Tuesday, January 22, 2019

2019 Reading Challenges

While my overall reading goal in 2019 is to read 100 books, I've decided to also participate in a couple of reading challenges this year. Check out this amazing list from Kim and Tanya to see a summary of ones that are available.

Last year I participated in the challenges listed below:
- Author Love Challenge 2018
My goal was to read 5 books by Louisa May Alcott and 5 books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I read 5 books by Lucy Maud Montgomery in 2018, but I only got to 4 books by Louisa May Alcott. I did, however, read 7 books by C. S. Lewis (if that makes up for not quite making the goal I had planned on).

- The Color Coded Challenge
I read books that made each of these categories except the Rainbow categories.

- 2018 European Reading Challenge
I read 4 books for this challenge; 1 set in England, 1 set in France, 1 set in Spain, and 1 set in Italy.

- 2018 Library Love Challenge
My goal for this challenge was to read 48 books borrowed from a library. 85 of the books I read were actually from a library. Hurray for libraries!

- Read It Again, Sam
My goal was to reread at least 12 books. I actually reread 23 books.

While I didn't perfectly meet my goals, I was pretty close, and overall, I'm pleased with how I did.


So, what's up for 2019? Here are the challenges I'm hoping to tackle.

Author Love Challenge 2019
The blog that hosted the author love challenge last year isn't hosting it this year. But, I want to continue this idea, so this year I'm planning on reading at least 5 books by Maud Lovelace. And if you want to join in on reading multiple books by one author, feel free to add your goals below!

The Color Coded Challenge
The color may either be named in the title or it may appear as the dominant color for the cover of the book. For "implies color" the image implying color should dominate the cover--for instance a large rainbow, a field of flowers, or the image of a painter. I'm going to try this one again this year.

2019 European Reading Challenge
The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. I'm planning on participating at the "Honeymooner" level, which means I plan to read at least 4 books from Europe.

2019 Library Love Challenge
I'm planning on taking on the "Library Card on Fire" level, which means I plan to read at 60 books that I borrow from my library.

Read It Again, Sam
I'm planning on tackling the "A Trip Down Memory Lane" level, which means I plan to reread at least 12 books in 2019 that I've read previously.

Good Rule Reading Challenge
Of the books I read this year, my goal is for 75% of them to be published before 1970 and 25% of them to be published after 1970.

2019 Modern Mrs. Darcy Challenge
This challenge involves a couple different goals. Check the link out for details.

2019 Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks
Since I hope to read at least 100 books this year, this goal should be easy to hit!

For the Love of EBooks
My goal is to reach Phase 5 (40+ books).

2019 Cloud of Witnesses Challenge
The goal for this one is to read books by authors that are Christians and that are dead. I don't have a set number on this one. I'm ust curious to see how many of the books I read this year fall into this category.

The Backlist Challenge 2019
Books have to be published before 2018 and must already be on your TBR list or pile. Once again, no set number for me on this one. I just want to see how far I get on this one.


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Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Reading and Writing Goals 2019

This past year I had two reading and writing goals. I also participated in a couple of reading challenges.

- Writing: the 500 Words a Day Challenge
2018 was my seventh year participating in this challenge. I've enjoyed it for the past couple of years, and I find it helpful to keep me writing consistently, even if not in large chunks all at once.
- Reading: read a total of 100 books

How did I do?
- Writing: I comfortably met my goal for the 500 Words a Day Challenge. Most of this writing was for the classes I teach. I'm really happy with how much I wrote.
- Reading: I did a lot of reading this year. I read a total of 138 books. I'm really happy with that!

What's up for this year?
- Writing: I'm planning on continuing the 500 Words a Day Challenge. It's been working well for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this goal this year.
- Reading: My plan is to read a total of 100 books this year. This is the same goal that I had for last year. It was a comfortable number for me, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to reach this number again in 2019.

How about you? Any reading or writing goals for 2019?

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Tuesday, January 08, 2019

Best of Because He Lives 2018

These are the most popular posts posted here in 2018.
A few posts you may have missed, so check them out.

- The Sands of Time Are Sinking
- It Is Well With My Soul
- A Celebration of J. R. R. Tolkien
- Hidden Figures
- 2018 Reading Challenges
- Best of Because He Lives 2017

Happy New Year, dear readers!

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Tuesday, January 01, 2019

Favorite Reads from 2018

I read a bunch of books this year. Some of the books I read were rereads. Some were books that were new to me. Here are my favorites from this year.

Waiting for Morning by Karen Kingsbury
Karen's characters felt so real to me. I fell in love with this book.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
I've highlighted one of Fforde's books before, and this one didn't disappoint, either. I loved it! A mystery, literary references, and the ability to become part of books - this one was a lot of fun.

Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson
I learned so much from this book. It's definitely going on my stack of books to reread regularly.

Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung
Another book that I found amazingly helpful this year.

Stones of Fire by Isobel Kuhn
Isobel Kuhn has long been a favorite author of mine, and this was a reread for me this year. Her ability to communicate through the written word astounds me.


Any books you read in 2018 that you recommend? I'd love to hear your recommendations.

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