We had an ice storm this past weekend, leaving us with no power on Sunday. Thankfully, we got the heat working anyway. And since there was no TV or Internet, that meant lots of time for reading! I don't know how people read by candlelight for hundreds of years. Candles really aren't that bright.

But all that is over now. The power is back, and it's Christmas Eve! I'll be taking a blogging break for the next week or so. Posts will be resume after the festivities are over. So I'll take this opportunity to wish you a merry Christmas.

May you have a Christmas filled with family, friends, and books. But most importantly, may your Christmas be filled with our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth 2000 years ago is the reason we can celebrate life today - eternal life with Him in heaven. Have a blessedly joyous Christmas!

Of all the reading challenges I participated in this year, this was the one I was most afraid of not finishing. I signed up for the smallest level - Pike's Peak. I only had to read 12 books from my growing TBR pile. Twelve books should be doable. If you avoid the library, that is. I had a rather hard time doing that. Once November hit, I knew I had to make a concerted effort to finish this challenge. And I did it! These are the books I read for this challenge:

Arabella by Georgette Heyer
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart
Following the Sun by John Hanson Mitchell
Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox
The Laird's Inheritance by George MacDonald
Tuck by Stephen Lawhead
Gatsby's Girl by Caroline Preston
Gone: Last Days of The New Yorker by Renata Adler
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I didn't get many of them reviewed, but at least I read them! There is a definite sense of satisfaction that comes from having read these 12 books that otherwise may never have made it off my shelf. Let's see if I can do it again in 2014!

I discovered the world of reading challenges this year, and I absolutely love it. In fact, you can read about my devotion in this post. I had so much fun this year participating in and completing reading challenges.

I'm already accumulating challenges for 2014 (although I have yet to officially sign up for any). I have a spreadsheet that keeps growing. Every time I look around my library, I see another book that would work for a reading challenge. I am prepared and extremely excited.

But it's only December 19. And since most of the reading challenges don't allow you to count books begun before January 1, I have twelve days to fill. This is harder than I thought.

I'm planning to join a TBR challenge, so I don't want to start pulling books off my own shelves yet. I'm also planning to join a library books challenge, so I don't really want to use that source. I'm avoiding books with colors in the titles, as well as titles that start with a more obscure letter of the alphabet for my A-Z challenge. I don't want to read books that take place in other countries, because those could count for my European or global challenges. Short books are out. Long books are out.

I love reading challenges, but this waiting for January 1, 2014 is driving me crazy! Is there anyone else who feels this way, or am I just overly committed to reading challenges?

I had a love-hate relationship with this book. Well, maybe that’s a little extreme. It was more of a eager-reluctant relationship. The Art of Racing in the Rain is the story of a race car driver, his wife, and his daughter. But here’s the twist – the story is told by their dog. Which brings the reader’s connection with the characters to a whole new level of heart-breaking.

Every time I put down this book, I was reluctant to pick it up again. Sad things were happening. I didn’t want to know what was going to come next. On the other hand, I was eager to pick up the book and continue reading. Sad things were happening. I wanted to push through to the happy part.

Neither of those emotions – eagerness or reluctance – would have been present if these characters weren’t real and their lives realistic. Surely Denny and Zoe still live somewhere. Their story was so raw and emotional and livable. You can’t help but be drawn to them.

The idea of having the story narrated by Enzo, their dog, is brilliant. His perspective on the family is always right-on. He often sees things more clearly than the people do, which shouldn’t surprise us. An old soul of a dog can cut right through the barriers and complications that humans throw in the way.

This is a book that I would like to reread someday. Since Denny, the master, is a race car driver, there are racing metaphors proliferating this book. I honestly did not take a whole lot of time understanding, applying, or even reading these. I just wanted to know what would happen with the characters. But I’m certain that these add a layer of meaning to this book that would greatly increase any reader’s enjoyment of it. Now that I know the ending, I would like to reread and get more out of this book the second time.

You don’t have to be a dog person to like this book. You just have to be a lover of triumph through adversity. And aren’t we all?

Introducing the Newbery Reading Challenge 2014 (Since I've been wanting to read more Newbery winners, I thought I'd host a challenge to motivate myself and others. Check it out if you're interested!)

LEGO: A Love Story by Jonathan Bender (This book is awesome. Definitely recommended for any Lego lovers in your life!)

The House Girl by Tara Conklin (I'm enjoying the book, but honestly, I just love looking at the cover. It's so pretty!)

Alphabet Weekends by Elizabeth Noble

It’s been a goal of mine for quite awhile to read all of the Newbery Award winners. I'm sure I read some as a kid, but I also know I only touched the tip of the iceberg. I needed a way to inspire myself to focus on this goal. What better way than a reading challenge?

I'm so excited about hosting this reading challenge that I may have made it a bit more complicated than it needed to be. But I didn't want to leave out the Newbery Honor Books. Are they any less of a good book just because they didn't win the Medal? Certainly not. So here's my compromise:

Each book you read is worth points. You get:

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Medal Winner (Gotta give the picture books some love, too.)

In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

You can get to this level with any combination of points you want. You can read all Newbery Medal winners. You can throw in a few Honor Books. If you want, you can even read 75 Caldecott Medal winners! How you get to your point level is totally up to you.

(And just to make it extra fun, every couple of months I'll give you a mini-challenge. You can earn bonus points by completing mini-challenges!)

Challenge Guidelines:

• Rereads count (because you were probably a kid when you read it last, and your perspective on the story just might have changed since then).
• Audiobooks and ebooks count.
• And paper books count, too. :)
• All books must be read between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014. Books begun before January 1 don’t count.
• Books can be used for other challenges as well.
• You don’t have to have a blog to participate. You can link up reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, etc., or just hang out with us in the comments!
• Reviews are encouraged, but not necessary. There will be a monthly post for you to link up your reviews if you want to share your thoughts.
• Choose your point level. You can always aim for a higher point level, but you can't move to a lower one.

To join the Newbery Reading Challenge:

• Write a post (or a comment) stating your intention to join. Choose your point level. You can find the challenge button below to use in your post.
• Add your link to the Linky at the bottom of this post. Make sure you include the link to your sign-up post, not just your homepage.

Grab the Challenge Button!

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Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini (Did you know Scaramouche was mentioned in Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen?)
I Funny by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg (I needed something short to cover the time until my library holds arrived, so I grabbed this off my classroom shelf.)

Lego: A Love Story by Jonathan Bender (Who didn't love Legos as a child?)

I love reading books about Europe! (I love travelling to Europe, too, but that's just not possible as often as reading about it.) This European Reading Challenge was no problem. Technically this challenge runs until January 31, 2014, but I decided to write my wrap-up post now. I only needed to read 5 books to complete the top level of this challenge. I doubled that and read 10 books. I definitely plan on signing up for this challenge again in 2014, so I'll let my January European books count towards next year.

Here are the books I read for this challenge:

United Kingdom - After Rome by Morgan Llywelyn
The Netherlands - Just One Day by Gayle Forman
France - Chateau of Echoes by Siri Mitchell
Germany (German author) - The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
Vatican City - The Vatican Diaries by John Thavis
Denmark - The Elephant Keepers' Children by Peter Hoeg
Belgium - Europe on 5 Wrong Turns a Day by Doug Mack
Switzerland - The Jane Austen Marriage Manual by Kim Izzo
Italy - Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Spain - Following the Sun by John Hanson Mitchell

What books did you read this year that had you dreaming of a European vacation?

The Gilmore Girls is one of my all-time favorite shows (I refuse to admit how many times I’ve watched some of those episodes), so when I saw that Lauren Graham wrote a book, I was beyond excited. I was able to get ahold of it sooner than I expected/feared, considering my typical source of new releases is the library.

When I have such high expectations for a book, I always read half-expecting to be disappointed. But Lauren Graham did not disappoint. I loved every bit of this book!

Franny Banks wants to be an actress. So when she graduated from college, she moved to New York City to pursue her dream. She set a deadline of three years to become “successful” (whatever that is, exactly), she joined an acting class, and she. . .began waiting tables. Such is the life of an aspiring actress.

It’s really not the plot that makes this book, so that’s all the summary you get. It’s the characters, the realism, and the voice. Franny is surely a living, breathing person somewhere. Her dreams, her struggles, her experiences – they are all told with a large dose of the sophisticated wit and humor you would expect from Lauren Graham. For Pete’s sake, she even included pages from Franny’s datebook, with Franny’s scribbles all over them. The journey that Franny goes on seems like one that many, many actors travel. Halfway through the book, I was beginning to wonder what would constitute a happy ending for Franny. I knew, of course, that there would be a happy ending, but what exactly would that entail? I was fairly certain that whatever is was, it wouldn’t signify the end of Franny’s struggles and endeavors. No real person stops striving, even when they achieve their dreams. It’s not the end; there’s always more. Same is true for Franny Banks.

I could go on for a very long time about all of the things that I loved about this book, but I’ll hold myself back. Fan of Lauren Graham or not, everyone can find something to enjoy in this novel. Find a copy, and discover what it is for you!

What has happened to commitment in fiction? Since when does “true love” make it okay to leave a spouse for a new interest (fling, lover, object of lust. . .)? Why does being bored with your life give you permission to have an affair?

This may not have jumped out at me so strongly if I hadn’t read two books in a row that “solve” dissatisfaction in life with an affair. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd and Pilate’s Wife by Antoinette May both follow female main characters who decide that their husbands don’t deserve their fidelity. No one said being faithful to a spouse was easy. No one said you would feel “in love” forever. Love is not a feeling; it is a choice.

Claudia from Pilate’s Wife and Jessie from The Mermaid Chair live two thousand years apart, but their stories are similar. Life does not make them happy. A man with a touch of the unknown, a mystery, enters their life. Suddenly they must have that man, no matter the consequences to their husbands or children. And these men (Holtan and Whit, respectively) are most certainly their true loves, the men they were meant to be with for the rest of their lives. Oh, please. That’s not true love. That’s lust. Especially since it doesn’t take long for the relationships to become physical. It’s not a mental or spiritual love (despite Sue Monk Kidd making Whit a monk). It’s not any sort of love that a long-term relationship – a marriage – can be based on. Both women talk about the future, plan for a future with their lover, but it inevitably doesn’t work out (I can’t really call that a plot spoiler, can I? Surely we all saw that coming.).

I understand that people can be dissatisfied with their lives, that they can look for a way to change their humdrum existence. But if literature is constantly presenting having an affair as an acceptable solution to this problem, more and more people – real people, not tie-up-all-loose-ends fictional characters – will choose this path. Marriages are hard work. Fidelity requires a daily commitment. Boredom does not give you an excuse to stop working on these things.

I want to read a book where the main character chooses their husband over a potential lover. I want to read about their daily decisions to keep showing love even when they are not feeling love. These are compelling stories, realistic stories, inspiring stories. Let’s raise the standard of today’s fiction and honor those people who show a commitment to their marriage and their spouse, through better or worse.