We’ve been officially doing our “spring reading” for one month now, and I’m curious — how is it going for you?

Are you enjoying the books you picked? Have you completely revamped your list because the original wasn’t working? Are you super-organized, and therefore are 1/3 through your list, since we are 1/3 through spring? Is finding time for reading proving to be more difficult than you thought it would be?

As for me, I’ve been pleased with my reading progress so far. I’ve completed 4 books from my original list, plus an additional book (not on my list) for a blog tour. Five books in a month is pretty good for me these days. In addition, I’m about half-way through each of the three books I’m currently reading.

Bizarrely, I’ve been getting through nonfiction faster than fiction. Four of the five books I’ve read so far this spring have been nonfiction. Very weird. Maybe I’m working extra-hard at reading nonfiction, since that’s usually my weak spot. Or maybe I’m in some kind of fiction slump. I don’t know. But it’s been pretty fun to cross off the nonfiction books as I read them.

Hey – I may actually catch up on all the unread nonfiction books on my shelf someday! Okay, that’s probably pushing it… but I can dream, right?

Leave a comment and let me know how you’re doing so far with Spring Reading Thing 2009.

This post is where you can submit links to any book reviews you do for the books you’re reading as part of Spring Reading Thing 2009. A few guidelines:

1. This is only for Spring Reading Thing 2009 participants. If you haven’t signed up yet, please go HERE to find out what it’s all about, create your own Spring Reading Thing blog post, and sign up for the fun.

2. Please link to the specific post that contains your review — not your general blog web address. Links to a general blog address / blog front page will be deleted.

3. Please limit your entries to books you’ve read this spring and have included on your Spring Reading Thing post.

4. Please keep your reviews family-friendly. I realize some books may have some touchy or difficult subjects, but please keep your reviews “clean.”

5. This is completely voluntary! You are in no way required to do reviews of your books or to link them up here. (I, for one, am absolutely horrible about writing reviews!) This is just a convenient place to gather reviews, so that all those interested can check them out.

6. I think the best way to do this is to put the book name and your name in the “name” section of the Mr. Linky: something like “Pride & Prejudice (Katrina)”. Of course, you can do it however you want, but that will make it easy for people to decide which reviews they want to read.

While I’m sure it won’t be necessary, I reserve the right to delete links that don’t adhere to these little “rules.”

Thanks, everyone! I look forward to seeing the reviews! (Oh, and if you read through all the reviews submitted by SRT participants and still want more, check out two other great sites for book reviews: 5 Minutes for Books and Paperback Frenzy.)

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Welcome to the Spring Reading Thing 2009! Are you ready to read? I sure am!

I’m looking forward to seeing what’s on everyone’s reading lists this spring, and finding some new and irresistible books to add to my TBR pile. I’m also looking forward to digging into my own spring-time pile of books, which has quite a bit of variety, I think.

Whatever you’re reading for this challenge, I hope you enjoy each and every book!

Here’s a brief recap of how to be a part of the Spring Reading Thing 2009:

• Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this spring. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)

• Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky below. (Please do not put your name on the Mr. Linky before you have your post done, and please link directly to your Spring Reading Thing post. If you don’t, your entry will be deleted. Read this post for more information.)

• Get reading! The challenge goes from today, March 20th, through June 20th.

• Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile!

• Write a post about your challenge experience in June, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how the Spring Reading Thing went for you. Oh, and if you don’t finish your books, or if you change your list half-way through, or if you only read two books…it’s OKAY. This is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this spring (and enjoy it!), that’s good enough for me.

There’s a Mr. Linky at the end of this post. Please use it to link to your blog post containing your Spring Reading Thing list. Remember to link to your specific post, not just your general blog homepage. People will be stopping by for days (or weeks!) and when you link to your specific post, it will make it easier for everyone to find your reading list. Also, if you don’t mind, please link back here from your post so that your readers can come check out all the other participants.

So post your list, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, and check out all the other bloggers who love to read as much as you do!

For information about Spring Reading Thing 2009 prizes and giveaways, please read this post from last Friday.

Note: There is NO limit to when people can sign up to participate in the Spring Reading Thing. You’re welcome to join in any time between now and June! The “deadlines” mentioned in the prize/giveaway post are only for prize eligibility.

Watch for a Spring Reading Thing Reviews post, which I’ll put up Monday. It will have a Mr. Linky where you can link up to any reviews you write about your Spring Reading Thing books. (And the review thing? Completely optional.)

That should cover all the details. Link up below and let’s get reading!

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Okay, I decided to just make a big (for me) list of books to read this spring, knowing full well that I probably won’t get through all of them. I’d like to read them all, but realistically, I just don’t think it’s going to happen. So my personal challenge to myself is to complete as many of them as possible.

As I’ve done for past challenges, I’m dividing them into non-fiction and fiction. It’s always harder for me to finish non-fiction books (I love to start them, of course, but I tend to abandon them half-way through), but these reading challenges usually give me the kick in the pants to hang in there and complete a few of them.

Here’s what I hope/plan to read this spring:

Nonfiction

Sacred Chaos by Tricia McCary Rhodes (finish it) I’m already more than half-way through this book, but have been reading it forever. I tend to pick it up and read a chapter here and there, and then mull over those chapters for days or weeks before picking it up again. But I am determined to finish it this spring.

All I Need Is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans by Susanna Foth Aughtmon (finish it) I’ve read the first four chapters of this book, and I really like it so far. So why haven’t I just kept reading it? And why haven’t I finished it? I don’t have a good answer for that. But I will finish it this spring.

Clutter-Free Christianity by Robert Jeffress I’m reading this book for an upcoming blog tour and will be giving away a copy of it this spring. I’ve only read the introduction so far, but it looks like it’ll be a good book.

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman This book was on my Fall Into Reading 2008 list and guess what? I never even started it. But it still looks interesting to me, so I’m going to give it another shot.

Looking for God by Nancy Ortberg I’ve enjoyed a few books by John Ortberg, and decided to check out this one, written by his wife. My friend Dianne read it recently and seemed to really like it, so I’m looking forward to diving in to this one.

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies I’m a regular reader of Challies.com, and have wanted to read Tim’s book for a while. I so appreciate the book reviews Tim does and I know there will be lots to learn from the slim but packed little book.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson This book comes with my usual disclaimer: I’m not a big memoir-reader. However, I do like Amy Dickinson, and when I was asked to read and review this book, I said “yes,” so I’ll give it a shot. I also have a copy to give away to one of my readers later this spring.

Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna This book has been on my shelf for over a year and I still haven’t read it. It looks good, and I always appreciate a helpful parenting book, so I finally took it off the shelf and put it on my spring pile.

I know what you’re thinking: Katrina, you’re crazy. That’s eight non-fiction books. You’ll never finish them all!

I know. Trust me, I know. This is nuts. Eight non-fiction books? Still, it’s not called a “challenge” for nothing. I’m going to give it my best and see how far I get.

Fiction

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen Again, this book was on my Fall Into Reading 2008 list and I didn’t even crack the cover. In fact, I’ve been waffling for years between wanting to read it (since good friends of mine, including Lisa, absolutely love this book) and avoiding it. Why do I avoid it? I don’t know… I tend to be picky about literary-type books, and maybe I’m just afraid that I’ll hate it, even though I really want to read it and love it. Regardless, I’ve decided that I will read it this spring. I’m thinking about watching the movie first (I’ve never seen it) to get myself started…



The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer I’ve heard good things about this book from several people, and it does look charming. Much slower-paced than my usual fare, but still, I’m curious.

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver After all that literary stuff, I needed to include some books with murder, bad guys, and good guys who save the day. Jeffery Deaver’s books are always page-turners for me; he really knows how to do the twists-n-turns thing.

Sinner by Ted Dekker One of the few Dekker novels I haven’t yet read. I usually enjoy his books, but every now and then, one makes me scratch my head and conclude, “That was just plain weird.” We’ll see how it goes with this one.

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis I last read Lewis’s Space Trilogy when I was in college, and I’ve been wanting to read them again. I’ll start this spring with the first book.

The Soul Hunter by Melanie Wells I have read Melanie Wells’s books completely out of order. I read the third one first, then went back and read the first one, and now I’m finally reading the second one, The Soul Hunter. They work just fine as stand-alone books, and I thoroughly enjoyed the other two, so I don’t doubt that this one will keep me up late at night as well (in a good way). Chad, however, prefers for me to keep these books cover-side-down, to hide the freaky-looking guy you can see there in the corner.

So, that’s 14 books total for my Spring Reading Thing list. More than one book per week. I know that for some of the participants, fourteen is a pitifully small number of books to read in three months, but for me, it will be a challenge. But it’s one I’m ready to take.

Don’t forget to visit the main Spring Reading Thing 2009 post and check out what everyone else is reading!

Note: Spring Reading Thing 2009 has begun! Visit the official launch post to sign up as a participant or to see what everyone is reading!

Spring Reading Thing 2009 starts in only one week! (Which also means that spring will be here in one week — a fact for which I am very grateful. As far as I’m concerned, winter can’t leave soon enough.)

I hope you’ve been working on your lists, deciding what books you plan to read this spring. Here’s a picture of where my list stands right now (spines/titles are a secret until next week, of course):

However, based on my reading speed so far in 2009, I will never get through all these books in only three months. I’m not sure whether I should cut a couple out or really challenge myself and just see how many of them I complete… I guess I’ll have to decide before next Friday.

I just have a few final details to share with you about Spring Reading Thing 2009.

Giveaways

I’m very excited about the books I’ll be giving away this spring. As in previous challenges, Bethany House is my primary sponsor, and is providing a giveaway book for each week of the reading challenge! In addition, I have a few books from Sourcebooks; two hot-off-the presses hardcover novels provided by Hachette Book Group (5 copies of each!); a couple blog tours I’ll be participating in, for which I also have giveaway copies; and possibly a few more that’ll come together at the last minute. By my calculations, I’ll be giving away almost thirty books during Spring Reading Thing 2009!

Here are some details about the giveaways:

• For the most part, I’ll be posting the giveaways every Thursday. There may be an occasional giveaway on a different day, but if you check in here any Thursday during Spring Reading Thing 2009, you’ll be sure to find at least one book up for grabs. (If I can manage to focus my geekiness, I’m also going to try to create some kind of nifty widget near the top of my blog, so you can easily see what giveaways are currently open… I won’t promise anything, but that’s one of my goals.)
• Book giveaways are open to everyone, even if you are not participating in Spring Reading Thing 2009. The only restriction I have is shipping; I can only ship to U.S. & Canada mailing addresses.

Prizes

In addition to the weekly book giveaways, there will be a couple prizes awarded at the end of the Spring Reading Thing.

1. A $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com
2. A $5 gift certificate to Amazon.com

To be eligible for these prizes, you must:

• Post your intitial Spring Reading Thing 2009 post (and enter it on the Mr. Linky on my blog) by midnight on March 23rd
• AND post a wrap-up post on your blog at the end of the challenge (and enter it on the Mr. Linky I’ll have up then) by midnight on June 23rd

That’s it. I’ll randomly draw the winners after June 23rd.

Miscellany

My plan right now is to put up the official Spring Reading Thing 2009 launch post at 9:00 a.m. (EST) on Friday, March 20th. If for any reason that time will change, I’ll let you know.

I will be putting up a post where you can link to any reviews you write of your Spring Reading Thing 2009 books, but probably won’t post it until March 23rd or so.

I think that just about covers things. If you are new to the Spring Reading Thing, you can read about the general idea HERE and find additional guidelines for participating HERE.

See you all in one week, ready to start reading!