About this time last year I posted about my 2016 reading plan. This was the first year I had ever planned my reading in advance, or had any kind of reading goals. I’m going to come right out and say it here at the beginning of this post — I did not read each of the books I planned. Oddly enough, the books I didn’t read are ones that I own! And while I don’t have a reading list prepared for 2017 (yet anyway), I am so glad I did last year and I will definitely do it again in the future.

Another thing I did for the first thing this year was to track my reading. I set myself up on Goodreads, and I really enjoyed monitoring my progress, creating shelves, seeing what my friends were reading, and reading/writing reviews. Plus, at the end of the year they put together a nice My Year in Books visual!

I would really like to encourage you, mama, not to neglect the nourishing of your own mind while you are focussing on the education of your children. Self education is important, so get yourself a notebook/commonplace and a stack of good books, and set the example of lifelong learning for your children!

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Here’s an overview of what I read in 2016

From my 2016 Reading Plan:

• The Awakening of Miss Prim
• Surprised by Joy
• Mere Christianity
• The Four Loves
• The Abolition of Man
• Teaching from Rest
• Jo’s Boys

Books I read to my kids:

• Nurse Matilda
• Shiloh
• What Katy Did
• Prince Caspian
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• In Grandma’s Attic
• Stuart Little
• The Family Under the Bridge

Audiobooks I listened to with my kids:

• The Green Ember
• The Black Star of Kingston
• Ember Falls
• Anne of Green Gables
• Anne of Avonlea
• Emily of New Moon
• Understood Betsy

Books I read for reviews:

• Give Your Child the World – read my review!
• For Better or For Kids – read my review! 
• Remember and Return – read my review!

Rabbit trails and other unplanned reads:

• Applesauce Needs Sugar
• 100 Cupboards
• On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
• North! or Be Eaten
• The Monster in the Hollows
• 84, Charing Cross Roads
• Jane Eyre
• On Writing Well
• The Lonesome Gods

Books I started but shelved (temporarily or permanently):

• 10 Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child – this is a really fun and interesting read, but I just got tired of it about halfway through.
• Climbing Parnassus – I’m sure I’ll come back to this one eventually, I’m just not finding it engaging enough to keep my attention right now.
• Plutarch’s Lives – I really want to be able to read this one, but I think my brain needs more training first (or I need to find a children’s version!)

And last but not least, my currently in progress reads:

• Pilgrim’s Progress – This one is slow going for me, I’m listening to the audio version while I read it to help with my focus and retention.
• Getting Things Done – I’m hoping this one changes me life LOL!
• The Warden and the Wolf King

 

Do you keep track of your reading? What were your most favourite reads of 2016?