Top 5 Reading Goals + Lists for 2017

I have four big goals this year.   

One of them is to read more often. 

I am SO excited about this list!  I estimated how much time I'd actually be able to devote to these books.  I don't know if I'll get through them all. This is my first time doing this sort of thing so I honestly have no idea of what I'm actually capable of.

Many of these books have been on my "to-read" list for many years already.   I chose books that would inspire me, encourage spiritual growth, educate me, and of course, entertain me. :-)  Some fiction, some non-fiction.  Some intended to be read on my own, others intended to be read aloud to the girls.  There are several audio books as well.  Most of these books were recommended to me by friends. There are a couple of authors on this list that are actually friends of mine, others are books by family members of one of my favorite authors.  I'm looking forward to reading every single one of these books! 

My Top 5 Reading Goals for 2017

1.   Complete year one of the 2-year Bible reading through YouVersion.
2.   Read aloud to the girls for at least 10 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week.  I plan to use this year at a glance calendar from Read Aloud Revival to keep track of how many days we read.
3.   Read or listen to all of the books on my 2017 Book List.  This works out to about 3 books per month, 4 or 5 when including audio books).
4.   Read aloud the books to the girls from my 2017 Read-Alouds list.  (2 per month)
5.   Be consistent in encouraging my girls to read on their own and to each other on a daily basis.



Bible Reading:

ESV 2 Year Plan through YouVersion (We have a Facebook group with 10 of our friends that are also participating in this plan at the same time!).


2017 Book List (2-3 Per Month)

BOLD = Read
Italic = Currently Reading

1. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis 
2. The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis
3. The Case for Classical Christian Education by Douglas Wilson
4. The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson
5. The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer
6. Teaching from Rest - Sarah Mackenzie 
7. Hogwarts Library 
8. Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone
9. The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma
10. The Pursuit of God  by A.W. Tozer
11. One Perfect Life by John MacArthur 
12. The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman
13. The Liberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark and Ravi Scott Jain 
14. Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans 
15. A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
16. Because We Are by Ted Oswald 
17. Early to Rise by Andy Traub 
18. Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh Demoss
19. Wordsmithy: Hot Tops for the Writing Life by Douglas Wilson
20. Concise Theology - J.I. Packer
21. Elizabeth Prentiss - More Love to Thee by Sharon James
22. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
23. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 
24.  Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne
25. The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines
26. Raising Grateful Children in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch 
27. Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt 
28. Theodor Seuss Geisel by Donald E. Pease
29. Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
30. Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham 
31. The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease 
32. The Question: Teaching Your Child the Essentials about Classical Education by Leigh Bortins 
33. Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic 
34. Getting Started with Latin by William E. Linney
35. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
36.  Watership Down: A Novel by Richard Adams
37.  Visual Theology by Tim Challies 

Audio Books (1-2 Per Month)

1.  The Story of Western Science by Susan Wise Bauer (Audio | January-March)
2.  Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity by Tim Challies (Audio | February-March)
3.  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Audio | Mid-April) 
4.  Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews (Audio | April)
5.  The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gitwitz (Audio | April ) 
6.  The Tempest  by William Shakespeare (Audio | April) 
7.  Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Audio | May)
8.  The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer (Audio | May)
9. Anne of Green Gables by (Audio | May or June)
10. The Wind in the Willows (Audio | May or June) 
11.  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (July)
12. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (Audio | June/July Road Trip) 
13. The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare (Audio | July)
14. The Iliad by Homer (Audio | July or August) 
15.  The Odyssey by Homer (Audio | September)
16.  The Great Good Thing by Andrew Klavan (Audio | October) 
17.  The Children's Book of America by William J. Bennett (Audio | September & October) 
18.  Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies (Audio | All Year) 
19.  Foundations by R.C. Sproul (Audio | All Year)
20. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin (Audio - 67 hours!  I expect this one to take 2 or 3 years, and that is if I am very consistent in listening.)

2017 Read-Alouds (Goal: 2 Per Month)

BOLD = Read
Italic = Currently Reading

1. The Green Ember by S.D. Smith (Audio and Read-Aloud)
2. Ember Falls by S.D. Smith
3. Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
4. Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard: A Peter Nimble Adventure by Jonathan Auxier 
5. Big Truths for Little Kids by Susan Hunt
6. True Beauty by Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre 
7. The Wonderful O by James Thurber 
8. The 13 Clocks by James Thurber 
9. The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood
10. 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
11. Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare 
12. Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson
13. Emily by Michael Bedard (Picture Book)
14. All The Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlin 
15. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlin 
16. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
17. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale 
18. The Prairie Thief by Melissa Wiley 
19. Virtuous by Nancy Wilson 
20. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater 
21. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga) by Andrew Peterson
22. Complete Fairy Tales & Stories by Hans Christian Andersen  (We'll at least read a few of the stories out of this.)
23. The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton W. Burgess
24. The Aesop for Children by Aesop

Cycle 3 Related Reading:

Landmark Books:  The Landing of the Pilgrims, The American Revolution,  Meet George Washington, Meet Abraham Lincoln,  Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia, The Story of Thomas Alva Edison, The Pioneers Go West, and several others as we find them.
Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage
Little House on the Prairie
How the States Got Their Shapes  (Read book along with re-watching the show)

More coming soon.

...and picture books galore from the library.  :-D