So, as many of you know I’m in a reading challenge through an app on my phone called Goodreads. My challenge is to read 50 books this year. You’ll also know that I’m super behind on this challenge and I’m trying to figure out ways to motivate myself to read more. But, I haven’t really just given a challenge update beyond, “this is how many books I’ve read”. So, I’ve decided that will be today’s blog.
Why a Reading Challenge
So, some of you might be wondering why I’m doing a reading challenge. And some of you might wonder what the challenge is in reading 50 books in one year. Honestly, I was hoping to go back to my roots and to the core of what made me want to be a writer. When I was younger I would read and read and read. Authors would inspire me to write better, more descriptive, and with more depth in my characters. The first time I truly considered becoming an author I found an online school for writers. Their goal was to help others become authors. I was encouraged by the author who oversaw my lessons and that was great, but because they didn’t have deadlines, I wasn’t motivated.
What Does This Have to do With The Challenge?
I want to publish. One of my books is ready for an editor, and I’ve slowly started on the second book in the trilogy. However, it’s been hard to get into a writing mood lately. So, I was hoping that by reading more, it would motivate me as it did when I was younger. In some ways it has, but I still wish I had a bit more drive. And because I have dropped so many other challenges, I really want this to be the challenge that I finish. In fact, I know that it will motivate me to complete a challenge since I drop the ball so many times.
Where Did The Idea Come From
I have to give credit to my favourite YouTube creator at the moment: Jaime Fok. She is also the one who inspired me to do book reviews on my blog. At the beginning of the year she was talking about making her reading challenge, and talked about the app. I thought that it sounded like a fun idea and so I immediately downloaded the app and set my goal. Her goal was 100 books and I knew that wasn’t attainable for me at this point. So, I decided that 50 was reasonable. As of this week, Jaime posted that she has completed her challenge. She’s already read 100 books this year. I need to up my game.
Starting the Reading Challenge
So, I started the challenge by reading books that I had on my shelf. Honestly, I do not have a lot of books. I was trying to figure out how to buy more books with not a lot of money. My friends encouraged me to get a library card and I finally agreed. As I first started looking through the bookshelves I was struck by the reality that I haven’t read in so long that I honestly didn’t know where to begin. What was a good series? Which genre would get me excited? Who would be a good author to read? Yes, I had discovered the Orphan X series, but that wasn’t going to be 50 books. And Red Rising had caught my interest as well. Admittedly, the Red Rising Saga lost my interest after the 3rd book. I might go back to it one day, but not right now.
Planning to Succeed
Now, as I touched on, there have been books that have just lost my interest. It’s really hard to finish a book when you don’t want to read it. And, my ninja turtles obsession can’t take all the blame. There were just books that I didn’t want to keep reading. They were either really slow in getting to a good part, or I didn’t care about the story or characters. And there have been books that I have loved. If you follow my reviews you’ll know I’m still loving the Orphan X series. But, now I need to find other book series to latch onto. Why? Because reading through a series will make it easier to keep reading because I know what I’m reading next. Of course, if the series fizzles out, that will make things hard again. So, if a series doesn’t interest me, I won’t continue it.
Always Finish
Some booktubers have shared how they DNF a book. DNF means did not finish. There have been a few books that I considered not finishing, but then I thought about my reading challenge and forced myself to continue. And that has been something I have really pushed myself in. If I start a book, I HAVE to finish it. Even if I’m bored out of my mind. After all, I can’t reach 50 books if I don’t finish them. So, this year at least, I am not putting any books in the DNF pile. Everything has to be read.
Different Genres
I do enjoy different genres. Thrillers, mysteries, fantasy are always a hit. Sometimes I’ll explore sci-fi books. Recently I’ve contemplated reading westerns. This actually gives me an idea for a challenge next year. We’ll see if I actually do that challenge. But, I do know that if I don’t explore other genres, I’ll get bored or run out of books that I want to read. And by exploring other genres I can find new favourites.
Need to go Strong
I want to end this challenge in a strong way. This challenge has to be completed because I want to push myself even more next year. I know I need to make reading a higher priority. Enough re-watching ninja turtles. I need to read. After all, I’m not even at the halfway point in my challenge. If I finish all the books I got from the library on my last visit I’ll have read 25 books. But they won’t get read if I’m just leaving them on my shelf. I started a new book but it’s not quite what I expected, so I’m not excited about reading it. Maybe I’ll pause that and see if one of the other books will grab my attention. Anything is possible if I just keep reading.
