Resolution #1, Read More Books, was by far the most successful of the dozen I developed throughout 2010.  I read 65 books in the year:  fiction and non-fiction, from children's lit to an 800-page survey of ancient history.  This is a marked improvement over recent years, and I attribute it to (1) recognizing that I had let other activities replace the habit of reading, (2) deciding to make the change, and (3) setting up a system of measurement (a simple, but public, list) whereby I could see my progress or lack thereof.  This resolution is a keeper.

What did I learn most from this experience?  The realization that we can probably no longer call ourselves a literate nation.  Is there really much difference between someone who can't read and someone who doesn't?  I'm a fast reader and a good one; I love to read books and I watch television only rarely; I'm a homemaker whose children are grown.  What's more, few of the books I read were difficult, and I counted audio books as well.  In short, I have everything going for me when it comes to reading, and I made the goal as easy as possible to reach.  Yet it took a deliberate, sustained effort to read at a rate of just over one book per week.  It is now clear to me that if we want to recover literacy, it's not going to happen without serious, determined work.  Nor can we leave the effort to our schools, which to give them credit have been trying every trick in the book and then some to get kids to read, but which cannot seem to produce many graduates who read without coercion.  Literacy, like charity and world peace, must begin at home.  How can kids learn the importance of books if they never see their parents reading?

Or ... wait.  Kindles.  iPads.  Could it be that Books + Electronic Devices = Literacy for the Next Generation?  Stranger things have happened.

For the curious, here is my list for 2010, sorted alphabetically.  A chronological listing, with links, is here.

  1. The Abernathy Boys  by L. J. Hunt
  2. Between Heaven and Hell  by Peter Kreeft 
  3. Born to Run  by Christopher McDougall  
  4. The Brain that Changes Itself  by Norman Doidge  
  5. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (audio book, abridged)    
  6. Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ...and Other Lies You've Been Told  by Bradley R. E. Wright 
  7. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe  by C. S. Lewis
  8. The Chronicles of Narnia:  Prince Caspian  by C. S. Lewis
  9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
  10. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair  by C. S. Lewis
  11. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
  12. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew  by C. S. Lewis
  13. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle  by C. S. Lewis
  14. The Chronological Guide to the Bible, published  by Thomas Nelson
  15. Common Sense 101: Lessons from G. K. Chesterton  by Dale Ahlquist 
  16. Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI  by Scott W. Hahn 
  17. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time  by Mark Haddon  
  18. Ender's Game  by Orson Scott Card  
  19. Eugenics and Other Evils  by G. K. Chesterton 
  20. Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal  by Joel Salatin 
  21. Food Rules  by Michael Pollan
  22. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit  by Francis Chan (audio book)
  23. The Four-Story Mistake  by Elizabeth Enright
  24. Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)  by Lenore Skenazy 
  25. Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis  by Rowan Jacobsen  
  26. Getting Things Done  by David Allen
  27. The Gobblestone School  by Jacob Schriftman 
  28. Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection  by Isaac Asimov 
  29. Healing Through Exercise  by Jörg Blech.
  30. The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome  by Susan Wise Bauer 
  31. The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien
  32. Homeschooling for the Rest of Us  by Sonya Haskins 
  33. Inconstant Moon  by Larry Niven
  34. In Defense of Food  by Michael Pollan 
  35. In Tune with the World  by Josef Pieper 
  36. Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation  by Martin Laird 
  37. It Happened in Italy  by Elizabeth Bettina 
  38. A Journal of the Plague Year  by Daniel Defoe 
  39. Just Courage  by Gary Haugen (audio book) 
  40. A Little Princess  by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  41. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  by J. R. R. Tolkien
  42. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  by J. R. R. Tolkien
  43. Magic: The Final Fantasy Collection  by Isaac Asimov 
  44. Martin Luther: In His Own Words (audio book, includes The Small Catechism, 95 Theses, On Faith and Coming to Christ, On Confession and the Lord's Supper, Of the Office of Preaching, Excerpt from Luther's Tower Experience, and The Last Written Words of Luther)
  45. Mayflower  by Nathaniel Philbrick 
  46. Murder Must Advertise  by Dorothy Sayers 
  47. No More Christian Nice Girl  by Paul Coughlin and Jennifer D. Degler
  48. Non Campus Mentis  by Anders Henricksson 
  49. The Omnivore's Dilemma  by Michael Pollan 
  50. The Philosophy of Tolkien  by Peter Kreeft
  51. The Pursuit of God  by A. W. Tozer (audio book)
  52. Rabbit Hill  by Robert Lawson
  53. Ready for Anything  by David Allen 
  54. Saint Patrick  by Jonathan Rogers 
  55. The Saturdays  by Elizabeth Enright 
  56. The Selfless Gene  by Charles Foster 
  57. Speaker for the Dead  by Orson Scott Card 
  58. Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze  by Elizabeth Enright 
  59. Stained Glass Elegies  by Shusaku Endo 
  60. Stones into Schools  by Greg Mortenson
  61. Theatre Shoes  by Noel Streatfeild 
  62. Then There Were Five  by Elizabeth Enright 
  63. Thinking in Pictures:  My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin
  64. Three Cups of Tea  by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin 
  65. Weapons of Mass Instruction  by John Taylor Gatto 
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

1.     The Abernathy Boys  by L. J. Hunt

2.     Between Heaven and Hell  by Peter Kreeft 

3.     Born to Run  by Christopher McDougall  

4.     The Brain that Changes Itself  by Norman Doidge  

5.     The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (audio book, abridged)    

6.     Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ...and Other Lies You've Been Told  by Bradley R. E. Wright 

7.     The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe  by C. S. Lewis

8.     The Chronicles of Narnia:  Prince Caspian  by C. S. Lewis

9.     The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis

10.   The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair  by C. S. Lewis

11.   The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis

12.   The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew  by C. S. Lewis

13.   The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle  by C. S. Lewis

14.   The Chronological Guide to the Bible, published  by Thomas Nelson

15.   Common Sense 101: Lessons from G. K. Chesterton  by Dale Ahlquist 

16.   Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI  by Scott W. Hahn 

17.   The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time  by Mark Haddon  

18.   Ender's Game  by Orson Scott Card  

19.   Eugenics and Other Evils  by G. K. Chesterton 

20.  Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal  by Joel Salatin 

21.   Food Rules  by Michael Pollan

22.  Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit  by Francis Chan (audio book)

23.  The Four-Story Mistake  by Elizabeth Enright

24.  Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)  by Lenore Skenazy 

25.  Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis  by Rowan Jacobsen  

26.  Getting Things Done  by David Allen

27.  The Gobblestone School  by Jacob Schriftman 

28.  Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection  by Isaac Asimov 

29.  Healing Through Exercise  by Jörg Blech.

30.  The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome  by Susan Wise Bauer 

31.   The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien

32.  Homeschooling for the Rest of Us  by Sonya Haskins 

33.  Inconstant Moon  by Larry Niven

34.  In Defense of Food  by Michael Pollan 

35.  In Tune with the World  by Josef Pieper 

36.  Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation  by Martin Laird 

37.  It Happened in Italy  by Elizabeth Bettina 

38.  A Journal of the Plague Year  by Daniel Defoe 

39.  Just Courage  by Gary Haugen (audio book) 

40.  A Little Princess  by Frances Hodgson Burnett

41.  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  by J. R. R. Tolkien

42.  The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  by J. R. R. Tolkien

43.  Magic: The Final Fantasy Collection  by Isaac Asimov 

44.  Martin Luther: In His Own Words (audio book, includes The Small Catechism, 95 Theses, On Faith and Coming to Christ, On Confession and the Lord's Supper, Of the Office of Preaching, Excerpt from Luther's Tower Experience, and The Last Written Words of Luther)

45.  Mayflower  by Nathaniel Philbrick 

46.  Murder Must Advertise  by Dorothy Sayers 

47.  No More Christian Nice Girl  by Paul Coughlin and Jennifer D. Degler

48.  Non Campus Mentis  by Anders Henricksson 

49.  The Omnivore's Dilemma  by Michael Pollan 

50.  The Philosophy of Tolkien  by Peter Kreeft

51.   The Pursuit of God  by A. W. Tozer (audio book)

52.  Rabbit Hill  by Robert Lawson

53.  Ready for Anything  by David Allen 

54.  Saint Patrick  by Jonathan Rogers 

55.  The Saturdays  by Elizabeth Enright 

56.  The Selfless Gene  by Charles Foster 

57.  Speaker for the Dead  by Orson Scott Card 

58.  Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze  by Elizabeth Enright 

59.  Stained Glass Elegies  by Shusaku Endo 

60.  Stones into Schools  by Greg Mortenson

61.   Theatre Shoes  by Noel Streatfeild 

62.  Then There Were Five  by Elizabeth Enright 

63.  Thinking in Pictures:  My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin

64.  Three Cups of Tea  by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin 

65.  Weapons of Mass Instruction  by John Taylor Gatto 

Posted by sursumcorda on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 7:17 pm | Edit
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Comments

You forgot "Farang, the Sequel"



Posted by Dad-o on Sunday, January 09, 2011 at 3:17 am

I didn't count it because I didn't finish it, despite reading all the way to the airport. Poor planning—if I'd started the book 30, or even 15 minutes earlier I could have done it. :(

At the time, I thought it would be easy enough to get the book from a library to complete it, but that's proving harder than I thought. WorldCat says the nearest copy is in Athens, Ohio. At the moment, Amazon's best offer is $13, which is more than I'm willing to pay to read the last couple of chapters of a book I found interesting but not worth keeping.

Maybe I should call in my favorite library book sale haunter. :)



Posted by SursumCorda on Sunday, January 09, 2011 at 5:16 am

That might be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I'll keep my eyes open. I did try my on-line sources, but no luck (nothing really cheaper than what you saw).
S



Posted by dstb on Sunday, January 09, 2011 at 9:39 am

What did you think of this one?

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer

I'm on an ancient history kick, preparing for our next trip to Rome...

Thanks



Posted by katie baker on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 10:20 am

I liked it. I'm terrible at history, having not discovered until many years out of school that it could actually be very interesting. Thus I'm not a good judge of history books. But I started with Bauer's history books for children (The Story of the World in four volumes) and learned enough from that and other sources to want to dig into something heavier. This book, though large, is quite accessible. My only complaint comes from a feature that I also like: She attempts to cover many different areas of the world. It's wonderful trying to get a feel for how different civilizations advanced (in similar and different ways), and what was going on in different parts of the world at the same time. But on the negative side, I did sometimes feel as if I were overdosing on battles and political intrigue, and my brain does not yet have enough discernment to distinguish one Chinese leader's name from another for more than a few minutes.

It actually took several times of listening to the children's version (I had them as audiobooks) for things to begin to stick for me, so I'm sure I'd be better off if I read this more than once. But that's not going to happen anytime soon. Still, I think it is a good building block in the foundation of history I'm trying to acquire.

Rome! How cool. Have a wonderful time. Someday maybe I'll take a side trip from Switzerland and get there, but even all those museums can't compare with the attraction of a real, live grandchild. :)



Posted by SursumCorda on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 10:54 am

I think the SWB book will be on my summer reading list. We'll be back to Ancients next year, so it would be a good resource for me.



Posted by dstb on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 9:16 am