2018 New Year's Resolution — Beneath the Crust

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I'm always behind on New Year's resolutions. New Year's day comes along each year, and every year, I realize once again I've failed to think beforehand of what I'd like to tackle in the new year. So, very unsurprisingly to myself, a week into 2018, I'm finally coming up with resolutions.

This particular resolution came as more of an inspiration where I knew I had to act fast and write it down before I lost motivation. I was finishing my first postpartum workout (yay!) where I had rested my laptop on one of our bookshelves. Scanning the books, I roughly estimated how many books I've read since having my first and second girls. It wasn't a super impressive list. Not that I expected anything different, though, as it is often quite a challenge to find time to read with little ones who more often than not demand your full attention! By the time spare time does roll around, it's the end of the day. Typically being tuckered out, I find a show or movie or merely sitting with other family members in the living room much, much more appealing.

Anyways, I recalled Philip doing a book reading challenge one year on Goodreads where you say how many books you'd like to read that year and mark one complete as you plow through. It was motivating for him, so I thought I'd do something similar. Merely entering a number seemed too easy for me to find a way out of or lose track of or fall behind in. I thought a concrete list of books would be more effective. So I settled on a slightly more "fun" challenge: picking a book for each letter of the alphabet. As that puts me at more than two books a month, I definitely tried to pick at least a few lighter reads. Here's my list!

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (One of my favorite and most respected middle school teachers Mr. Muir mentioned this book once in class. I can't remember the context, but have always meant to read it one day. 2018 will be the year!)

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas (I was gifted this for Christmas.)

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (I have no idea about this one -- I found it on the Well-Read Mom blog.)

Diary of a Country Priest, The by George Bernanos (Sarah has recommended this.)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Haven't read a major work of his yet.)

Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot (On the top 10 Books list from one of my favorite college professors Dr. Raiger.)

Good Earth, The by Pearl S. Buck (Sarah recently read this trilogy and thought I would enjoy it.)

House Divided, A by Pearl S. Buck (Part of the trilogy)

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (It's on our shelf already. But...I've heard it's a beast. This may be one I reserve the right to change!)

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry (I read Hannah Coulter last year and loved it.)

King Lear by William Shakespeare (A short read to balance out some longer titles)

Letter to a Young Farmer by Gene Logsdon (Philip got this for Christmas and is enjoying it. I like reading some of his favorite farming books so I can share conversations with him.)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (I've always wanted to read it, and it's another shorter read.)

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (It was hard to find "N" books. This came up and seemed interesting.)

Old Curiosity Shop, The by Charles Dickens (Haven't read a Dickens for some time!)

Painted Veil, The by W. Somerset Maugham (Both Maria and Sarah have talked about this.)

Quiet American, The by Graham Greene (I haven't liked Greene, but maybe giving him another shot isn't a bad idea.)

Remains of the Day, The by Kazuo Ishiguro (I absolutely love the film rendition.)

Sons by Pearl S. Buck (Part of the aforementioned trilogy)

Trial, The by Franz Kafka (Because it starts with "T" and sounded interesting.)

Ulysses by James Joyce (Never read Joyce. Feel like I should.)

Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (I would see it on my parents' bookshelves.)

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (She's my favorite author, but I haven't read her novels yet.)

Xingu by Edith Wharton (It's an "X" book! It actually sounds half-decent!)

Yosemite by Ansel Adams (A bit of a stretch, but...it does have excerpts of his writings and an essay in addition to the photographs!)

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury (Hey, if you know of other "Z" books, let me know.)

Guess I'll be making a trip to the library soon! In the meantime, I'll work on Bonhoeffer.

Check out Sophie's half-way point update here!