Fall Into Reading Challenge - Conclusion

This is my first time to participate in Callapidder Days Fall Into Reading Challenge.

I had some grand and lofty goals when I got started. Here is my original post for the Fall Into Reading Challenge. In summary, I said I was planning on accomplishing the following reading goals:

1. Jane Eyre. I DID read this book and blogged about it in Reader's Diary form. You can read my diary of Jane Eyre here. I really enjoyed this book and it fell into the category of Classic Most Enjoyed in 2008.

2. I had hoped to finish Wives & Daughters which I was planning to read with my friend Sarah at Library Hospital. I did complete the book and found it to be a generally positive experience. I also reviewed that book as a Reader's Diary and you can read my thoughts on Wives and Daughters here.

3. I planned on reading Bleak House even though I suspected I would not like Dickens. I was going to give it a whirl all the same. I gave it a whirl and I spun out of control and couldn't finish it. It ended, for me, with a Wikipedia spoiler. You can see my half completed Reader's Diary of Bleak House here.

4. For fun I wanted to read a few Nancy Moser books. I planned to read Time Lottery and Mozart's Sister. I confess I did not make it past the first few pages of Time Lottery. The introduction started with a murder and I just wasn't interested so I immediately set that one aside. However, I did complete reading Mozart's Sister (and liked it!) and you can read that review here.

5. My biggest challenge that I set out for myself (and I didn't quite realize just HOW big!) was Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queen. I DID get into it. There are six books total and I read the first ( . . . with every intention of reading the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth! Just not in a one month time period.). I also put The Faerie Queen into a Reader's Diary and you can read my review of the first book here. (I really am looking forward to completing that one in 2009!)

6. I wanted to read For the For the Family's Sake: The Value of Home in Everyone's Life, by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay in order to focus on home life for a bit. I read that book and you can see my thoughts on For the Family's Sake here. Excellent home making resource.

7. Leepike Ridge and Comstock Lode were on my reading challenge list. I was reading them along with my online bookclub. I read Leepike Ridge and absolutely LOVED it! Fabulous, fabulous book. Can't recommend it more highly. I'm in the middle of reading Comstock Lode right now.

On the whole I feel satisfied that I laid out a reasonable challenge for myself. However, I think in someways I was a bit ambitious. Although I gave myself a month to complete the classics, they can really wear you out. I was trying to keep up with other reading projects (some for 5 Minutes for Books as well as some for Reading to Know) and if you pile too much on top of a classic you can grow to resent it. THey are meant to be savored more than I allowed myself to savor them. I have a few classic projects/Reader's Diaries in mind for 2009 but I think I will run them a little differently giving myself time to adequately take them in and enjoy them.

I really loved being a part of the Fall Into Reading Challenge. It was my first community challenge and won't be my last (although it could be my only). I like the flexibility it allows for people to create their own To Do reading list, if you will. Thanks, Katrina, for hosting this fun event and I look forward to next year . . . where I hope to be less ambitious!

To see how everyone else faired, check out the Callapidder Days Fall Into Reading Challenge end post.