Another Bonus Post: My Reading List!

     In January of 2022, my mom was trying to implement something new with her reading goals. A mom blog she follows had given her the idea to create a '5x5' reading challenge for herself. And everybody in her life :) It can also be 3x3, 4x4, 6x6, etc. The way it works is you pick [5] categories of books, and [5] books in each category. The categories can be as broad or narrow as you want them to be. The idea is to make sure you are reading multiple genres, but also in-depth on a topic you are interested in. Spreadsheets and lists are right up my Type A alley, so I sat down to make my list. I enjoy reading, so I decided on a 6x6 grid. The categories I chose were: Classic Literature, Non-Fiction/Self Help, Spiritual Reading, Modern Fiction, Femininity, and Other. I started filling it in with books I had heard about and was excited to read. I didn't have as many of those as I thought I did, but as I searched online and on the library website, I found similar books that also piqued my interest. So I filled up the 6x6, and left a 7th row to pencil more in. Then I put about 5 books on hold at the library that I was super excited about. When they all came in, I started 3 at once and got nowhere. Then I started telling people about my list, and they gave me their recommendations. And I started listening to podcasts a lot more, where I hear even more book recommendations. Again, I keep starting on too many at once, and not finishing them. And the margins of my grid are basically full. I have a longer list than ever, but have found it too overwhelming and have read less than ever these past couple years.

Here is my list:

Typed out, these are the books I have read:

An Assembly Such As This

Bilbo's Journey

Blessed Charles of Austria

Capital Gaines

Flight of Faith

Gianna: Aborted and Lived to Tell About It

Gift From the Sea

Heartless

I Believe In Love

No Pain, No Gaines

Old Fashioned

Sandy Toes

Searching for and Maintaining Peace

Staying Stylish

The Doors of Silence

The Habsburg Way

The Reed of God

The Screwtape Letters

The Teacher Who Couldn't Read

The Vow

The 4:8 Principle

Trustful Surrender

Worthy of Wearing

And the books still on my list:

An Ideal Husband

Business Boutique

Christus Vincit

Consoling Thoughts on the Trials of an Interior Life

Defining Decade

Divine Intimacy

Emma

Essentialism

Fascinating Womanhood

Finding Father Christmas

From Paycheck to Purpose

Getting Things Done

Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad

Grisly Grisell

Growing Up Firstborn

Introduction to the Devout Life

Jane Eyre

Jesus, King of Love

Life Without Limits

Lin McLean

Little Dorrit

Love and Friendship

Mere Christianity

Miss Buncle's Book

Our Mutual Friend

Planet Narnia

Racketeer for Life

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

Raising a Modern Day Princess

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Set-Apart Femininity

St Augustine's Confessions

Therese Neumann

The Case for Heaven

The Case for Life

The Divine Comedy

The False Prince

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Golden Arrow

The Handbook of Spiritual Perfection

The Holy Bible

The King's Achievement

The Last Mass of Padre Pio

The Moviegoer

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

The Spiritual Combat

The Temperament God Gave You

The Valiant Woman

The 5-Second Rule

Total Money Makeover

Unglued

Waiting for Eli

Weight of Glory

What to Say When You Talk to Yourself

If you have read any of the books that are still on my list, please let me know your thoughts on them! Otherwise, I will keep plugging away at the list, slowly but surely (and continue to write down suggestions!). I encourage you to make your own grid, and maybe only fill it halfway, or, like my sister did, make one of the categories 'Books Recommended by Friends'. Happy reading!

P.S. I just proofread the top section of this post, and realized I ended it on a negative note. But after typing up the list, I realized that I have actually read lots of books in this last year and a half. They just got kind of buried under the list I haven't read. Well, I'm doing better than I thought. And now I'm gonna get back to the book I am currently reading, which I started before even adding to the list: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. I heard about it on a podcast recently, and I'm really liking it. But I can't give it a complete stamp of approval until I'm finished.