Once a Reader, Always an Addict

I'm not sure who to thank for my love of reading.  Perhaps I could thank my mother, for she told me that she taught me to read before I went to kindergarten.  Or I could thank the sponsors of reading incentive programs; I still have little medallions and pins with stickers on them, and I remember turning in my summer reading lists at the library for the coveted Iowa Cubs baseball tickets--even if they weren't used.  More than likely, I should thank my elementary teachers.  I remember every student having to choose a book to read to the class around second grade.  I had so many beloved books that it was hard to choose.  I recall weaving through the familiar library shelves to find one unique.  I loved reading out loud in school and secretly wished that I would be chosen to read a long sentence or paragraph.

So, teachers, family, anonymous founders of reading programs, thank you.

I was slightly concerned about the availability of English reading material when coming here, but had my fears assuaged in many ways.   The first was through the gift of a kindle as a graduation/Christmas gift from my sister Heather and her husband Chad about one year ago.  Secondly, I quickly met Americans here who have been generous with their bookshelves.  Moreover, I've met Czechs with sizable multilingual collections.  Finally, there is the British consulate (a library system) and various bookstores which carry English books.  With all of these options available, books continue to tempt me away from responsibilities as well as fill potentially tedious tram rides or potentially lonely nights.  Always aware that there are only a limited number of books I can read in my lifetime, I have to be selective.  In that mode of thought, I intend to read more Czech authors while in this nation.  I began by reading a work of Milan Kundera over Christmas, but I hope to spend more time with the work of Karel Čapek and the late President Václav Havel.

And to satisfy your curiosity, here is my 2011 reading.  The dates are the days completed.  Asterisks signify books read on my Kindle, and a wavy line indicates that I wasn't too impressed with that particular book.

2011 Reading

1. 1/3/11 The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
2. 1/5/11 *Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy
3. 1/9/11 *Happily Ever After by Susan May Warren~
4. 1/13/11 *Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
5. 1/15/11 *Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont
6. 1/22/11 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
7. 2/2/11 *My Antonia by Willa Cather
8. 2/2/11 *The Southern Horrors of Lynch Law in All its Phases by Ida B. Wells-Barnett
9. 2/3/11 *Clotelle: or the Colored Heroine, a Tale of the Southern States by William Wells Brown
10. 2/7/11 *After the Leaves Fall by Nicole Baart~
11. 3/8/11 Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
12. 3/12/11 Solomon’s Song of Love by Dr. Craig Glickman
13. 3/18/11 To Be Young, Gifted, and Black by Lorraine Hansberry
14. 3/21/11 Sacred Journey by Frederick Buechner
15. 3/30/11 Telling Secrets by Frederick Buechner
16. 4/6/11 Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
17. 4/8/11 Anne of the Island by L.M.Montgomery
18. 4/13/11 Financial Peace Revisited by David Ramsey
19. 4/19/11 Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
20. 4/?/11 *Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
21. 5/?/11 A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
22. 5/31/11 Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot
23. 6/14/11 The Path of Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot
24. 6/15/11 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
25. 6/16/11 The Richest Man in Babylon by Geoge S. Clason
26. 6/26/11 Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami~
27. 7/2/11 Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
28. 7/5/11 Notes Left Behind by Brooke and Keith Dresserich~
29. 7/11/11 *Emma by Jane Austen
30. 7/16/11 The Help by Katheryn Stockett
31. 7/21/11 The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield
32. 7/27/11 The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
33. 7/28/11 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
34. 7/30/11 Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom
35. 8/1/11 *Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
36. 8/5/11 *The People of the Mist by Henry Rider Haggard
37. 8/8/11 *How to Tell a Story; Other Essays by Mark Twain
38. 8/10/11 The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton 
39. 8/15/11 *Craving God: A 21 Day Devotional Challenge by Lyssa Terkeurst 
40. 8/17/11 *Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 
41. 8/17/11 Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot 
42. 8/18/11 The Other Side of the Desk by NJ Poklitar 
43. 8/22/11 The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
44. 9/16/11 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
45. 9/19/11 *The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
46. 9/24/11 *Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
47. 9/27/11 *Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery
48. 9/30/11 *Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
49. 10/7/11 *The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
50. 10/8/11 Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
51. 10/11/11 The Little Prince (also including his “Letter to a Hostage”) by Antoine de Saint-Exupér 
52. 10/13/11 *Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery
53. 10/25/11 *Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
54. 11/2/11 *True Story of My Life by Hans Christian Anderson
55. 11/9/11 Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
56. 11/24/11 The Little Prince (again) by Antoine de Saint-Exupér
57. 11/25/11 *Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
58. 11/26/11 *A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
59. 12/10/11 Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
60. 12/19/11 *Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
61. 12/26/11 The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
62. 12/31/11 *A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the Mormons by Elizabeth Whitney Williams

Feel free to share your own recommendations, particularly in regards to memoirs/autobiography, classics, or simply well-written prose.

Post edited on 21 August 2012 after accessing my reading journal again in Iowa and gaining the titles and dates for entries 36-43.