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Every year I love creating a reading list for the new year. I’m not by nature a list maker, but book lists are the exception.
This year my main goal is to finish two giant classics. This is the THIRD YEAR that Les Mis is on my reading list and, although I’m almost halfway through, I can’t believe that it’s taken me this long. Anyhow, I’m giving myself several months to read the last 700 pages and then the second half of the year I want to finally finish The Brothers Karamazov. I’ve started it twice (both during pregnancies) and get stuck about 60 pages in. BUT NOT THIS YEAR. This year I will finish. I think. 
Other than the giant classics, I’ve added a shorter book (mostly non-fiction) for each month of the year (up to November, then I’ll just play catch up). I’ll probably continuing adding in fiction here and there as the year goes on and will definitely be doing some re-reads. Last year I re-read all the Austen novels and most of the L.M. Montgomery Anne books. (I’m thinking this is the year to re-read Kristin Lavransdatter again?)
And in my attempt to keep the “stuff” in the house down to a minimum, I’m trying to only read books we already have in the house. OK! What’s on your reading list this year?
(this post contains Amazon affiliate links)
January
- ✓ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- ✓ Mothering from Scratch by Melinda Means and Kathy Helgemo
- ✓ Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
- ✓ The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
- ✓ The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
- ✓ Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting by Laura Kelly Fanucci
February:
- ✓ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- ✓A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- ✓ The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- ✓ In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
- ✓ Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching by Anthony Esolen
- ✓ Hard Core Poor: A Book on Extreme Thrift by Kelly Sangree
- Mary: The Church at the Source by Hans Urs von Balthasar and Pope Benedict XVI
March:
- ✓ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- ✓Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (re-read)
- ✓Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers
- ✓A Mother’s Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot
April:
- ✓ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- ✓ The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall
- Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart
- Seeds of the Word: Finding God in Culture by Fr. Robert Barron
May:
- ✓ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- Kid Cooperation by Elizabeth Pantley
- Sex, Style, and Substance by Hallie Lord
June:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory by Alasdair MacIntyre
- ✓ The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide by Nancy C. Brown
- ✓ Possession by A.S. Byatt
July:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum: A Guide to Catholic Home Education by Laura M. Berquist
- Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- ✓ Discovering God Together by Greg and Lisa Popcak
August:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- ✓ Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
September:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Spirit of the Liturgy by Pope Benedict XVI
- ✓ Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
October:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brian Pitre
- ✓ Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
November:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Home by Marilynne Robinson
- ✓ Persuasion by Jane Austen
December:
- ✓ Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
- ✓ Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
What’s on your reading list this year? And how do you find time to read during busy seasons of life?
Hi Haley!
Thanks for sharing your list. For the last 4 years I have set a reading goal on Goodreads.com, but I never made a list of what I wanted to read for the year. I sat down day before yesterday and made a list for the year from my 300 some “to read” list on goodreads
Spiritual
-Loved, Lost, Found
-Something Other Than God (I think I don’t want it to end so I haven’t started it haha)
-Pope Awesome and Other Stories
-Surprised by Truth
-The Rhythm of Life
Non-Fiction
-As You Wish
-Survival in Auschwitz
-10 Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child (God has not yet blessed me with my own children, but has blessed me with others’ as I teach 3rd grade and take my job of nurturing their specialness very seriously)
-A People’s History of the United States
-Miracles and Massacres
-You’ve Got to Read This
-Good Call
-The Book Whisperer
-I Am the Beggar of the World
Fiction
-Valley of Amazement
-Cutting for Stone
-The Invention of Wings
-Mrs. Poe
-Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker
-The Secret Keeper
-Orphan Train
-Garden Spells
-The House on Mango Street
-Light in August
-All the Light we Cannot See
I will be eking my way through the Norton Anthology of Poetry for the whole year I am sure (that’s what I wanted for Christmas, nerd alert)
Classics
-To Kill a Mockingbird (reread)
-Slaughterhouse Five
-Heart of Darkness
-Bleak House
-Walden (reread)
Children’s
-Wizard of Oz
-The BFG
-The Giver
-The Wind in the Willows
-Mary Poppins
Sorry you asked??? Haha
It is also my goal to comment more on the wonderful blogs I read here at Carrots and others. I don’t have time during the week, but it is a pleasure to sit on Saturday mornings with a coffee and read my favorite blogs, but I never comment. You all feel like old friends to me as I have been reading them for years and they mean so much to me when the world makes me feel like a nut. So, hope to comment to you soon
God Bless,
Christine
Palm Coast, FL
Oh Tess…such a depressing book but oh so good!
I’ve also got a Mother’s Rule of Life on my list for next year.
Is it rude to link back to my post on what I read/my goals for next year? It’s fastre than writing them all out again, so hopefully not lol
http://www.efficientmomma.com/2014/12/30/read-2014/
I have the exact same goal with the Brothers K (and the same copy…)! What is it about those first 60 pages?
I don’t have a list of specific books, but spending more time reading and less time on the computer is one of my big goals for 2015. Do you have any suggestions for fitting in reading time as a mama of littles? Our baby girl is due on January 28th and I worry that I’ll be too tired and busy to make reading a priority.
I thought the same thing before my first was born – who has time to read as a Momma, right? But once we had worked out latch and were comfortable nursing, I got SO MUCH reading done during feeding times. I prefer paper books from the library usually, but I borrowed a friend’s Kindle to make page turns easy. And during the first couple months…go easy on yourself. I read some children’s books I’d always heard about but never read, because with the sleep deprivation I just wasn’t up to heavy reading. Now I have my son get his favorite picture books and we both read while I nurse the baby.
Are you going to have your More Feasts book available in print again? I want the hard copy of it as I have the hard copy of your first Feast books. I’m holding out!
At this point we don’t have any plans to make More Feasts a print book. Eventually, we may do a second edition of Feast!, though and add in the recipes from More Feasts! (But that wouldn’t be until next fall at the earliest).
I’ve been rereading A Mother’s Rule of Life and it’s even better the second time through–probably because I’m not as overwhelmed since I’ve already implemented some of it
I told myself that this year would be the year of just reading what’s in the house but that’s what I tell myself every year and you definitely aren’t helping with all these recommendations. I’ve got Kid Cooperation and Atheist Delusions on my to-read list now–maybe if the library has them it won’t count against me?
I’m sure you’ll love the Brothers K, and Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist will probably make you slap your head for making everything come together so nicely you won’t believe you didn’t hear it all before. When I found my biological dad (long story!) was practicing what he called Messianic Judaism it really helped me to speak much more intelligently on why the Church is, well, The Church
I keep hearing amazing things about Kristin Lavransdatter! If you did the first book as a book club, it might give me the pressure I need to read it! It’s probably too long to do all three, huh?
Tess of D’Ubervilles was the MOST DEPRESSING BOOK I’VE EVER READ. I really felt sad for almost a week after finishing it. It’s really well written, I couldn’t put it down, but I felt there wasn’t a glimmer of hope in it. And I think that’s pretty unrealistic. I hated it. Just to let you know. I’ll definitely be interested in seeing if others are able to appreciate it, so please share when you read it!
Yes, exactly.
I’m sharing with you my brainstorm list…. but now I have to add a couple from your list to mine!
The Art of the Commonplace by Wendell Berry
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Secret Life of Bees
Lewis Carroll & Einstein Biographies
The Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor
reread Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset
Finish Number One Detective Agency
more on History of Civil War
more on Architecture
Books from the Like Mother Like Daughter library project
more on Orthodox Catholicism
by or about Pope Francis
Beautiful Ruins
Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
re-read Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Local Flavors
These Beautiful Bones
The Blue Flower
Strange Gods by Elizabeth Scalia
Bringing it to the Table by Wendell Berry
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy by Sarah Reinhard and Lisa Hendey
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
finish The Sinners Guide to NFP by Simcha Fisher
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
New-ish parenting book like Simplicity Parenting
Pope Awesome by Cari Donaldson
Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There – Catherynne M. Valente
Loving Frank author
Under the Wide and Starry Sky- Nancy Horan
Diary of a Country Priest
Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses by Paula McClain
A Ticket to Ride by Paula McClain (The Paris Wife author)
And For the Kids
the Brambly Hedge books
And by “loving frank” author, I meant read something by Nancy Horan.
I read Tess when I was a young teenager and thought it was the most depressing book. I had to read the Anne series again to pull me out of the pit of sorrow that it left me in.
Yes. See my comment below.
Mine is short because I find it near impossible to read “extra-curricular” books while working and studying which I’ll be doing at least half the year. But here it is:
Fiction
– Brothers K – started last year and then given a prompt by my last philosophy class which included passages in its readings
– Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor – about a quarter left and not sure what I think yet
– Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
– Day – A.L. Kennedy
Non-Fiction
-Free: Spending Your Time and Money on What Matters Most by Mark and Lisa Scandrette
-Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang
-Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou
And the Pope’s next encyclical
As for your list, Les Miserables is beautiful and worth it (though, like everyone else I know, I did skip the battle of Waterloo) and I still have the Norton Anthology from first year of college. “You Start” by Margaret Atwood is still one of my favourite (contemporary) poems
Hi, Im currently compiling my reading goals for 2015, All of you Moms out there can you reccommend what books you found most helpful to read as new moms or expectant Moms, whether they were Catholic / reflective or just practical advice to prepare you. My first is due in August and I want to read some related books between now and then. Id love any suggestions
OMG, Tess of the Durbervilles is so FREAKING SAD AND DEPRESSING. It’s one of the classics that I’m like, really???? Why is this a classic? I like most of Dostoyevsky’s stuff and Les Mis obviously has its downer points but when reading Tess I just found nothing redeeming in it. Ugh.
Make sure you read the newer translation of ‘Karamazov’ – by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Apparently it recovers some of the liveliness of Dostoyevsky’s original Russian. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the novel in this translation last year.
Any list with plenty of BXVI is a good one! The Spirit of the Liturgy is brilliant! One thought: I’m not sure how it compares to the book you mentioned, but I really enjoyed “Mary: God’s Yes to Man.” It has JPII’s Redemptoris Mater with an intro and commentary by Ratzinger and von Balthasar. In my opinion, the encyclical and Intro were by far the best parts of the collection–in comparison HUvB’s commentary was okay. (http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Encyclical-Letter-Mother-Redeemer/dp/0898702194/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1YHCNJ0B2MXWNA678WNK)
I love Brothers Karamazov! I plan on re-reading it this year, in a better translation than the one I have. I also want to read Les Mis this year. Also on the list: C.S. Lewis I haven’t read yet (The Space Trilogy! And his essays on stories and creativity), Persuasion, Kristin Lavransdatter, How to Write a Sentence, finish The Everlasting Man, and so many others. This is also the year our first child is due, so I am trying not to set my reading expectations too high… we’ll just see what happens.
I have the same problem with the Brothers K! And want to read Kristin Lavransdatter for the first time this year.
Still working on my list for 2015…
Great list! I’m going to look up some of these (mainly the Catholic ones) to read for myself, thanks for the ideas.
I have been wanting to add more theological books to my reading list for awhile now. My husband bought me three Scott Hahn books(Rome Sweet Rome, Angels and Saints, and Joy to the World) for Christmas and I am already devouring them. Very readable and speaks on such a realistic platform in applying Catholic teaching more into our lives. I may try to read all of his books by the end of the year. I still want to read some Thomas Merton and Pope Benedict XVI.
I’m also a big sucker for Nicholas Sparks and I’m working on his newest book, The Longest Ride. There are so many other novels I want to read, but time is so limited. So many books, so little time!
I have read “The Brothers Karamazov” last year and got really depressed. I don’t really know why, but there was something in the characters and they’re tragedies that got to me hard.
This year I’ve already read a really cool book, the graphic novel of “The Ring of the Nibelungs” and started “The Idiot”, which, I have a feeling that will also depressed me (maybe it’s Dostoyevsky my problem). Some others in line are:
– On Literature – Umberto Eco
– A Game of Thrones and a Clash of Kings – George R. R. Martin
– Love in time of cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
– Kristin Lavransdatter (the trilogy) – Sigrid Undset
– Caim – José Saramago
And I want to re-read “The wonderfull adventures of Nils” and “Sense and Sensibility”.
I hope I can read more, but I am finishing a Masters Thesis, so probably won’t be able to.
wow! Do you schedule time for reading? I love to read but it hasn’t been working lately. I wait until the evening and then too often I just fall asleep or get distracted by the internet!
I don’t rigidly schedule time for reading, Emily, but I usually end up reading at least a little bit 6 out of 7 days on average. I often read right after the kids get in bed…in the bathtub…with a glass of wine