And for the fourth book challenge this year, the Support Your Local Library Challenge. I heartily endorse this one, as my local library has been an awesome resource. I've decided to use this opportunity to work my way through a few series by authors I've had my eye on for a while now, as well as some works I've had on my saved lists on our library's website for over a year now.

1. The well-trained mind (Bauer and Wise)
2. The well-educated mind (Bauer and Wise)
3. A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900 (Roberts)
4. Diagnosing genius: the life and death of Beethoven (Mai)
5. The Brönte family: passionate literary geniuses (Kenyon)
6. The librettist of Venice (Bolt)
7. A long way gone (Beah)
8. Girl Soldier (McDonnell)
9. The quilter's kitchen (Chiaverini)
10. Portrait in sepia (Allende)
11. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (Tyler)
12. A thousand splendid suns (Hosseni)
13. Mozart's Ghost (Cameron)
14. The dark room (Cameron)
15. When in doubt, sing (Redmont)
16. Praying God's Will for Your Life (Omartin)
17. Open mind, open heart (Keating)
18. When God doesn't answer (Kroll)
19. On becoming an artist (Langer)
20. Creating from the Spirit (Wakefield)
21. Creating a life worth living (Lloyd)
22. Journey to the Well (Taylor)
23. The Centurion's Wife (Bunn)
24. At Home in Mitford (Karon)
25. A Light in the Window (Karon)
26. These High, Green Hills (Karon)
27. Out to Canaan (Karon)
28. A New Song (Karon)
29. A Common Life (Karon)
30. In This Mountain (Karon)
31. Shepherds Abiding (Karon)
32. Light From Heaven (Karon)
33. First Light (Thoene)
34. Second Touch (Thoene)
35. Third Watch (Thoene)
36. Fourth Dawn (Thoene)
37. Fifth Seal (Thoene)
38. Sixth Covenant (Thoene)
39. Seventh Day (Thoene)
40. Eighth Shepherd (Thoene)
41. The Shunning (Lewis)
42. The Confession (Lewis)
43. The Reckoning (Lewis)
44. The Postcard (Lewis)
45. The Crossroad (Lewis)
46. The Covenant (Lewis)
47. The Betrayal (Lewis)
48. The Sacrifice (Lewis)
49. The Prodigal (Lewis)
50. The Revelation (Lewis)

Classical Literature Reading Challenge

My third reading challenge for the year will be very useful. I have a shelf of TBRs that I've collected with every visit to a bookstore, it seems. My six classics for 2009 tentatively are:

1. Anna Karenina
2. The Bride of Lammermoor
3. The Age of Innocence
4. Manon Lescaut
5. La dame aux camilles
6. Portrait of a Lady

To sign up, go here.

Am also signing up for the 100+ Reading Challenge over at: J. Kaye's Book Blog.

My book list for 2009:
1. Leading Change
2. Anna Karenina
3. Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
4. A History of Song (Denis Stevens)
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Tales From the Grace Chapel Inn:
1. Back Home Again (Melody Carlson)
2. Going to the Chapel (Rebecca Kelly)
3. Recipes and Wooden Spoons (Judy Baer)
4. Hidden History (Melody Carlson)
5. Portraits of the Past (Rebecca Kelly)
6. Sing a New Song (Sunni Jeffries)
7. The Way We Were (Judy Baer)
8. As Time Goes By (Annie Jones)
9. Steady and Slow (Anne Marie Rodgers)
10. The Pipe Organ (Jane Orcutt)
11. Eyes on the Prize (Sunni Jeffers)
12. In Her Sister's Footsteps (Pam Hanson and Barbara Andrews)
13. Talk of the Town (Anne Marie Rodgers)
14. Saints Among Us (Anne Marie Rodgers)
15. Empty Nest (Pam Hanson and Barbara Andrews)
16. Building Bridges (Carolyn Aarsen)
17. Rally 'Round the Flag (Jane Orcutt)
18. All In the Timing (Melody Carson)
19. Ready to Wed
20. We Have This Moment
21. The Kindness of Strangers
22. The Start of Something Big
23. Mystery at the Inn

I've discovered reading challenges on the web and have enough reading to do this year, so I'm using them to keep myself on task. First off, the Non-Fiction 5 Challenge.

My tentative five:
1. A History of Song by Denis Stevens
2. Excellence in Singing by Caldwell and Wall
3. The Structure of Singing by Richard Miller
4. History of Western Music by Donald Grout
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Getting back into the swing of things, I found the following meme on a book review blog and decided to answer the questions. Please visit for some great reviews and other fun posts.

Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback? It depends on how badly I want to read the book right away. Usually some type of paperback, since it doesn't weigh as much.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? With the construction at Carousel Mall here in Syracuse, Borders is definitely not as easy to get to. They do carry my opera magazines, but Barnes and Noble is somewhat closer and carries more classical music. All that said, local new and used book stores are often more interesting.

Bookmark or dog-ear? Bookmark.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar? If I can get it here for a decent price, brick-and-mortar. There's nothing like perusing a real copy. I am not, however, adverse to using Amazon.

Alphabetize by author, or alphabetize by title, or random? My mom's a librarian, so I'm a little hyper organized - it's by subject first, then by author, then by title, unless it's a series, in which case I keep the series in reading order. In case you were wondering, I grew up reading Narnia in the American fashion, with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, and I have the old white background covered paperbacks.

Keep, throw away, or sell? Keep it forever if I really, really love it. I never throw away - I usually donate what I don't want to keep to the public library book sale, share with friends, or give my good faith-based reading to the church library.

Keep dust jacket or toss it? I keep dust jackets, but don't usually read with it in place.

Read with dust jacket or remove it? Remove it.

Short story or novel? It depends on how much time I have and what I'm in the mood for - usually a novel, though.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter, simply because I haven't read any Lemony Snicket.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? Chapter breaks, unless I'm ready to fall asleep.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? It depends on my mood. I do tend to pull out "The Dark is Rising" by Susan Cooper during a wild snowstorm.

Buy or borrow? Both - sometimes I'll borrow from the library first for a "perusal" copy, and if it's something I know I want to keep, will buy it.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse? A mixture of all three, but I love browsing the most - you never know what you'll find.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Tidy.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading? Do I have to pick just one?

Stand-alone or series? Whatever I can get my hands on. I'm on a series kick right now - but they must be read in order.

Favorite series? Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Dark is Rising, Bodie Thoene's series, Tales from Grace Chapel Inn, Tamora Pierce's works.

Favorite children’s book? for an early read: Dr. Seuss (The Lorax is my personal favorite). I grew up on the classics as well.

Favorite YA book? I agree with skrishnabooks - The Dark is Rising series is quite good, and I thrived on Tolkien as a YA reader. YA historical fiction was also a mainstay of my reading lists.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Good question - that would depend on what you yourself read :-) The author Francine Rivers was a favorite recent discovery that not too many in my circle have read - yet.

Favorite books read last year? I'll have to get back to this one.

Favorite books of all time? Christian Bible (Psalms and Romans in particular), Bodie Thoene's Zion Covenant (the series that starts with Vienna Prelude - hey, I'm a musician), LOTR,

What are you reading right now? We Have This Moment in the Grace Chapel Inn series, several books on thyroid disorders and vegan nutrition, and for my musical work: Caldwell and Wall's Excellent in Singing pedagogy series and rereading Grout's A History of Western Music in anticipation of a possible doctoral degree. (Nothing like a little light bedtime reading..... :-)

What are you reading next? For my light reading, a couple more volumes of the Grace Chapel Inn series.

Favorite book to recommend to an 11-year-old? Dark is Rising, Dear America, LOTR

Favorite book to re-read? Not Grout - that's a necessary evil. Definitely the Christian Bible, probably LOTR for non-fiction.

Do you ever smell books? Sometimes.

Do you ever read primary source documents like letters or diaries? Absolutely - it's insight into a human being that you simply can't get anywhere else.