OK, I performed dismally.
The Spring Reading Thing, in case you aren’t aware, was the wonderful idea Katrina introduced at Callapidder Days. In a blog post last March, she challenged readers to create a spring reading list we would aim to complete by June 21.
Unfortunately, my eyes were bigger than my reading time. I thought I had a modest number of books selected, and even tried to take into consideration those I knew I’d read for blog tours.
Alas, I did not account for my yen to reread The Two Towers, or for the length of time it would take to read the books (not on the list) I was judging for a contest.
Of the nine books on my list, I only finished four, the latest being Gillian Bradshaw’s Kingdom of Summer. This is one of those “just for fun” reads, a recommendation from another fantasy-lover, a non-writer friend from church. We were discussing Christian fiction one day, and he said he’d be interested in my take on Bradshaw’s books, published by Simon and Schuster.
My take on the two books of hers I read is, they are most definitely Christian fiction, some very well-written Christian fiction. My friend doesn’t have the third book in the trilogy, and now I’ll have to find it in the library because this is too good to stop short of the complete story.
I might mention, these are Arthurian tales. There are two kinds of fantasy I don’t particularly care about—stories that are fantasy re-writes of Bible stories, and Arthurian tales. Mostly I feel like both areas create stories that hold no surprises because the premise is already familiar, well-known even.
Imagine how astounded I am to find myself hooked by a series of Arthurian tales! 
Even though my performance in the Spring Reading Thing was a dismal failure (yes, failure—less than fifty percent can’t be seen as anything else), I’m hoping there will be a Summer Reading Thing or a Fall Reading Thing. Not that I need more incentive to read, I guess, but I think it gives me permission to read some of the books I WANT to read, not just those I feel obligated to read.
Plus, it was fun to find so many other people spending time reading, fun to see what kinds of books they had on their lists, fun to read reviews. I might have failed, but the Spring Reading Thing was a definite success.
Oh no, you are not a failure! You were reading, and that’s all that counts. It’s been a long time since I read The Two Towers, but if I remember correctly, it’s quite a time investment. And rest assured, there will be a fall challenge, so please join us!
Katrina, thanks for stopping by.
You’re right, of course. And I do hope to join in the Fall Ball, or whatever you call it.
Becky
Uhg! I failed too. I’m too much of mood reader and I ended up going off the list. *gasp* I don’t even recall what I read. I did get to three of mine on the list. I really liked “Well of Shades”. Boy that turned out good. Finally Fagen got his love.