Open Thread: Reading Challenges

Back in November, some folks in the Booklr community of Tumblr organized a challenge called #readwomen.  The idea was to deliberately read books written by women for pleasure in December.  For full participation, every book should be written by a woman, but I opted to just increase the proportion by picking from my to read stack with some deliberation.  There’s still a few books to finish–I might be able to manage two or three more books by women by New Year’s.

Created for me by Indigo Caldwell; please do not reuse without permission.
Created for me by Indigo Caldwell; please do not reuse without permission.

Starting in January, I’ll be participating a bit in a challenge titled #readpoc2016, which involves choosing to read more books by non-white authors.  (I’m not counting manga, as I read plenty of that already.)  I hope to broaden my horizons by using “intentionality” (reading with a purpose.)  I’m not quite up for a #readLGBTQ challenge yet, maybe in 2017.

There are other reading challenges floating around that are more long-term projects:  Read a book set in/about each of the states in the United States; read every book that’s won a Hugo Prize; every single book written by Charles Dickens, etc.   Giving yourself a challenge can enhance the reading experience as you demonstrate progress and share what you’ve learned.

If you’d like to try it, here’s a scavenger hunt-style challenge for 2016 (books that hit more than one category count for all the appropriate categories.)

  1. A book written by a woman (if your reading material is mostly books by women, make this an author you haven’t tried before.)
  2. A book written by a person of color (likewise.)
  3. A book set in/about your home state or country.
  4. A book first published the year you were born.
  5. A book you had to read for school (does your impression of it change with the many years since the last time?)
  6. A book that won a prestigious award in its field (Nobel, Pulitzer, Hugo, Newbury, etc.)
  7. A book that made #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.  (Popularity does not equal quality, but most of these are at least readable.)
  8. A book that you’ve heard is good, but it’s a genre you don’t normally read.  (You may need to try several different books; don’t force yourself to finish a book that isn’t working for you.)
  9. A book on a subject you know little about (probably non-fiction.)
  10. A book you got as a gift or prize, or otherwise randomly found for free.

Does this sound like a fun challenge to you?  Have you done other reading  challenges in the past, or plan to in the future?

4 comments

  1. Sounds like a fun challenge you’ve accepted and I look forward to hearing about the books you’ve chosen. I’ve considering playing in a challenge, but after having a honest look at the piles of books I’ve got waiting for my eyeballs, I’m going to call myself entirely satisfied if I make my way through them this year. No additional parameters needed.

  2. What a plethora of choices of book reading challenges. Funny thing though is I finally decided that I really need to read the piles of books I have right now. So, I guess that is my new challenge in 2016, not to be sidetracked. I have lots of non-fiction books that I want to get through and others I would like to re-read and check out my highlighted portions along with notes I had written in the sidelines. Am looking forward to watching you on your journey and reading your reviews. Sounds like you will have lots of fun with it!

    1. Getting through the TBR pile is a challenge for anyone, particularly if you happen to find yourself in a bookstore during the year!

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