Our February Family Reading Goals

Last year, we really enjoyed choosing a book for each new month's category. However, a problem we sometimes ran into was that one of us (my daughter usually--who had more time), would finish their book within a few days and then have no new goal to focus on the rest of the month. So this year, except for the first month--which was a challenging book--we chose two categories per month. We did this with the expectation that there was to be no pressure if one of us only got one of the categories read that month. Nevertheless, it allows early finishers to choose another book goal, and it also gives us more exciting categories per year to read from. So February's book goals are a Bestseller and a Classic. When choosing the categories for the month, we tried to choose two categories that would somehow complement each other. When choosing this duo we thought, "a popular new book" and a "popular old book" or the best of old and new. Well, seeing that I finished "Crime and Punishment" a little early (I am on maternity leave. Normally, a book like that would take me the whole month), I began my bestseller at the end of January. It was so good, and it was an easy read, so I actually finished it before February. That's okay, though, because I know I will get busy come April and May, so if I get ahead on all my categories, that would be a good thing. So what did I choose? I chose the book, "Ghost Boy" by Martin Pistorious. It is an international bestseller and an autobiography (one of my favorite categories) about a boy who comes down with a mysterious sickness that causes him to lose memory of his childhood, but also control of his body. People think he is a vegetable with little brain function, but he is completely aware and intelligent, just unable to communicate at all. Finally, one person believes in him enough to realize he can communicate by staring at pictures, and through time he finds ways to communicate with technology and regains some control back of his body. It was a great story of someone who overcame a great obstacle and the importance of treating all people with dignity no matter what we perceive their level of awareness or intelligence. My girls are choosing their books now too. My third daughter chose a bestselling book of Christian encouragement and began reading it as soon as "War and Peace" was finished, my oldest, Faith, chose a bestseller non-fiction book about octopuses, Kat chose the book "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" which is popular enough to have a movie out about it right now, and Arwen chose the new "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book. Savannah is choosing to take her time with her challenging read from January, "Jane Eyre." It is a classic anyway, so hey, it fits into one of February's categories anyway. Landree and Savannah (in honor of Landree finishing "War and Peace") are watching the History channel "War and Peace" mini-series. I just love to see how reading is becoming a normal part of our family life and how our books give us something new to discuss and share with one another. I am not quite sure what book to choose for my classic read. Hmmm. . . what am I in the mood for? Feel free to comment your suggestions below.