Autumn Reading Challenge Update

Done

The Small Rain by Madeleine L'’Engle
There was a lot about Small Rain that said "first novel" to me, but she is a favorite author, and I did enjoy it.

The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
I love letters of favorite authors and historical characters. This particular volume reminded me that our founding fathers sacrificed much of their own personal comforts for the sake of our new nation.

King Lear by Shakespeare

Wow. I had never read Lear before, and it is incredibly powerful. I will still choose Hamlet as my favorite Shakespeare tragedy, but this is great.

I have seen the Ian Holm Lear; any other movie version recommendations?

Three new mysteries:
A Long Shadow: An Insprector Ian Rutledge Mystery by Charles Todd

The Dark Assassin (William Monk novel) by Anne Perry

Not actually new, but a favorite to re-read: Original Sin by P.D. James

In the midst of

Jane Austen by Elizabeth Jenkins

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer

Three Short Novels by Wendell Berry

Standing by Words: Essays by Wendell Berry

Still to come

Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson

Christian Reflections by C.S. Lewis

The Whimsical Christian by Dorothy Sayers

My reading lists are ever-expanding, so of course I have a couple of additions to make. My purpose in joining these reading challenges is to keep myself focused on certain reading I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time. Both summer and autumn have helped that focus immensely. As a sort of reward for my focus I expand the list. And, you ask, what "must reads" have I added to the pile?

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield The cover alone was irresistible, as was this M-mv recommendation: If you indulge in one contemporary book this year, let it be this "love letter to reading." In process. Not a book you can comment on mid-stream.

The 36-hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life by Mace and Rabins

I studied gerontology in college, but I have been deep in the land of young people ever since (I graduated seven months pregnant with my first child.) I now have dear friends whose parents have Alzheimer Disease, and I have felt the nudge to get back to reading and thinking about these issues. The older baby boomers already qualify for AARP discounts, so the gerontological issues in our country are getting ready to explode.