Reading Challenges for the New Year
It’s December, the perfect time to review our reading over the past year and think about our reading future. Of course, we will all be reading Mocha Girls Read’s selection of the month. If you have a little extra time and can read a little more, maybe this is the year to try a new genre like afro-futurism or steampunk. Or perhaps you would like to try reading books from an area of the world you’ve never visited. However you want to change your reading life in 2017, there is probably a reading challenge to help motivate and inspire you. If there isn’t, create your own. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Christian Reading Challenge
This challenge includes a mix of Christian related and secular categories. There are four reading levels ranging from the light reader with 13 books to the obsessed reader with 104 books. Sample categories include books about Christian living, theology, self-improvement, writing, and the church.
Diverse Reads Book Challenge
If you are looking to read books from a variety of different perspectives then consider the Diverse Reads Book Challenge. This challenge covers a wide range of diverse experiences including but not limited to racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, gender diversity, sexual orientation diversity, people with disabilities, and religious minorities. Categories for 2017 include diverse folklore or mythology, religious diversity, non-Western setting, and #ownvoices stories (stories about marginalized groups written by a member of that marginalized group).
Literary Exploration Challenge
For the truly literary adventurous there is the Literary Exploration Challenge. Participants in the challenge will sample from 12 (level easy), 24 (level hard), or 36 (level insane) different genres like classics, travel, poetry, magical realism, pulp, science fiction, and romance.
Foodies Read
Do you like to eat? Do you like to cook? Does the idea of exploring the world of books through food appeal to you? Then maybe the Foodies Read Challenge is for you. Read a cozy mystery set in a bakery (try the Murder She Baked series by Joanne Fluke) or a cozy mystery about a gourmand with a penchant for solving mysteries (try the Gourmet Detective series by Peter King). Try a new cookbook or read a chef’s memoir – any book involving food counts. I’m getting hungry just writing this.
52 Weeks, 52 Books
For those who really want to try something new (and who have lots of extra reading time) there is the 52 Weeks, 52 Books challenge. Each week has a theme like a bird on the cover, set in Latin America, a book your parents like, and book you would normally never pick up. By the end of the year, participants will definitely read a wide range of books.
The above is a small sample of possible challenges. Find even more challenges here. Also check back soon for details about our own upcoming Mocha Girls Read 2017 Challenge.
So how will you challenge yourself in 2017? Tell me about it in the comments.
Mocha Girl Tiffani
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