Lift Up Your Hearts!

Three years ago, I took a look at my reading habits and discovered to my shock that—avid bookworm though I am—my reading was disproportionately of blogs, news stories, online articles, and magazines, rather than of more substantial literature.  Therefore my first resolution of 2010 was to read more books.  Looking back at the end of that year, I pronounced the effort an unqualified success:  I had completed sixty-five books of great variety.

The next year, however, showed a different story.  Without a deliberate and conscious effort, my reading list for 2011 had shrunk to a mere thirty-three books.  I then resolved to do better in 2012, setting my goal at a moderate fifty-two, one for each week of the year.

Well, 2012 had its ups and downs, as the reading habit went.  When I realized in mid-December that I was still two months' worth of reading short, I nearly despaired.  But by searching out the shortest books on the shelves I was able to reach the goal.  I don't count it cheating, as they were genuinely on my "To Read" list, but I hope to pay more attention next year and not have to scramble at the end.

One book per week seems both reasonable and attainable, so that is my goal for 2013 as well.

Inspired by my sister-in-law (whose book total for this year is a mind-blowing 71), I've picked out my favorite books from 2012 (in alphabetical order); the following are the thirteen I gave five-star ratings.  I have no idea what the selection says about me.

• The Bone House by Stephen Lawhead
• Drive by Daniel H. Pink
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
• Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin
• How to Have a 48-Hour Day by Don Aslett
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood
• Let the Baby Drive by Lu Hanessian
• Life Is So Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman
• Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Manalive by G. K. Chesterton
• Summer at Fairacre by Miss Read  
• Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Here's the whole list, sorted alphabetically.  A chronological listing, with links, is here.

1. The American Adventure #8: Smallpox Strikes by Norma Jean Lutz
2. The American Adventure #9: Maggie's Choice by Norma Jean Lutz
3. The American Adventure #14: Earthquake in Cincinnati by Bonnie Hinman  
4. The American Adventure #16: Escape from Slavery by Norma Jean Lutz  
5. The American Adventure #17: Cincinnati Epidemic by Veda Boyd Jones  
6. The American Adventure #37: The Flu Epidemic by JoAnn A. Grote  
7. The American Adventure #38: Women Win the Vote by JoAnn A. Grote 
8. The Bone House by Stephen Lawhead
9. A Boy's War by David Michell
10. Drive by Daniel H. Pink  
11. Earthen Vessels by Matthew Lee Anderson  
12. Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg  
13. Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings
14. Favorite Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
15. The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
16. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary by Mitsuo Fuchida (audio book)  
17. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
18. Haiku, Origami, and More by Judith May Newton and Mayumi Tabuchi  
19. Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Rubin  
20. Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin  
21. Hoi: Your Swiss German Survival Guide by Sergio J. Lievano and Nocole Egger
22. How to Have a 48-Hour Day by Don Aslett  
23. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
24. In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen
25. The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney
26. Irish Fairy Tales by Philip Smith
27. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood 
28. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip van Winkle by Washington Irving
29. Let the Baby Drive by Lu Hanessian  
30. Life Is So Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman  
31. Luke's Story by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins  
32. Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath  
33. Manalive by G. K. Chesterton
34. Mark's Story by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
35. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
36. Miracles by Tim Stafford  
37. No, We Can't by Robert Stearns  
38. Quiet by Susan Cain  
39. Scaling Down by Judi Culbertson and Marj Decker
40. Scottish Fairy Tales by Donald A. Mackenzie 
41. The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead (audio book)  
42. Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley  
43. Spiritual Formation by Henri Nouwen  
44. Summer at Fairacre by Miss Read  
45. The Stories of Emmy by Doris Smith Naundorf  
46. Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath  
47. When to Speak Up and When to Shut Up by Michael D. Sedler  
48. Wonderful Fool by Shusaku Endo  
49. The Xenophobe's Guide to the Americans by Stephanie Faul  
50. The Xenophobe's Guide to the Canadians by Vaughn Roste  
51. The Xenophobe's Guide to the Japanese by Sahoko Kaji, Noriki Hama, and Jonathan Rice  
52. The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss by Paul Bilton