Fall Into Reading Challenge Recap

Where has the time gone? Christmas is upon us, 2011 is about to become a reality; and though it snowed last week, it officially becomes winter today, which means the Fall into Reading Challenge has come to an end.

So, here is a recap of my list, and what, in reality, I have read.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn Truss

I had started, really I had, but I didn't finish it.  It was placed back on the bookshelf, and collecting some more dust, until I find my reading mojo to pick it up, again.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Read it.  Loved it!  It became known as my 600+ page vampire book.  I am not into the vampire genera, but this book is a little more then that, it is part mystery, part suspense, and part research project.

The Innocent Man by John Grisham

Started it, skimmed it, listed it on Paperback Swap.  We are moving on

So, that was the original list, and I still had plenty of time before the challenge ended.  Thankfully, a friend recommended two books from her own collection:

Ransome's Honor and Ransome's Crossing, both by Kaye Dacus.   OK, I confess, Christian fiction, especially romantic Christian fiction, is not my genre of choice.  However, I found these books well written and entertaining; and though the plots were slightly predictable, the details tying together the plot kept me intrigued.  So intrigued, when I finished the second I was begging my friend for the third installment, Ransome's Quest, and was disappointed to hear that it wouldn't be published until July. 

After finishing those two books, I moved on to my new reading plan.

At the start of the challenge I browsed other participating blogs, and was given several great book ideas.

The first suggestion was to reread former favorites.  Like recipes, I like to read a book once, and move on.  Which doesn't explain why I also like to collect books, if I only read them once.  However, I'm thinking another round of Edith Wharton, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, George Eliot, Jane Austen, and maybe a Bronte sister, or two.  

I haven't followed through on this, yet, but I'm thinking spring reading challenge.

The second suggestion:  Read what my kids are reading.  The kids are venturing into 200/300+ page books, lots of pages, lots of words, lots of information.  What are they reading?

I started with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and still working my way through the series. 

The book pile on my bedside table is growing, some with youth fiction, the rest being a new supply of  books, which I'm holding on to until our vacation in February. 

And, while we are talking new books, what have you read, and what would your recommend?