Just a little wrapping-up housekeeping for Spring Reading Thing ’09. First, I have a couple winners to announce.

The winner of the book, Elisha’s Bones, is:

Comment #11: stacy

The winner of the $15 Amazon.com gift certificate is:

Comment #18: Nise’

The winner of the $5 Amazon.com gift certificate is:

Comment #49: Lisa writes…

Congratulations to each of you!

Also, I’ll be closing the Spring Reading Thing 2009 Book Reviews Mr. Linky next Monday (June 29th), so if you have any final book reviews you’d like to post, be sure to get them up before then.

Thanks again for your participation. I hope you get in some delightful reading this summer!

As I type this post, I’m sitting in our family room, pretending not to hear my 3-year-old’s requests to “Go OUTside!” Why? Because it is H.O.T. And personally, I’d prefer to enjoy the air conditioning just a little while longer.

It’s clear that spring is taking its leave, and along with it goes Spring Reading Thing 2009. I want to thank all of those who participated. We ended up with 243 participants — fantastic! Thank you for spreading the word, sharing your love of books, and reading along with me this spring.

I’d love to hear how the challenge went for each of you. I hope you’ll take the time to write a wrap-up post and link to it using the Mr. Linky below.

Feel free to work from the questions I listed in this post, or just write about your experiences, thoughts, and results in any way you please. Once your post is up, come back here and sign up on the Mr. Linky below. Don’t forget — include the URL to your wrap-up post, not just your general blog web address, to make it easy for people to find your post.

Also, if you have any final book reviews you’d like to post, I’ll leave the Mr. Linky on the Spring Reading Thing 2009 Reviews post up for a few more days. (As I write this, there are 418 reviews posted — unbelievable! If you’re looking for your next book to read, check it out; it’s a terrific resource.)

And…there are still two Amazon.com gift certificates up for grabs — one for $15 and one for $5. To be eligible, please post your wrap-up post (and put it on the Mr. Linky) by midnight EST on June 23rd to get your name in the drawing. I’ll announce the winners on Thursday, June 25th.

Thanks again to all the participants. I’ve enjoyed reading with you! I hope you’ll be back this fall to join me for Fall Into Reading 2009.

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

I knew when I made my list for Spring Reading Thing 2009 that I was being a bit ambitious. Eight nonfiction books and six fiction books would be a stretch for me, but I thought I could do it.

Alas, it turns out I couldn’t.

Well, I still read fourteen books, but just not all the books on my original list.

But wait, rather than rambling, let me answer some questions.

Did you finish reading all the books on your spring reading list? If not, why not?

Nope. I did complete six of the nonfiction books, and 3.5 of the fiction books. I’m currently almost-done with Pride & Prejudice and will probably finish it this weekend, so if I give myself credit for that one, it means I left 2 fiction and 2 nonfiction from my original list undone. However, I read an additional four books (for blog tours and giveaways) and listened to two audiobooks, so I certainly got in plenty of reading.

I blame my inability to finish my list on a combination of: a spring cold that knocked out three of us for three weeks; potty-training; and reading extra books for blog tours.

Since I read so much, I don’t consider myself to have “failed,” though. And I’m glad I pushed myself a little. Having big goals certainly helped me read more than I otherwise would have.

What was your favorite book you read this spring? Why?

I think my favorite was All I Need Is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans. The author, Susanna Foth Aughtmon, is so real, funny, and encouraging in this book — I could relate to each and every chapter and found myself both laughing out loud and nodding in solemn agreement.  Basically, it’s a book about the struggles we face as we try to live as Christian women — dealing with our insecurities, our weaknesses, and our (no-bones-about-it) sins. It’s so rare for someone to let themselves be so vulnerable about shortcomings and sins, that I found the book utterly refreshing and very encouraging.

Did you discover a new author or genre this spring? Did you love them? Not love them?

I read (or actually, am still reading) Pride & Prejudice for the first time this spring, and it’s also my first Jane Austen book. I know so many people who absolutely love, love, love this book, that I was a little nervous. What if I didn’t like it? Would I be labeled a literary reject forever?

The verdict is… I really like it. I can’t say that I absolutely love, love, love it, simply because I like a book to move a little bit faster. That’s just one of my issues. But I’ve enjoyed getting to know the characters, I love interplay between some of them, and Austen has written lots of little quips and quotes throughout the book that have made me smile or laugh. I want to go back and re-read it sometime, just to make sure I pulled out all those good quotations. I’m glad I had it on my list, and that I’ve finally been initiated into the Pride & Prejudice club.

Now to watch the A&E movie version that’s waiting by the TV…

What was your favorite thing about the challenge?

Two Things:

First, hearing from other participants during the challenge. I enjoyed hearing how everyone was coming along, how much they were reading, and what they thought of their books. The community involved in Spring Reading Thing 2009 was great!

Second, the accountability. Even though the challenges I host are “low pressure,” just knowing that I would have to write this wrap-up post and put it up for all the world to see kept me on track (as much as I could be) and kept me from just totally giving up when sickness and potty-training had me feeling like a reading failure.

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Be sure to check out the main wrap-up post for Spring Reading Thing 2009 to see how other participants did!

Time has gotten away from me. I usually like to put up a post one full week before the closing of a reading challenge, but the end of Spring Reading Thing 2009 has apparently been sneaking up on me without my noticing.

In other words… We only have 5 more days in this challenge!

Saturday, June 20th is the last day of spring, and therefore, the last day of Spring Reading Thing 2009. My goal this week is to somehow finish the three books I’m currently reading, but I honestly don’t know if that’s going to happen.

Either way, when Saturday arrives, I’ll be putting up a Mr. Linky where participants can link to their own wrap-up posts. The post will go live at 8:00 a.m. EST on Saturday. Remember, you must post a wrap-up post on your blog (and enter it on the Mr. Linky I’ll have up Saturday) by midnight on June 23rd in order to be eligible to win one of the two Amazon.com gift certificates I’ll be giving away.

Not sure what to include in your wrap-up post? There are no official rules — we’d just like to see how the challenge went for you! But if you are someone who likes a little more structure, here are some questions you can answer as part of your wrap-up. Pick and choose whatever works for you!

• Did you finish reading all the books on your spring reading list? If not, why not?
• Did you stick to your original goals or did you change your list as you went along?
• What was your favorite book that you read this spring? Least favorite? Why?
• Did you discover a new author or genre this spring? Did you love them? Not love them?
• Did you learn something new because of Spring Reading Thing 2009 — something about reading, or yourself, or a topic you read about?
• What was your favorite thing about the challenge?

That should be enough to get your started, but remember — make it work for you.

See you back here on Saturday, June 20th!

So – how is your spring reading going?  We’re 2/3rds through Spring Reading Thing 2009 and only have one month left to see if we can accomplish our goals.

Me? Not so great. I can say with near certainty that I will not finish my SRT ’09 list.

I can identify two contributing factors:

1. Illness. The boys and I have been sick for the last two weeks, taking turns as to who is the sickest. It’s been great fun (not), but has most definitely interfered with my reading. With my head and sinuses pounding, I’ve had a hard time actually staring at a book, so I resorted to my iPod many nights in a row. In addition to podcasts, I’ve been listening to the audiobook version of Life of Pi (which was not on my list, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless).

2. Even with the illness, I think I could have finished my books if it were not for one thing: I took on far too many additional book reviews / blog tours this spring. I’ve read four books this spring specifically for giveaways, that were not on my spring reading list, and therein lies the problem. I don’t at all regret reading those books — they were good, and I’m glad to participate in blog tours so I can give more free books away to you! But I had made an ambitious (for me) list to begin with and there just wasn’t much wiggle room. Definitely something to remember for the future: Either leave flex-room in my list for blog tours, or don’t take any on if I want to finish my list!

Despite the fact that I won’t get through all my books, I do have to say that I’ve enjoyed almost every book I have read this spring. It’s been a good variety, so in that sense, Spring Reading Thing 2009 has certainly been a success for me.

How’s it going for you? Do you think you’ll finish your books in the next month? Are you enjoying your reading?