What Will You Read this Year?

Our friend Howard Phillips has often quoted to us the maxim, "You will be the same person each year except for the people you meet and the books you read."

This concept had a pretty big effect on both of us. Obviously, we don't want to be the same people this year that we were last year. This is why we're beginning this year (as we do most every year) by plotting out some major goals for ourselves, including relationships we want to develop and books we want to read.

As we both change and grow each year, the books we read and appreciate change each year as well. We both grew up loving to read, and voraciously devoured all books of all ilks and genres. Some we loved. Some we hated. Some we loved and shouldn't have. Some we hated for bad reasons. Some we positively binged on. Some we tasted and spat out. And along the way, we've realized that girls' natural literary tastes cannot always be trusted.

Last year we revisited some of these beloved and be-hated books from our childhoods and did a brief study on women's most popular literary choices, and then put together a message for a conference we were speaking at. We titled it, "Jane Austen and Vampires: Examining Girls' Literary Appetites and Literary Eating Disorders."

What do handsome heroes, bonnets, and vampires have in common? Not much, but they're all pieces of the most famous and influential girls literature of all time — literature that has revamped the way thousands of young women view reality, the world, themselves, and romance. In this message, we attempted to analyze authors from Jane Austen to Janette Oke to Stephanie Meyer, and lay out the basics of a healthy literary diet.

Well, to celebrate this whole new year we all have been given to read books, study, and nourish the little gray cells, we wanted to give a copy of this message away to one of you! To enter the draw, simply write to us (damselsATvisionarydaughtersDOTcom) and tell us three books you'd really like to read this year. Giveaway ends January 20. (By the way, congratulations to Brielle, winner of a copy of It's (Not That) Complicated ! We pray the book will be an encouragement to you.)

And just for fun, we're going to give you a peek at all the great cover ideas schemed up by our sibling design team. We liked them all so much it was hard to choose a winner. Which one do you like best? You can enter the giveaway a second time by writing and telling us your immediate reactions to each cover (e.g. #1 is the most punchy, #4 gave me the willies, etc.). We'd love to hear your thoughts!

What will you be reading this year?