Tuesday, January 13, 2009

4 x 10 Book Challenge - Reading List

After trawling through my bookshelves and the library catalogue, I have put together my 4 x 10 Challenge reading list. I gave myself one rule ... everything on the list had to be available from the library or already on my shelves. I'm not planning to be dogmatic about sticking to the list - if something better comes along, I'll adjust as I go. The categories are rather eclectic, including "serendipity" for books that didn't fit anywhere else. (Yes, I know that's a cheat!)

Biography

William Wilberforce (William Hague)
The Last Man Who Knew Everything (Andrew Robinson)
Hildegard of Bingen: the Woman of Her Age (Fiona Maddocks)
Nella Last's War: the Second World War Diaries of Housewife 49 (ed. Richard Broad)

Children's Historical Fiction

Stars of Fortune (Cynthia Harnett)
The Marsh King (C. Walter Hodges)
Puck of Pook's Hill (Rudyard Kipling)
Knight Crusader (Ronald Welch)

Crafts

A History of Hand Knitting (Richard Rutt)
Two-At-A-Time Socks (Melissa Morgan Oakes)
The Complete Guide to Scrapbooking (Sarah Beaman)
Out-of-Bounds: Scrapbooking Without Boundaries (Jodi Amidei and Torrey Scott)

Education

All Must Have Prizes (Melanie Phillips)
Teach Me To Do It Myself (Maja Pitamic)
How To Foster Creativity in Young Children (Mary Mayesky)
How Children Learn: From Montessori to Vygotsky (Linda Pound)

Faith

The Saints' Guide to Happiness: Everyday Wisdom From the Lives of the Saints (Robert Ellsberg)
There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind (Anthony Flew)
The Fathers of the Church (Mike Aquilina)
Three Cardinals: Newman, Wiseman, Manning (E.E.Reynolds)

Fiction

Napoleon of Notting Hill (G.K.Chesterton)
The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs)
The Spear (Louis de Wohl)
Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)

Geography and Travel

A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveller (Jason Roberts)
Shadow of the Silk Road (Colin Thubron)
The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek (Barry Cunliffe)
Beatrix Potter At Home in the Lake District (Susan Denyer)

History

Paris: Biography of a City (Colin Jones)
Yiddish Civilisation: the Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation (Paul Kriwaczek)
The Road to Wigan Pier (George Orwell)
How We Built Britain (David Dimbleby)

Science and Nature

Electric Universe, David Bodanis
The Chemical Choir: a History of Alchemy, P. G. Maxwell-Stuart
The Planets (Dava Sobel)
The Secret Life of Trees (Colin Tudge)

Serendipity

Saints in the Landscape (Graham Jones)
Tales from Chaucer (Eleanor Farjeon)
The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less (India Knight)
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen (Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish)

8 comments:

Melanie Bettinelli said...

Oh what a great looking list. I'm totally not up for any kind of challenge right now, but it does look like fun.

Paper Dali said...

Ooooh, good list. It'll be interesting to read your thoughts on those books.

Your book about Wilberforce got my interest. He was mentioned a great deal, as you can imagine, in the book by Adam Hoschild: Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
(http://www.amazon.com/Bury-Chains-Prophets-Rebels-Empires/dp/B00120TJPO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1231906391&sr=1-1)

I read it a few years ago, and it was just absolutely stunning. Very sad, as anything pertaining to nature is, but the tenacity and power of the British anti-slavery movement was fascinating.

Paper Dali said...

Pertaining to nature? I meant pertaining to SLAVERY?

My brain is ready to go to bed now. Good night!

Anonymous said...

I attempted to pull the whole of my list from my own bookshelves, not all but most.

Also, I've already cheated by devouring and savoring a library book "Little House on a Small Planet."

http://www.littlehouseonasmallplanet.com/index2.html

The William Wilberforce book looks interesting.

Shari said...

Great list! And I don't think the serendipity catagory is cheating, I'm going to add one to my list! I found Bagels and Grits:A Jew on the Bayou by Jennifer Anne Moses at the library and I needed a niche to put it in! And a heads up on How to Talk to so Kid's Will Listen---when I tried this with my girls they laughed at me! And they were only 5 and 8 at the time!

Missus Wookie said...

Interesting list - once my life calms down I'm thinking of doing something similar.

But today I picked up escapist novels from the library so I can ignore my to do list and relax on occasions.

The last one is a favourite - I have both the siblings rivalry if you want to borrow it.

Frabjous Days said...

What a great list! I second the warm recommendation of 'How to Talk...'

Sweetness and Light said...

Great list Kathryn, looking forward to the reviews and thoughts!