The Little Girl With the Big, Blue Glasses

(Sorry for the repost but the picture didn't upload properly the first time I did it. And how can you label a post "The Little Girl With the Big, Blue Glasses" and not include a picture of the little girl with the big, blue glasses?)

Some kids look like they should be cheerleaders, some kids look like they should be soccer players, and some kids look like they should be readers. How can a kid look like this and not like to read? I think it's physically & genetically impossible. They don't make glasses that big for nothing!

So when I was young, my near & dear friends included Ramona Quimby, Kristy Thomas, Claudia Kishi, Marianne Spier, Peter & Farley Drexler Hatcher, Ralph S. Mouse, Nancy Drew, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Matilda Wormwood, Jo March, and the like. (Cool points to you if you can name the books in which those characters are featured. Or maybe I should say nerd points instead of cool points?)

As I've gotten older, I'd like to say my taste in reading has matured as well. I'd love to take Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Eyre to coffee one day and hear their stories in person. There are a few things I love about classic literature: 1) I can download them for free on our Kindle 2) I can purchase them in print in local bookstores since the English major students have to read them for class 3) The authors actually have the audacity to include plot twists and upsets that modern authors don't seem to be willing to pull 4) They give me opportunities to look up words like "phantasmagorical" in the dictionary, so my English doesn't digress as quickly as my Chinese progresses.

So here are my reading goals for 2011 (or at least the first half of 2011 before I become a mom and have no time for extracurricular activities such as reading):

ADOPTION/PARENTING

I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla by Marguerite Wright--a child psychologist's research of how children develop a sense of race & color as they grow up. Should be an interesting read as these two white people attempt to raise two black people in a place filled with yellow people.

Empowered to Connect by Karyn Purvis--a book about connecting with adopted kids that was recommended to me by a dear friend who has started a journey with their first foster child.

Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp--we loved his first book, Shepherding a Child's Heart, and are excited to read its companion.

FOR MY SANCTIFICATION & ENCOURAGEMENT

The Roots of Endurance by John Piper--because we all need some encouragement just to keep on keepin' on and who better to encourage than John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce?

Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce Ware--because the Wares are one of my favorite families in the world and reading Dr. Ware's book will remind me of sitting around their table at Thanksgiving.

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp--because, as the cover says, we're all people in need of change helping people in need of change.

JUST FOR FUN

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne--because I just want to understand Hester a little bit better.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain--because I don't think you're really an American unless you've read a Mark Twain book.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane--because it's one of the most moving and widely read American novels (or so says the back of my copy).

Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville--for those of us who would like a taste of Mr. Melville but aren't quite ready for Moby Dick.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens--because my husband is convinced that it's the best book ever written and I'd like to be able to either agree with him or argue with him.

1776- because the only copy we have access to will leave the country this summer.

Perhaps a steep list but I'm at least going to give it a try! Does anyone have any other suggestions that I should add?