The Great Reading Challenge!

I'm a little late hopping onto the bandwagon, but I'm joining in on the fun and participating in the Fall into Reading challenge. Katrina at Callapidder Days has suggested this challenge to perhaps get some of us addicted bloggers back to reading again! (At least that is the case with many of us, anyway!)

I am setting my goals small, however. As much as I have always loved to read, my days now that fall has begun seem squeezed full. And though we will be going to Hawaii during this fall challenge, and that fact brings images of lounging on a beach chair under a palm tree with a good book, I have to face it. I had some of that time on my first trip alone with hubby...but with the children, those uniterrupted hours may be a little fewer. But we'll see!
And I need to preface my somewhat short list also by saying that I'm a little embarressed that I do not have a long list of great epics here. I do sometimes like to get my teeth into a nice, thick book, but I know it's probably not going to happen in the next two months. Also, reading for me is an escape, and most of the time I enjoy escaping to someplace nice and easy. Not all the time, mind you...but most of the time!

So, with all this in mind, I am choosing the following...to be read between now and Dec. 21st:

Fiction:

1)Sisterchicks in Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn (OK...this really sounds like light reading, huh? But I first discovered her Glenbrook series books, and they are so wonderful in their simplicity. The characters just draw me in and they become my "friends". The Sisterchicks series is much the same way, only it always involves two best friends or sisters on an adventure. Light and funny, but with a Christian message. I've read them all, except for this newest one!

2)The Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright. I've seen part of this story made into an old movie, and it looked intriguing, but for some reason, I don't think I have ever seen the end of the film. So reading the book will be a real treat.
*UPDATED...although I hope to read this in the near future, I am changing my #2 to :
Narcissa Whitman- Pioneer of Oregon- by Jeanette Eaton.

3) Dinner with a Perfect Stranger (re-read). We read this earlier in the year in our book club and it was incredible. What if you received an invitation to dinner by the Lord Jesus?This book really is a meaningful look at who Jesus really is- and wants to be- in our lives.
*UPDATED...Although this is a wonderful, wonderful book, for time's sake, I have replaced re-reading this one for:
The Wedding- Nicholas Sparks.

Non-fiction

1) Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp. A good friend told me how wonderful it is, so I need to ask her to lend it to me for this challenge!

2) The Real Maria (the autobiography of Maria Von Trapp) Another re-read, but the last I read it was about 20...so a long, long time ago!

Books to read with seven year old:

1)Heidi by Johanna Spyri(already have begun...she's doing a book report on it for our home school group) Both my mom and I loved this one when we were children!

2)Stuart Little by E.B. White I haven't even read this one as a child, so am looking forward to reading it with my daughter ever since I came acrossed a copy at a yard sale this summer!

And countless other short children's books that we all read- too many to name!

Plus...I hope to squeeze in at least one more non-fiction book in here, but I have yet to commit to that third one! And I admit...I plan on reading one or two more "light" paperbacks for extra reading. Hey, I am not intellectually above a good Christian romance! It's really my favorite read...was hooked at age 3 when I first heard that Cinderella story...

So there you have it! Not a lot, but I thought I'd better take Katrina's advice and not bite off more than I could chew realistically. I mean...and still blog.