A Century of Books

  Before I tell you about this crazy challenge I set for my reading life in 2019, let me give you some backstory.  If you've been a longtime reader you've surely noticed my blogging has recently been nonexistent.  Mostly because my obsession with sewing has gradually waned into an occasional hobby.  So I've struggled with what else to write about and finally realized my renewed passion in reading would be really enjoyable.  For a while I have been sharing book reviews on IG, but it's tough to write about books in such a small space!

 As a little girl I was always caught late at night with a flashlight and novel under the covers, but having small children really killed my reading life for a while.  I started tracking my progress on Goodreads and became very intentional with devoting time to my literary life.  This occurred around the same time I pulled my children out of public school and began to homeschool them.  Of all the things I desired for our homeschool, I knew I wanted good books to be the foundation.  So this blog will focus on reading.  Mostly what I'm reading, but also what audiobooks we're listening to in the car, what I'm reading aloud to the children, and what books have inspired fun and shared memories in our home.

 Okay, on to this crazy challenge.  I heard a woman on the What Should I Read Next Podcast mention she was reading a Century of Books in 2019 and I was instantly struck.  For the past several years I have been reading more and more but often I was just reading whatever I came across that was shiny and new.  There were so many older books I wanted to read but just have never gotten around to reading.  In this challenge, you read a book published in every year for the last hundred years.  Of course the planning and researching for what to read each year is half the fun!

 Thus far, it's been great! I've read so many books that I've always wanted to and I've fallen hard for genres and authors I never thought I would like (hello, Agatha Christie!). However, there have been some pitfalls:

• I am definitely not on track to reach 100 books this year.  I don't consider this a failure at all but it's still kind of sad.

• Thinking a book will be a quick read because it's short. My original thinking was, "If I read 75 books last year, 100 won't be too bad if I just get rid of the 500+ pagers."  Ironically, my quickest reads were generally the longest books.  

• Starting at the end of January when I had already read a book from each of the previous five or six years, leaving no spots for book club selections and all the new releases by my favorite authors.

 

No doubt you'll be hearing more about this challenge.  Time will tell how close to 100 I get.  In addition to all things book related, you still will see the occasional sewing (or knitting) project and recipe.  Because a singular focus has never been my way!

 

  So, tell me what you think?  How is your literary life these days? What kind of bookish things would you like to see discussed?