Spring Reading Thing Finale

The Spring Reading Thing 2007 has come to a close today, it being the first day of summer and all. I love the challenges because they help me to set goals for reading non-fiction. I can get through fiction books really well but when it comes to non-fiction, I'm infamous for starting them but losing steam about half way through them. This time around I kept with it. Unfortunately, I just plain ran out of time. While my list was not that long, it did have quite a few non-fictions and I was determined to read these particular ones to the end, and then life just sort of took over and got a bit busier than I had forseen. I finished all but "The Many Loves of Marriage", which I am halfway through and totally expect to finish before the end of the weekend. And the other was "Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives" which I totally am going to put as one of the first on my Fall Reading List! To see my list you can go here.

Katrina had a list of suggested questions for today's post so here goes:

1. What was the best book you read this spring?

While I enjoyed all the books that were on my list this spring by far, the one that captivated me, made my heart pound, kept me in suspense and made me think for days after) was "Uncharted" by Angela Hunt. Without any qualms I would recommend this. My review is here.

2. What book could you have done without?

There wasn't one that I could have not read. I enjoyed them all.

3. Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading them again?

A new author for me was Brandilyn Collins. It took me a while to work up enough guts to read her books as I had heard they were quite suspenseful to say the least. But I totally did not want to be a member of her Big Honkin' Chicken club so I chose "Violet Dawn", the first of her Kanner Lake Series which is her latest. I wasn't disappointed. I handled it quite well, and I will definetly be putting the next books in the series into my fall reading.

4. If there were books you didn't finish, tell us why.

As written in the first paragraph, I ran out of time. Not that I picked too many books, but there were a few non-fictions and they always take longer and then we just seemed to be extra busy.

5. Did you come across books on other participant's lists that you are planning to add to your own to be read pile? Which ones?

There is just too many to list. If you go in my sidebar, and click on the 2007 reading list you can see that my pile just continually keeps on growing. I wish I could get a job that would give me a paycheck so that I could read all these wonderful books.

6. What did you learn -- about anything-- through this challenge?

I learned that yes, I can finish a non-fiction from cover to cover. Now this is probably a combination of actually enjoying these particular non-fictions and because I gave myself the extra push to do it. I learned there are way too many books, and way too little time. ;v)

And I learned that I so cannot achieve reading goals and keep up with as many blogs as I have in my bloglines. That I had to make choices at times which one had to give a little bit. I did that this challenge in choosing to not blog for about 4 days so that I could get caught up with my books. And while I terribly missed the community of blogging for those 4 days I was glad I had made the choice. It felt so good to accomplish what I had wanted to do.

7. What was the best part of the Spring Reading Thing?

Of course, I'm going to say reading everyone's lists and as many reviews as I could. I love that part of this. I find so many books I'd never heard of. Another part this spring that was tons of fun, was the massive book giveaway. While I would not expect that everytime, Katrina, it was still loads of fun to have it this time.

8. Would you participating in another reading challenge this fall?

You betcha!

9. Any other thoughts or comments?

While there is not going to be a summer reading challenge because, well, I'm sure Katrina would like to do something like be away from her computer for 10 minutes at a crack, I've got my summer reads ready to go. Absolutely no non-fiction. Summer reading is for fun stuff. :vD

It's going to be the "Summer of re-reads" for me. I'm going to enjoy some favorites that I have read before. To start with I'm going to read the "Stonewyck Trilogy", 3 books in a 6 book series, by Michael Phillips. One of my all time favorites about a young Scottish girl who gets saved and how it changes the course of her family through generations. Love it. And then if I still have some summer left, I think I'll add "The Last Sin Eater" by Francine Rivers. I just saw the movie and totally loved it so I want to reread the book.

Thanks again Katrina, for another wonderful reading challenge and for all the extra work you did with the book giveaways.