On Reading

(Title and subject copied from Rob Dixon - hoping some of my blogging friends will now in turn copy me.)
A year ago, I had high aspirations for reading 11 books in 2011. This was my list, removed only earlier today from my sidebar:

• Don Quixote - Cervantes
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Hugo
• Something of Aquinas'
• Sense and Sensibility - Austen
• Confessions - Augustine
• Wuthering Heights - Bronte
• The Divine Comedy (all 3 books) - Dante
• Robinson Crusoe - Defoe
• Great Expectations - Dickens
• The Iliad and The Odyssey - Homer
• Collected Speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr.

I finished Great Expectations in March. I still had great expectations for my reading at that point, and dove into Robinson Crusoe. It didn't go well. And it didn't help that I was reading it on my iPhone. That is sure to bring on some vision issues lickety-split.

Never started any of the other books on the list. I kept reading, yes, but not the books I'd intended. One of my favorites was: Divine Mercy in My Soul - Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. I would even call it life-changing. St. Fautina's example of suffering and sacrifice, coupled with her love for Jesus made a difference in how I've lived my life since reading the diary during Lent.

My father gave me Stephen Ambrose's To America - Personal Reflections of an Historian and I savored it. You may know Ambrose but don't know you know him - because he wrote books that provided the historical backbone for movies like "Saving Private Ryan." He has written more than 25 works of history, but this book is almost as much about writing as it is about history. I loved hearing about the adventures he had in researching. And he piqued my interest in World War II, and his work on documenting D-Day so now I really REALLY want to visit the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. Since my dad gave me the book, maybe he should organize that trip.

I perused my bookshelves to pull out other titles I finished this year, but suddenly the past couple years blended together and I can't remember which books were 2011 and which were 2010. No matter, I also came across some I've purchased and haven't picked up yet. As soon as I finish Catching Fire and Mockingjay, next up is Heart of the Trail - The Stories of Eight Wagon Train Women. Here we go 2012!