Fall Reading Challenge Wrap Up

Well, as usual, I am a bit late on this but I am finally getting around to posting my wrap up. It has only been winter for 6 days so I feel that isn't too bad!


I ended up altering my list as too many of my book choices dealt with heavy duty topics--and I was needing a little bit of lighter reading, especially going into the Holiday season. I learned, for future challenges, to vary my subject matter in the books I pick from the beginning to prevent burnout.

I read 3 of the books on my original list of 6, between the original and revised lists, I completed 5 of 6 books and ditched 1 after 35 pages. I read other books but they were not on my fall challenge list so they are not listed here. The last one I read was over 400 pages which just plum took me a long while to finish--especially with all the holiday preparations under way!

Growing Girls by Jeanne Marie Laskas, I loved. Her politics are a bit liberal and she tended towards more motherhood angst than I have, but overall, her transition to motherhood after adopting 2 little girls from China was heartfelt. I especially related to the author as she came to grips with the fact that one of her little girls had a fairly serious communication disorder--something we have dealt with our Sam over the years has been stuttering--it breaks my mommy heart when the stuttering returns for Sam.

**A Fall Together by Jennifer O'Neal. This is the one I ditched. I just could not get into the characters and as I plowed through the first 30 pages or so, I realized life was too short, there were too many other books I wanted to read and I did not need to finish this one. This book did affirm my aversion to much of the Christian fiction market--way too smarmy and WAY too preachy.

**For One More Day by Mitch Albom--I had never read anything by him, and I enjoyed this little story. I was glad to see a grown man grow up and see his mother through different eyes from the ones he saw her through before, which caused him to take his mother for granted. It was sweet to see the sacrifices she made throughout her life for him--sacrifices which he was oblivious too. My favorite quote came from the mother when the son apologizes to her for being so embarrassed of her during his childhood-she says, "A child who is embarrassed by their mother is just a child who hasn't lived long enough"!

The Yokota Officer's Club by Sarah Bird---I enjoyed this one too. It is set during the Viet Nam war and I think it gives a good picture of what life was like for deployed military families during that time. It is semi-autobiographical which added to its appeal for me.

Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon--what can I say except delightful! That is if you liked the Mitford books. Reading this book was like coming home to old friends to me.

Keeping the House--This was the last one I read and it is quite a family epic~~ There are three story lines going which all begin to intersect at the end-one storyline takes place in the early 1900's (during WWI and before), another is set in 1945 and the third is set in 1950. Each chapter begins with a marriage or housewife tip taken from Ladies Home Journal and other publications of the day in the 1950's--very stereotypical of what a little wife was to be--and the character set in the 1950's is having a hard time coming to grips with her life as just a housewife-she is lonely and bored and begins to challenge the conventions of the day.

I am glad I participated in this challenge as it kept me focused on the books I had pre- chosen and challenged me to get some of these books piling up all over my house read!

Happy Reading Everyone. I am looking forward to my next challenge which can be found in my side bar--the In Their Shoes memoir challenge!