2012 Reading List.

2012. What a year. So much I could say, but let's stay on point.

Here is the list of every book I read last year. I had a goal in the back of my mind to read a book for each week of the year as a celebration of my first year as a non-student, but in failing to make it a higher priority, I didn't make it to the goal. I came close with 49 separate titles, but almost can only be what it is. If I am allowed to blame anything but myself, I blame summer. Before June, I was ahead of schedule. During that month, I didn't complete a single book, then soon fell woefully behind, only completing one every ten days to two weeks. The only reason I didn't make more progress during that time is because I was at camp, so actually, better than June, I'll blame the campers. And Dickens. If ever a novel was worthy to be called "tome," Dickens' surely were.

If you're interested in discussing anything you find here, I'll joyfully join you.


1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
          by Lewis Carroll

2. All Quiet on the Western Front
          by Erich Maria Remarque

 (I probably wouldn't have chosen to read this on my own, but Dr. Linton (my music theory professor (the one on my list of favorite people)) mentioned it in class one semester. Everything he talks about is sacred (because he's Dr. Linton), so I obviously had to read it. It was a'ight.)

3. At the Crossroads: An Insider's Look at the Past, Present, and Future of Contemporary Christian
                    Music
          by Charlie Peacock

4. Breaking Free
          by Beth Moore

5. Brisingr
          by Christopher Paolini

6. Cast of Characters
          by Max Lucado

7. The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination
          by Esther de Waal

(There were parts of this book that seemed disconnected, making it hard to receive the book as a solid unit, but on the whole, it was a worthy read, with some parts I doubt will ever leave me. I'm better having read it, or at least having learned from the Celts. If you haven't, study them sometime.)

8. A Christmas Carol
          by Charles Dickens

9. Coal Miner's Daughter
          by Loretta Lynn with George Vecsey

10. Cooking the French Way
          by Elizabeth Smart and Agnes Ryan

(Yes. I read a French cook book. I was enticed with the idea of pulling a Julie Powell as soon as I finished.)

11. David Copperfield
          by Charles Dickens

12. The Da Vinci Code
          by Dan Brown

(I know what all the hoopla was about now. This book demands devouring.)

13. Desire
          by John Eldredge

(I read this one very early in the year, and it is still sticking with me nigh a whole twelve months later. My perspective changed dramatically by the end of December 31st, and I think I can credit this book with beginning a lot of the change I've experienced. Earnestly recommended.)

14. Eldest
          by Christopher Paolini

15. Eragon
          by Christopher Paolini

16. Everything That Rises Must Converge
          by Flannery O'Connor

17. The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate
          by Gary Chapman

18. Free to Be Me: A Journey Through Fear to Freedom
          by Betty Robison

19. God Came Near
          by Max Lucado

20. Great and Precious Promises for Singers and Musicians
          by Stan and Sue Moser

21. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
          by J.K. Rowling

22. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
          by J.K. Rowling

23. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
          by J.K. Rowling

24. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
          by J.K. Rowling

25. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
          by J.K. Rowling

26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
          by J.K. Rowling

27. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
          by J.K. Rowling

(2011 was the first year since this series was published in which I didn't read every book (or every one available) at least once. Thus, after skipping a year, it was time to get back to my annual HP reread. I still cried.)

28. The Hiding Place
          by Corrie ten Boom

(I had heard parts of Corrie ten Boom's story earlier in my life, but had never read the full published telling. Now I have. The world is desperately depraved. God is good.)

29. The High Calling
          by James Street

30. The History of the Psychoanalytic Movement and Other Papers
          by Sigmund Freud

31. Inheritance
          by Christopher Paolini

32. It's Time To Be Bold
          by Michael W. Smith

33. Jesus Calling
          by Sarah Young

(I was given this devotional book when I graduated, but my order-loving nature did not want to start it on any day that wasn't January 1st. So I held it until January 1st 2012. I didn't want to like this as much as I did, but it touched a nerve on more days than not, and was a vehicle for so much needed healing and renewal that I was soon won over. I usually read in the morning; I doubt many people would count crying as a good start to a day, but when the crying leads to restoration, I can think of few better ways to begin a day.)

34. No Longer a Slumdog
          by K.P. Yohannan

35. The Pilgrim's Progress
          by John Bunyan

36. The Pressure's Off
          by Larry Crabb

(This book was also integral in revolutionizing my mindset. No, it won't be winning any awards for grace of prose, but content can overcome much, and did indeed in this instance.)

37. Quiet Thoughts
          by Paul S. McElroy

38. Revolution in World Missions
          by K.P. Yohannan

39. SHE: Safe, Healthy, Empowered
          by Rebecca St. James and Lynda Hunter Bjorkland

40. The Story of Beethoven
          Henry L. Kauffman

41. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
          by Lewis Carroll

42. Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road
          by Donald Miller

(As if I needed more motivation to take off in a VW van and live on the roads of America for a while. Thanks, Don. If I find someone crazy enough to go with me, I just might do it.)

43. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
          by William Shakespeare

44. Unfinished Work
          by Kevin Max

45. With New Eyes: Fresh Vision for the Soul
          by Margaret Becker

(I grew up listening to this lady sing, and even though I've long admired her, I didn't expect her prose work to be so great. I was brought to stunned mental silence more than once. It's like she was talking to me, and in an elegant tone so rare I hardly knew what to do with it. And when she wasn't exhibiting grace, she was being so transparent it made me feel it was okay to be just as honest and vulnerable too.)

46. Within Heaven's Gates
          by Rebecca Springer

47. WLT: A Radio Romance
          by Garrison Keillor

48. Women of Sacred Song: Meditations on Hymns by Women
          by Margaret & Daniel Partner

49. The $30,000 Bequest
          by Mark Twain

You Can't Stop the Beat.

Whenever I happen to get online to do anything but read a coupon blog, it's usually at night. On most of those occasions, I also decide to listen to music.

I waste an unseemly lot of time on the Internet because I want to listen to music.

I check all the routine websites, sometimes a few more I've been meaning to investigate for a while, then I think, "I should stop this and go to bed. Or go read." Usually reading is my first option. Then another song comes on, and I refresh Facebook.

After that song..."Dude, I haven't heard this in a while. I miss this song." Or album. Or artist. So I easily talk myself into listening to that song. Which turns into an album. Then an artist's entire repertoire.

And Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest get a refreshing workout, while my friend Google tells me things I'm sure he never would have thought I'd want to know.

If I may back up for a second, the checking of the routine sites isn't over as quickly as one might think, either. I'm not a good passive music-listener. Therefore, as I'm trying to sift through email, before I progress much, I'm bobbing my head and staring into space with a look of transport on my face. Refocus, Emily. I do, then a minute later I'm lost again, this time adding hand gestures. Always. Yet I insist on setting up the same situation over and over again.

I'm hopeless.

Ideally, I'd rather be actively participating in this whole musical experience, but as it's usually somewhere south of midnight, I can't make any remarkable sounds lest I disturb the night's peace. So I sing below a whisper and click ad nauseum to try to convince myself I'm accomplishing something. How easily hoodwinked I am.

And here it is 2 AM again, at the end of 300 words it took me too long to write through a maze of punk rock and Christmas hymns, and I'm still trying to convince myself to press pause.