Reading Challenge

ByDeborah Raney
24 Comments

I’d love to talk about what you are reading this year. I’ve always been an avid reader, sometimes reading more than 50 books a year. But since I started writing over twenty years ago, my reading has suffered (at least reading for pleasure). Of course, I’m always reading for research, I read as a freelance editor, and I read what I’m writing myself. But it’s a real treat to choose a book simply because I want to read it, or because someone recommended it to me.

Above is a list of the books I’ve read so far this year for Goodreads.com’s 2017 Reading Challenge. I am currently reading Rachel Hauck’s wonderful dual timeline novel, The Writing Desk. (I’m only about halfway through, but I cheated and listed it as “read” so it would show up in the photo. 😉 )

My list includes non-fiction books, one loaned to me by a friend from church (Born to Deliver), one my son shared with me (The Tears of My Soul) and one my daughter shared (The Magnolia Story). My list includes a favorite childhood book, The Village that Slept, which I got to read to my grandsons last month when they stayed with us for a week. What a treat!

The list also includes three novels that were sent to me by the publishers for endorsement or influencing. I really enjoyed each one: The Memory of You, If We Make It Home, and Beyond Justice by this blog’s own Cara Putman.

I read our own Tamera Alexander’s fantastic new novel, To Wager Her Heart (Tammy and I are writing critique partners), as well as an as yet unpublished novel that I edited and thoroughly enjoyed.

You’ll notice one of the books on my list is one I wrote…at least part of it. Well, I did read it. 🙂 But I also read and edited the other stories in the collection, Right Where We Belong.

And yes, the Bible is on my list. I read the Bible almost every day, but I confess I didn’t read the whole Bible this year. Still, Ken and I finished the Old Testament (on our third or fourth time through the Bible) so I thought that earned it a spot on the list.

I probably won’t make my goal of 25 books, but I hope to get close before the year is over.

Do you have as much time to read as you’d like? I’d love to hear about some of the books on your reading list for this year. How many books do you read each year, and what have been your favorites?

 

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DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a four-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

24 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing your list with us! It’s always fun to see what others are reading. I did read The Memory of You, Beyond Justice, and The Writing Desk. All phenomenal books!
    I’m currently reading Ronie Kendig’s Crown of Souls. A must if you love suspense and thrillers. The book that surprised me the most this year so far is Yesterday’s Promise by Michele Page Holmes. I wasn’t sure if I would like the book and absolutely fell in love by chapter three.
    I wish I had more time to read! But life and duty calls…

  2. Hi Deb, Great list! I’ve enjoyed listening to more audio books this year. I especially liked the Magnolia Story because Chip and Joanna narrated the book. That was fun. Like you, I have a pile of non-fiction I’m reading for research and I squeeze in some fiction from authors who are my favorites. Happy reading to all!

  3. OUR Virginia Beach public library had a Reading Marathon challenge this year, so now I have completed 26.2 books and have the bumper sticker to show it! (the only marathon sticker I will EVER qualify for!) Listening this morning to The Chaperone recommended by Agnes Kepka while in Ellsworth last week, begins in Wichita KS 1922~
    Read a timely book Small Great Things in August for my Altrusa book club, enjoying several by Jodi Piccoult and by Ann Patchett, State of Wonder!

  4. I love the Goodreads Reading Challenge. This year my goal is 48 books (same as last year’s goal), and so far I have completed 33 (19 fiction, the rest non-fiction). I have 5 in progress. I also count the Bible, and I also count my own books after I read them in the First Pass Pages stage. The vast majority of the completed 33 books have been audiobooks. Without them, I might have completed three instead of 33.

  5. I’ve read some on your list and many more. I’ve read close to sixty so far. Two that have touched me deeply this year are Ghost Heart by Lisa Harris and Convicted by Jameel McGee and Andrew Collins. Convicted is non-fiction, which I normally don’t read, but this particular one reads like fiction and is a must read!

    1. I’m up to 64 books so far this year! I try to read at least one non-fiction book and one book other than inspirational romance a month, otherwise that would be all I read. This month I’ve read A Matter of Trust by Susan May Warren, Shine Like the Dawn by Carrie Turansky, A Name Unknown by Roseanna White, and Song of Silence by Cynthia Ruchti. In progress are What Grieving People Wish You Knew by Nancy Guthrie and Prayer by Tim Keller. My TBR planet includes Rachel’s and Tamera’s books, and I’ve read Right Where We Belong and Beyond Justice. Loved them all!

    2. Wow, I’m impressed, Gail and Linda! That’s a great list for the year, let alone the first 8 months of the year!
      Thanks for some great suggestions, too, both of you!

  6. This is my 3rd year on Goodreads, and I love it. I try to increase my challenge goal each year. This year it is 70 books, and I have read 46. Just finished The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green, and it was terrific! I read Julie Klassen’s Innkeeper of Ivy Hill earlier this year with two online reading friends, one in Australia and one in Spokane, WA. I found this site through Julie, and am trying to read something from all of the authors. Right now I’m reading Karen’s No Other Will Do. I read a wedding novella that you wrote, Deb, and also one by Becky.

    As for reading time, I never have enough. I help moderate a Google discussion group for author Tracy Grant, who writes historical fiction/mystery/spy books set in early 1800. We just completed a reread of her series before her latest was released in May. Just finished daily reading with my ten-year-old granddaughter who starts back to school next week. So, I do love to read! Too much information, I’m sure.

  7. I am currently reading the whole Raleigh Harmon mystery series by Sibella Giorello, including the prequels 1-3. As an adult, Raleigh works for the FBI as a forensic geologist. In the past, I was never interested in geology, but the author describes everything, even people, in terms of geological colors, textures, and formations so that I find myself wanting to know more about those stones and gems. Her character struggles with real life internal issues that I find myself relating to. I fall asleep reading almost every night wanting not only to see the crimes solved, but also to see her vindicated and her heart healed. Only one more book to go…then I’ll be sad that there’s no more.

  8. I have no idea how many books a read a year.I read four to five books a week. Depending on length I can read six a week.

  9. I’m a Goodreads member. This is my first year to be a member. I set myself with the goal of 30 books for this year. I’m currently on book 29. Years ago my highest amount of books read in one year was 73. Since then I’ve become a slow reader. I read strictly for pleasure, with the exception of book studies at church. Most of my reading is Christian Fiction. Some of the books I’ve read this year are :
    The Newcomer by Suzanne Woods Fisher
    The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck
    The entire Yellow Rose of Texas Series by Lorie Wick
    What the Bishop Saw by Vannetta Chapman
    The Farmers Market Mishap by Wanda Brunstetter.
    My favorite was The Yellow Rose of Texas Series by Lorie Wick.

  10. Hi Deb! I’m on Goodreads as well and set my 2017 goal for 27 books (one more than I read in 2016). So far, I’ve read…31. 😀 I think what made the difference is that last year, I read some pretty big books, but this year, while some have been long, I happened to pick up some shorter ones too, and have combined regular reading with even more audio books than last year. (I like listening to books while riding in the car and while I do crafts. Eyeball reading I do more while sitting and waiting at places and at bedtime.)

    I’ve been re-reading my fave YA Christian fic series EVAH: “The Tales of Goldstone Wood,” by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. I’m first-time reading the Anne of Green Gables series and am in love with it. <3 I've read new authors and old, and discovered some gems along the way. More people should know about "Enemy Brothers" by Constance Savery. It's a children's novel set in WWII, published back in 1944, but still SO GOOD for all ages! I think you'd love it, and it would be a great one to share with your boys. Also discovered some excellent non-fictions via audio this year, "A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War" and "Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More–Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist" being my top two faves so far.

    Now, I'm off to write my own book. 😉

  12. That’s a great list, and I’m impressed you’ve exceeded your goal already! I don’t think there’s any way I’ll make my goal this year since I’m on deadline writing through April of next year.

  13. So far this year I have read 77 books. I would like to be writing more and reading less, but I can’t resist a good mystery and/or a good Christian novel. The latest book which I just finished last night–so of course, I love it best!–is From a Distance, by Tamara Alexander. This novel depicts a wonderful blend of history, courage, family, friendship, while resolving racial tension in a natural, calming fashion. It’s an incredible novel by an author I highly recommend.

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