December 2019 TBR & Goals List

December has barely started, and there is already so much going on! Here is what I hope to read and accomplish this month:

December TBR List

For #ALiteraryChristmas Reading Challenge:

1. Red Boots by Kate Willis
2. Finding Christmas Joy by Amanda Tero
3. The Christmas Cat by Melody Carlson

To Fulfill Reading 10 Nonfiction Books:

1. finish Confessions by Augustine of Hippo
2. finish The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
3. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

To Fulfill Reading 5 Contemporary Middle-Grade or Children’s Books:

1. Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
2. Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow
3. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

To Fulfill Reading Books Set in 20 Different States:

1. Dear Reader by Mary O’Connell– set in Mahattan, New York
2. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather – set in Nebraska
3. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron – set in Iowa
4. The Edge of Town by Dorothy Garlock (Jazz Age #1) – set in Missouri OR My Heart Belongs in Blue Ridge by Pepper D. Basham – set in Georgia

 

Non-Reading Goals

• Finish the sweater I’m knitting as a Christmas present
• Follow along with the Deck the Hallmark podcast when I can, but don’t stress about listening to every single episode as soon as it comes out
• come up with some sort of general plan for the direction of the Staff Association over which I am suddenly Chair
• make a monthly budget that I will start keeping up with in January
• complete The Project™ which I have hinted at but not yet shared about directly on this blog so that next month I can share about it directly
• decide on 2020’s reading goals and create a landing page for them
• find a spreadsheet or other tool to help with meal planning
• give thoughtful Christmas presents
• Post reviews of all of the Christmas books I read throughout the year
• Listen to Speaking with Joy‘s weekly podcasts about Advent
• Find star-shaped balloons for my nephew by New Year’s Eve (I brought some last year, and he’s been asking for them again!)

I didn’t realize how much I want to accomplish this month until I wrote it all down. It’s definitely an ambitious set of goals, but I am not backing down from this challenge! How does your December look? Is it filled to the brim with goals, celebrations, and events? Or is it more slow-paced and relaxing? Whatever comes your way this month, I hope you will take some time to think about the meaning of Christmas. I listen on occasion to a podcast called Speaking with Joy, and this month she is talking about the history of Advent and its traditions. I’ve listened to about half of the first week’s episode, and I am looking forward to keeping up with these, probably while I finish up my knitting project!

Until the next chapter,

Jana