It’s no secret that I like reading, but I missed my reading goal for 2022. In my last post, I explained that I wanted to keep my goal at 52 books, one for every week of the year. This is a pretty tall order, and I recognize that my success depends on having a workable plan.
My plan is very simple – divide the mammoth task into several smaller ones. I specifically plan on reading at least 4 books a month. Doing this means I would read 48 (12 X 4) books by the end of the year. To accomplish the goal of 52, I would need to read 4 additional books. This is doable!!
I still think my plan is too broad as it does not really challenge my reading as many other plans/challenges have. In 2020, I challenged myself to only read books by or about black people, and in 2022 I attempted to follow Tim Challies, reading challenge. While I failed the Challies Christian Reading Challenge, I did like the challenge of it. These challenges not only encourage me to read more but also to consider books that I might otherwise overlook.
The 2022 challenge had its faults in that I feel that some of the books were just not for me. I also did not get recommendations as I expected and eventually fell off and did my own thing. Because of this, I have decided to try out my own challenge. To keep me from being frustrated and ensure that I have the stuff to read, I have chosen to fit my personal reading “challenge” to my goal of 4 books per month (1 book a week). Each of the four books will fit into a predetermined category:
| 1 | A Novel or Fiction Book |
| 2 | A Book about Theology, Christian Living, or Religious Subjects |
| 3 | A Biography, Memoir, Book about History or Current Events Subject |
| 4 | A Business or Self-Help Book |
These broad headings give me enough wiggle room to read widely without struggling. I would also have at least 4 other books, which I keep as wildcards for recommendations, or whatever peaks my interest at the moment. I do have a list of things I’d like to guide my reading, though:
- At least three classics (Have been enjoying reading stuff like 1984, Animal Farm & Lord of the Flies, so will continue)
- Really want to do a black history month.
- At least one work by a Lucian author.
As always, I am open to suggestions from anyone.
