bookish sort of Christmas!)

16. Carrie's War, by Nina Bawden. I picked this one up in Scotland because, I mean, how could I not?

17. Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster. I picked up the Puffins Classic version because a.) it's pretty and b.) I haven't read this book yet.

18. A Rogue's Life, by Wilkie Collins

19. Golden Lads, by Daphnie Du Maurier

20. Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner

21. Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, by Brian Jacques

22. Along the Shore, by L.M. Montgomery

23. The Gown, by Jennifer Robson (I have a review copy for this one!)


Non-Fiction - 

24. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, by Nabeel Quireshi

25. Victoria and Abdul, by Shrabani Basu (I'm terribly iffy on this one and if there was a book I might change my mind about, this would be the one. I picked it up at the library book sale after hearing about the movie. Reading the back of the book makes me rethink things. We'll see.)

26. The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence, by Gavin de Becker (Came highly recommended by a friend of mine.)

27. It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, by Lysa Terkuerst

Books I'd like to Re-Read - 

28. Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss

29. Hinds' Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard

30 - 41. The Mitford Series, by Jan Karon

To Read With the Kids

42. The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart (a re-read, but the younger kids don't remember it)

43. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

44 - 49. The First Five Great Mouse Detective Books, by Eve Titus

50. The Magic Faraway Tree, by Enid Blyton

51. Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard Atwater

52. Ramona the Pest, by Beverly Cleary

That's a wrap.

Even just writing down those titles made me realize how little reading time I've carved out for myself of late and how small a stack 52 books really is when all is said and done. Clearly I shall die with a TBR list that's 14,000 miles long. I'm sure you can appreciate the feeling, yes? Writing this down motivates me to read, read, read and see if I can best myself. But. If all I read are 52 books it will be good and I need to be satisfied with that! Here's to books, the places they take us, and how much that they teach us!

Happy 2019 everyone!

The Fairy Caravan, by Beatrix Potter

I had never heard of The Fairy Caravan before just a few months ago. I feel like I ought to have heard about it, but I hadn't. I've always associated Beatrix Potter with England but when our family was in Scotland, driving between locations, we passed by Birnam. We spotted a sign advertising the Beatrix Potter Exhibit which resulted in a quick exit into Birman and to the Birnman Arts Center where we learned all kinds of things about Potter than we never knew before! As it would seem, the Potter family spent summers in the Birman/Perthshire area. Two of her books were penned in this region, specifically The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher. The museum in Birman is small but cute and the kids enjoyed the stop. Mostly the exhibit featured posters sharing information about the Potter family but then they had a lovely play area for kids to dress up as Potter characters, color, and play at being old fashioned grocers. I wouldn't say that this is a Must See Attraction but we certainly didn't mind the pit stop! (UK pit stops are incredibly enjoyable, in our opinion! Ha!)

At any rate, inside the gift shop I came across one last copy of The Fairy Caravan. It's a Puffin Classic Edition - (which #bookstagramers will note as being supremely cute!) - and I feel in love with it immediately. Books are my souvenirs of choice when traveling and this seemed a fine thing to bring home. I had intentions of reading it while we traveled but that didn't happen. We read it at home instead, finishing it up this week.

The Fairy Caravan tells the story of Tuppeny the guinea pig who decides to leave town, home, and nagging wife to start a new life. He comes across a miniature traveling circus made up of a variety of different animals. These animals travel about unseen by human eyes because they have magic hayseeds which keep them hidden from view. They travel about the countryside, unawares, and put on performances for various other animals. They have all sorts of adventures in very Potter-y fine form.

We fell in love with the book instantly upon reading. The character of Paddy Pig, a jovial but somewhat crazy sound pig, quickly captured our hearts and we laughed at his antics and speeches. You know a book is going to be great when it induces laughter. However, I would say that although the book stayed cute and enjoyable for me, my younger kids were somewhat lost as the book continued on. The circus caravan stop to visit a herd of sheep and the sheep engage in some story telling of their own which, between the vocabulary and descriptions of Scottish landscapes and general practices of sheep herding, I sort of lost my readers. We pressed on through these passages, but they are frequent enough that I'd say this is a book worth saving until your kids are old enough to track with the descriptions of animal husbandry.

Do I regret reading A Fairy Caravan? Not at all. We found much to enjoy, despite a few chapters to slog through. It was fun and I'm glad to have become acquainted with this read. If you haven't heard of it, well, here's your introduction! If you are a Beatrix Potter fan, I've no doubt you'll want to find a copy of this story!

Links to other books we've read aloud together:

• The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White

The Adventures of Hamish and Mirren, by Moira Miller

One of this blog's readers picked up on the fact that our family recently took a little vacation. For the past few years we've been blessed to make a trip out of the country. Last year we visited Prince Edward Island and this fall we went on holiday to Scotland. As always, before we travel I like to scrounge for books about the country we plan to visit and read up on it. I'm always looking for picture and chapter books to share with our kids and one of the ones I found this year was The Adventures of Hamish and Mirren: Magical Scottish Stories for Children, by Moira Miller. Whether or not you or your family is traveling to Scotland in actuality or not, I recommend this read. At the very least, you can transport yourself there via imagination!

The book opens with Hamish residing with his "old mother" on a farm by a loch on the west coast of Scotland. A Big Wind comes along and destroys Hamish's hay stacks and he heads off to chase it. His journeys take him to the home of Mirren and her father and sisters. The two fall in love and marry, after which he brings her back to live with his mother on the farm. The remainder of the book talks about their various adventures on the farm with an old and troublesome witch, some mischief loving wee folk, some noble seal people, and Hamish and Mirren's own growing family. It is a delicious book of magic and hilarity and it delighted us thoroughly.

This is a chapter book with easy-to-breeze-through chapters. Amazon.com ear-marks this book as being best suited for readers for grades 1-2 which is silly. This book is tremendous fun for a person at any age and I wouldn't get stuck on their labeling system. We read through a handful of Scottish fairy tale chapter books in preparation for travels and this one was our absolute favorite. It is good, clean innocent fun; it is not remotely dark or scary. This book was published by a Scottish book publisher called Kelpies which is worth looking into as they have a slew of titles worth checking out!  The Adventures of Hamish and Mirren makes for a terrific read-aloud and bonus points to anyone who can read it with a Scottish accent. (I stumbled and fell but it was still great fun to try in the privacy of my own home.)

In conclusion I'll share a few random pictures that we took on our visit to the Isle of Skye which lies off the coast of the mainland. We stayed a week in a thatched cottage next to the Fairy Glen.  (Yes, it was just as magical as it sounds.) The beauty of Fairy Glen defied imagination and the photos do not remotely do the place justice. It was my favorite spot in all of Scotland and I bet you can guess why when you see these images.

Again, whether or not you ever manage a trip to Scotland, you can escape there with the help of Hamish and Mirren and we highly recommend that you do! This book is sure to engage the reader and provide a lovely time.

The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit

Once upon a time our family traveled to England for a month. While we were there we took in the stage production of The Railway Children which is performed in a specially designed theater connected to King's Cross Station. I meant to read the book before we saw the play but that didn't happen but it really was alright. Our kids were younger then and if I had read the story to them any earlier, I fear they wouldn't remember it. The play they remember in part and the book they now stand a better chance of remember in full.  (That's what we call a "win/win" right?)

As noted, we finally corrected our gaffe and read the book and it was a charming delight from beginning to end. In case you are unfamiliar with the plot line, I shall briefly fill you in:

Three children - Roberta ("Bobbie"), Peter and Phyillis - have their life turned upside a bit when their father is very suddenly and abruptly "called away" and their mother must move with them to the countryside. The children aren't sure as to why their father isn't around, but, being children, they quickly adapt to their new circumstances. Mother, who has always had time for play before, must now spend her time writing stories to make a little money. The children are largely left to their own devices and make a few choice friends down at the local railway station. Most of the story surrounds various incidents which occur around the railway line but we also get to know them through the eyes of other locals from the village. Running throughout the story are questions about where their father might have gone and when he might return. The book concludes happily alright but the family does undergo a fair amount of challenge and suffering before we're done getting to know them. Told in Nesbit's lovely style, this is a story our family is sure to remember for a long while.

I found The Railway Children well-suited for a read aloud. The chapters are a bit long so we only read one a day (we usually aim for two). Our kids are ages three to eleven and it was certainly our oldest three that got the most out of the story, laughing at all the right parts, etc. I would say if you only want to read this book once, then wait until your kids are at least six or seven before taking time out for this. However, I hardly think this is a "one and done" sort of read. I could easily see us devouring this book several times over. But that's Nesbit for you; her works are generally re-readable.

The Railway Children held a few surprises for me, in particular, at the end. Nesbit's theology shines through during a particular conversation between her characters. Peter and his mother are having a little heart-to-heart on account of the fact that Peter is missing his father's presence. He doesn't know the reasons why his father isn't at home with the family and proposes that sometimes books are better than real-life. He suggests to his mother that if their life were a story, Mother could just write it out so that Father would come home. The following interaction takes place:

Peter's mother put her arm round him suddenly, and hugged him in silence for a minute.

Then she said:

'Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing a book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right - in the way that's best for us.'

'Do you really believe that, Mother?' Peter asked quietly.

'Yes,' she said, 'I do believe it - almost always - except when I'm so sad that I can't believe anything. But even when I can't believe it, I know it is true - and I try to believe it. You don't know how I try, Peter.'

What a gem of a passage! There are many times over the course of my life that I've wished the story was going a little differently. It's tremendously easy to believe that I know best and that I'd write the story of my life out much better. In my Chronological Study Bible I've reached the story of Job where he too questions God's plan. I absolutely love the passage in Job 38 - 41 where God thunders out His reply in a manner which causes Job to stand still and believe.

Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” Job 40:3-5

There is so much that we can't know about our own lives so long as we're here on earth. There is so much that we will dream of having happen to us or through us on their earth that will never be. We will always live with questions. We will always be surrounded by mystery. This will never change. Our sole duty and responsibility is to believe. Believe that the Lord is Who He says that He is. Believe that His ways are higher, more perfect, and more holy than our imagination can comprehend. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for that is how we will be saved. (Acts 16:31; Hebrews 11:6)

Nesbit, through her character of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis's mother, got it right. If we were in charge of writing our own stories and proclaiming our own destinies, we'd be at a risk getting things wrong and making mistakes. But God knows how to make each of our stories end just right - in the way that is best for us.

It's worth reading the entirety of The Railway Children for this one passage if for no other reason. I loved it in every particular and I'm so glad that we took the time to get to know this book.

Of course, now that we've read the book we are permitted to watch the Masterpiece Theater version which we will do so as promptly as is humanely possible. My own children are already at me to see it. I must confess I'm just as impatient to get to it as they are!