I began a winter reading list in early January after the manner of the Fall Reading Challenge many of us did. I’ve had it in my sidebar but wanted to post it here so I could refer back to it as I completed books and commented on them. As I perused everyone’s lists from the challenge in the fall, I made a list of other books I want to read, so I have plenty of ideas if I get through these! 🙂

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (In progress)

White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick (Completed)

Ever After by Karen Kingsbury (Completed)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (In progress)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 2) by Lemony Snicket

Through the year (These are laid out in weekly or daily sections):

Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker by Lynn Bowen Walker

Daily Light on the Daily Path compiled by the Samuel Bagster family

Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer

And, of course, the Bible.

I finished White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick first. Reading Lori Wick feels like visiting an old friend to me. I think I have read all of her books and really enjoy them. I wouldn’t agree necessarily with every little point, but, then, that’s true of anyone I suppose. She has written many historical novels and a few contemporary ones: this is one of the latter. I thought the name of the main character, Arcineh, was kind of odd, and there was no explanation as to how her parents came up with that name. Her nickname is Arci, and throughout the book people hear it and mistake it for Darcy — that gets a little tedious sometimes. Arcineh’s parents are killed in a car accident when she is about 11, and she goes to live with her grandfather. Though they get along wonderfully, his “favorite” granddaughter has been Arcineh’s cousin, and that causes conflict later on. Arcineh is very non-competitive (I am, too, and it was interesting reading about someone else like that), and when things come to a crisis, she leaves. The rest of the books follows her journey to acceptance, to love, and to faith.

I also finished Karen Kingsbury’s book Ever After, just yesterday. It is a sequel to Even Now, which told the story of a young couple who were separated by their parents when the girl, Lauren, becomes pregnant. After Lauren gives birth her baby daughter, Emily, becomes ill, and through a series of misunderstandings, Lauren believes she is dead. She leaves and is estranged from her family and can’t find her boyfriend, Shane. She goes to college, becomes very liberal in her views, and eventually becomes a reporter for Time magazine on the front lines in Afghanistan, opposed to war. Shane, meanwhile, becomes a career soldier. Emily grows up, eventually finds her parents, and tries to reunite them. In this sequel, Shane and Lauren love each other as much as ever, but their differences are so great that they are not sure if they can make it. Emily goes to college, begins a job, and meets a young man, also a soldier, due for a second tour in Iraq. I’ll leave it there so as not to spoil it for anyone else who might like to read it. In many ways it is a predictable plot (to me, anyway), and Karen Kingsbury tends to overplay the emotional scenes, and I don’t think anyone opposed to the war in Iraq would be swayed by reading this. But she does make some very good points about the war effort, and this tribute to those who defend freedom is heartfelt. So even with those negatives, yes, I’d recommend the book.

I’m almost done with Mere Christianity. It is actually very easy to read, but I don’t normally gravitate toward non-fiction. I do want to comment more on it when I finish, but I would recommend it.