2013: Reading Challenges

Happy New Year!

For most of us the new year is designated as a time to set new goals and challenges for ourselves. As for me, each year my goal is always to read a little more. This year, I frequented a few book blogs and reviewed a few reading challenges for 2013. Some are pretty interesting, others are a bit of a long shot.

Today I spent a little time calculating the breakdown of how many books I’d have to read per month—per week even—to reach a 100 goal. The number rounds out to 2 books per week or about 8 books per month. I even researched different websites to see how people accomplish such a hefty goal. I mean, I love to read, but I don’t know if I’ve ever read 100 books in a year. 2 books in a week maybe, but 100 in a year? Never. Even when I decided to sign up for the Goodreads Book Challenge, I reminded myself to be reasonable. 25 books is reasonable Reasonable, but maybe too easy. So now I’m thinking 50 books (that’s one book a week) as a suitable challenge.

Outside of Goodreads, I located another reading challenge on Reflections of a Bookaholic that led me to Bookish’s 2013 TBR Pile Challenge. The TBR Challenge is a reminder of all the books that I know I’ve always wanted to read, but keep picking up other books instead. This might just be the year that I finally complete those books!

Anyway, to get these 2 challenges rolling, here are the first 5 books I plan to read to kick off my 2013 TBR and Goodreads challenges. I’m sure it will probably change, but 5 is a good start:

        

So, I guess that means I need to stop playing around and finish Gone Girl no later than this Sunday. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a little guidance on how to read more, check out “How to Read a Book a Week . . .” I’m sure you can apply the tips to 2013.

And for those of you who already read close to 100 books a year—good for you! Happy reading, y’all!