It’s that time of year again. Planning time!

I fell behind early in the year, and did not get to all the books on my 2016 list. However, I am a firm believer that it is better to plan and fall short than to not plan and go through the year unchallenged.

I’ve spent December working hard to wrap up several books, and while I still have a couple books to complete, I am so excited to hit the new year!

This year I decided to organize my reading list by areas of interest rather than just planning out month to month.

Personal scholarship areas of interest:

 

Educational Philosophy – I’m still focusing on Classical and Charlotte Mason this year, as well as the power of good literature in a child’s upbringing

Christian Topics – This year is about delving deeper into relationship with God, and having a more impactive Bible study time.

Parenting – this year I continue to work on being a better mom to my kids, a better wife to my husband, and making my house a home.

Science – my earliest passion was science, and even though I am not currently working in research, I do love to read about new discoveries and different areas of research.

Literature Study – Why limit yourself to reading literature when you can read  books about literature?

Current Topics – It is easy for me to get wrapped up in my focus areas, so I have made it a point to select some titles on current topics to explore this year.

Great Books/Classics – I am wanting to work through some classic works this year, including more Syntopical Reading in the Great Books (which I don’t list here), as well as exploring some Shakespeare.

Homesteading and Self-sufficiency – A project of mine, and something we as a family would like to work toward.

History – I decided to follow up on 2016’s study of Abigail Adams with some additional reading.

Fiction – This is my catch-all area for fiction works, though most would certainly be considered classics.

Literary Mentors

Two of my main goals for 2017 are to improve in my role as a mother and wife, and to have a deeper and more fulfilling walk with God.

I’ve selected Charlotte Mason and C.S.Lewis as literary mentors to walk alongside me as I work toward these goals.

2017 Reading Goals

Completing 2016 Books

•  A Philosophy of Education (Volume 6) by Charlotte Mason
•  Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville
•  In Defense of Sanity by G.K. Chesterton

2017 Book list

Educational Philosophy

•  Learning All The Time by John Holt
•  Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt
•  Keeping a Nature Journal by  Charles E. Roth and Clare Walker Leslie
•  Consider This by Karen Glass
•  The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
•  For the Love of Learning: Giving Your Children a Lolipop Education by Amy Edwards
•  Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons
•  The Paideia Program by Mortimer Alder
•  How to Speak, How to Listen by Mortimer Alder
•  Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson (survey)
•  Home Education by Charlotte Mason
•  Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson

Christian Topics

•  Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby
•  Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
•  The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
•  The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonheifer
•  The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
•  Desiring God by John Piper
•  Basic Theology by Charles Ryrie
•  Women Living Well by Courtney Joseph

Parenting and Homemaking

•  10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker
•  Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson
•  Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins
•  Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
•  A Life-giving Home by Sally and Sarah Clarkson (reread with RAR)
•  Untangled:Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour
•  Laying Down The Rails by Sonya Shafer
•  The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schafer

Science

•  The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Literature Study

•  A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
•  Marmee and Louisa by Eve LaPlante

Current Events

•  Feardom by Connor Boyack
•  The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe
•  Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance

Great Books/Classics

•  The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
•  Plutarch’s Lives
•  Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
•  Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Homesteadinng and Self Sufficiency

•  Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford
•  Mini-farming: Self-sufficiency on 1/4 Acre  by Brett Markham
•  Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

History

•  John Adams by David McCullough
•  My Dearest Friend: Letters of John and Abigail Adams

Fiction

•  The Man in the High Castle by Phillip Dick
•  Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter
•  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
•  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
•  Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton Porter
•  Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
•  The Road by Cormac McCarthy
•  Native Son by Richard Wright
•  Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
•  Father Brown by GK Chesterton
•  1984 by George Orwell7
•  Jo’s Boys by L.M Alcott
•  Eight Cousins by L.M. Alcott
•  Rose in Bloom by L.M. Alcott
•  Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

As with my 2016 list, I may find myself deviating from my list, and that’s okay. As long as I have a plan to start the year off right, I’m happy!

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