2021 Reading Challenges

1. Miss Morissa: Doctor of the Gold Trail by Mari Sandoz
2. Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland by Melissa Amateis
3. Thieves, Rascals, and Sore Losers: The Unsettling History of the Dirty Deals that Helped Settle Nebraska by Marilyn Coffey
4. Conquering the Great American Desert by Dick Everett
5. Febold Feboldson: Tall Tales from the Great Plains by Lynn Trank

The Inklings

1. The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski
2. Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo
3. The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer
4. Tolkien: Man and Myth by Joseph Pierce
5. Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Natural Health

1. Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life by George Catlin
2. The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature by Sue Stuart-Smith
3. The Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love, and Happiness by Bradley Nelson
4. One Touch Healing by Mildred Carter
5. The Vitamin Cure for Migraines by Steve Hickey

Preread for Fourth Grade

1. Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
2. Sacajawea by Joseph Bruchac
3. The Fairy Book of Science by Arabella Buckley
4. These Were the Sioux by Mari Sandoz
5. At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

Biographies

1. Remembering Manzanar: Life in a Japanese Relocation Center by Michael Cooper
2. I Wanted to be a Pilot: The Making of a Tuskegee Airman by Franklin J. Macon
3. Rebel Lawyer: Wayne Collins and the Defense of Japanese American Rights by Charles Wollenberg
4. Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace by Kim Phuc Phan Thi
5. The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M. Marhsall III

The Literary Life Podcast Reading challenge has 19 general categories this year, including a poetry anthology, an ancient Greek or Roman work, and a book you’ve avoided. (Check out all of the categories at The Literary Life Podcast website.) I’ve picked out three books to get me started on this challenge.

1. A book on education, art, or literature: The Educated Imagination by Northrup Frye
2. A book you have avoided: How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind by Thomas C. Oden
3. Finish a book you started but never finished: Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen by Bob Greene

My reading plans for 2021 fill me with excitement about the many good books I have ahead of me this year. So many books, so little time!