INTRODUCING THE 2024 AVID READERS CHALLENGE!
Have you ever participated in a reading challenge?
I used to avoid them because they seemed too constricting . . . or competitive . . . or weird.
However, I finally realized that I could design my own challenge that would be manageable and customizable for a wide variety of readers while extending the scope of our reading across genres and generations.
The categories are straightforward—nothing meaningless like “a book with a red cover” or complicated like “a book with a title that begins with the first letter of your great-grandmother’s middle name.”
They’re also flexible, which means that if you WANT to read a collection of essays with a red cover and a title that begins with the first letter of your great-grandmother’s middle name, you can.
With 12 categories, you can plan on reading one book from the challenge each month, or you can choose your own pace.
No double-dipping. Don’t use the same book for multiple categories, even if it fits more than one. If you happen to read a classic novel you’ve avoided written by an author you’ve never read and published before 1900, choose just one of those categories to fill in with that book.
What if you’ve already started a book in 2023 but finish it in 2024? As long as you read most of it in 2024, it counts for the challenge.
You can fill out a tentative plan ahead of time and/or fill it in as you complete each book. Please share your plan with us along the way!
As we move ahead, I’ll be sharing suggestions for various categories and asking for ideas on my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/AvidReadersWithMaryJoTate.
Remember, although this is a challenge, it’s not a competition. Reading is never about numbers. It’s about learning and growing and enjoying books—and the challenge is to stretch us a bit.
Feel free to spread the word about this challenge. The more, the merrier!
Use the hashtag #2024AvidReadersChallenge.
Let the planning . . . and reading . . . begin!
You can download a PDF of the challenge here: