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.

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?