As I discussed last week after going 21 days without dessert, I noticed having a blog is good for achieving random goals–even if nobody cares about the self-imposed expectation other than YOU, the blogger.
With that in mind, I chose a new challenge for the rest of 2011. And as promised, this challenge does not involve food. Lord knows I’m not giving up chocolate or ice cream from March to December.
I’m vowing to read a book a week. Why? The to-be-read pile on my nightstand scares me. And the shelf in my office lined with books “I’ve been meaning to read” scares me more. I tend to read an average of 1-2 books a month, but I know I can do better. I want to do better. And I’d love for people to join me! (It doesn’t have to be a book a week. Choose your own schedule.)
“But I have no time,” you’re saying.
Listen, we’re all busy, but we make time for what we decide is important. Personally, I see reading more books as an exercise in mental health. Start with one a month if you’re not reading as often as you’d like. I’ll tell you one thing I did already to make the time. I erased several season passes from my already shrinking TiVo list. My friends on Twitter know my beloved Gilmore Girls were first on the chopping block considering I’ve seen each episode an embarrassing number of times.
Now I’ll tell you something I’m not going to do as part of this challenge. I will not write book reviews. There are many excellent blogs already focused on reviewing books (see a sample list at the end of the post). I’ll also refrain from writing weekly posts reflecting on the reading process–BORING. Instead, I’ll keep a menu tab updated with the books I’ve completed in case anyone’s looking for suggestions. You can assume if I finished it, I liked it. I’m staring* my favorites.
Happy reading everyone! (See the 6-week update HERE.)
EXCELLENT BLOGS FOCUSED ON BOOK REVIEWS:
- The Bookslut
- Devourer of Books
- Jenn’s Bookshelf
- Jennifer Pooley’s Site
- She is Too Fond of Books
- For more see my Twitter list devoted to “Book People”
Nina (@NinaBadzin)
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Welcome! I am a freelance writer living in Minneapolis with my husband and four children. My essays on parenting, social media etiquette, improving my habits, Jewish life and more appear in the Huffington Post, Kveller.com, The Jewish Daily Forward and elsewhere. I'm glad you found your way here!
I have been trying to do the same thing! Not a book/week, but just trying to read more! I am still not sure I love the kindle, though, so I haven’t bought the next book on my kindle and need to get to the store to get my next book! I agree that it is better for my mental health to have something to read and I don’t miss the TV at all!
Sandy! No matter how quickly you go, it’ll be fun to compare we lists since we like a lot of the same books. I’m still reading “old-fashined” non-e-books too so you won’t be alone!
You would be the perfect candidate for a Kindle, Nina! Once you get through those ominous to-be-read shelves, of course. I just got one and have barely scratched the surface (ok, I haven’t even started a book yet), so the jury it out. But in concept, it seems like the perfect gadget for you. Although it does eliminate the stacks around the house that may set off your inner critic to berate you for not reading enough. But with this resolution and the pending friend-dump, you may be good to go.
Love the time-management suggestions for achieving this goal! Good luck; will check back to see how you’re doing and wish you the best of luck. I can relate to the scary TBR piles and “I’ve been meaning to read” stacks. Giving up dessert for 21 days? Perish the thought!
Hi Melissa! I wouldn’t say I have a ton of time management suggestions . . . mostly only that people watch way too much TV!
Wow, I love this! I’m in! I break my own heart every time I gaze upon my teetering pile and think…sigh…if only. I tend to do very well with challenges, as competitions work so wonderfully to kick my mo-jo into high gear, particularly when it’s a challenge against myself. Reading with wild abandon is such a supreme treat, I don’t get why it can be so hard to settle in and indulge. I just started “Water for Elephants” last night after starting and setting aside four other unable-to-capture-my-interest-tomes in the past week, and I’m hooked already, so a good start.
BTW – Today in school is DEAR: drop everything and read (for 15 minutes).
Reading, it makes a brain happy
Oh good! So excited you’ll be along for the ride! I’m thinking I should make a list of bloggers interested on the same page where I’m keeping track of my books. What do you think?
Yes, yes, great idea. That should be helpful in keeping us turning the pages and piling-up the “finished” books (Uh huh, there’s that competitive vein showing through!), should any of us find ourselves tempted to trade our reading time for sitcom reruns, or WORSE, episodes of The Jersey Shore :-0
Oh, and one more thing. Sandy’s comment above made me remember this “must watch video” for book lovers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhcPX1wVp38
Hilarious!!!!
One of things I miss most since becoming a mom is reading. Well, I sure read a lot of kid’s books! I know it makes no sense, but reading has been so hard for me since then. I try, but it seems I read a few pages and then get interrupted or sidetracked and never make much progress. I love to read and hope I can get back into it. Maybe I should put down the computer and read now!
Beth, you’re not alone. A LOT of moms say that! I still stand by what I said about making times for things you really want to do. It may mean not reading magazines for a while, watching less tv, and . . . you and I as bloggers don’t want to hear it, but LESS COMPUTER TIME. (painful to imagine, seriously).
Maybe start with 4 great books in 2011 and see if you can do more in 2012.
Wow, this blogosphere pressure is powerful in achieving goals!
Go Nina!
Thanks for mentioning me in your list! It is really amazing how much time you can find to read when you’re looking for it, and when you’re always prepared. I carry one or more books with me EVERYWHERE, make a point of choosing audiobooks when I’m in the car/cleaning/exercising, and making a point to get in a hot bath with a good book after my toddler goes to bed every night. Once you get into it, finding time to read is addictive; at this point I really only watch TV when I’m doing work on the computer. Good luck!
Jen! You’re so right about getting into the habit. I’ve found that for many things I’ve needed to make time for in my life–especially working out. I use TV mostly as background noise too. RARELY do I sit and watch anything. For sure no time for that! (Or I guess I refuse to use my time that way.)
I’m in! I’m guessing I read a book a week right now, since I know so many debut authors and I can’t keep up with their releases. It does help to have a goal. Though…I may have to sneak in a picture book at times to keep on track.
I just finished Laurel Snyder’s PENNY DREADFUL so I’m good for this week. 
(I’m not tech-savvy or I’d add that badge to my blog. If there’s a simple way to do it, let me know!)
Hi Amy! I’d normally say I’m not tech-savvy either except that I MADE that little picture. Impressed! Of course I don’t know how to make it a button. I used it more as a photo saved as a file on my hard-drive. You could do the same thing. Just right click on the image and save it to your computer then upload as an image on your blog. Maybe mention my post if you decide to post about this and we’ll be “all good.” It’ll be so fun to compare lists.
Thank you so much for the mention! Good luck on your challenge!
This is a great idea…and I love a challenge! But… I’m on Day 6 of the book I’m reading now so one book a week might be overly ambitious for me. Still, I cannot believe how many great books I’ve discovered since being on Twitter/Blogging. My list is way long, full of amazing books I can’t wait to read! I probably won’t get into serious reviewing, but I may mention/pseudo-review some. We’ll see.
Julia, I bet you can do 3 a month. You can call it your 3-a-month challenge.
I think every book on my TBR list is from a Twitter “friend” or a suggestion from Twitter. Powerful tool that Twitter.
Nina,
It worked!!! I finished A book. (This Book is Overdue!, hilariously enough.) I had to come back here to see when I posted, so I could figure out how long it took me. From start to finish 14 days. (Can you imagine if I DID have TV!!) Still, not nearly as bad as I feared! So YAY for me. Next…….hmmm….I think I’ll think about that tomorrow!
Thanks for a great challenge! Julia
I love that you reported back here!! It’s working for me, too. I’m on book #3 now–The Object of Beauty by Steve Martin.
I’m on goodreads.com and they have a book challenge on there too! I initially set mine up for 50 books this year but I’ve already read 12 so I think I’ll up my goal. I LOVE reading. Even badly written books. I can only think of a handful that I’ve never actually finished. And I’m always looking for good recommendations! I can’t wait to see what you put up.
Are we friends on Goodreads!? We should be!
Awesome! Love the idea. Also this might be the push I need to finally delete my Gilmore Girls season pass…. I fear an empty DVR the way I fear not having any reading material on a plane, but realistically, I still have dozens of hours of Good Eats stored up just in case. And that TBR pile, besides….
It helped that Lorlei and Luke just broke up and she’s about to get together with Christopher. I found that triangle very tiring. Sadly, I’ll be missing most of Rory’ and Logan’s courtship. Loved Logan. Sigh.
I’m in. I need some consistency. Some weeks I’ll finish three books, and others…zero.
I think you may be an extremist. No sugar and a book a week? I read a hell of a lot of books, but with teaching, can no way fit in a book a week. And when I’m not teaching, I enjoy the lack of pressure. It’s so…aaahhh. Such a change from trying to read and prepare for class. Anyway, good luck with this one! I’ll be interested to see what others are reading!
Hi Jana! When I was teaching I rarely could read for pleasure either–especially the year I taught 7th, 8th, and 9th grade English and was planning and/or grading every single night for three different subjects. One year I taught I four sections of 9th grade and debate. That was SO much better but still–the grading–it takes up every second of free time. I hear you.
And I’m done with the sugar! So I’m only a partial extremist now, I guess.
Awesome, Nina –
With all the time you saved NOT eating dessert, this should be easy, right? Ummm…and you’re also writing two pages a day?
Holy productivity! But I love the enthusiasm and am definitely with you on the “reading more” goal.
In his memoir On Writing, Stephen King said “If you can’t find time to read, you can’t find time to write…” or something like that. Totally made that up from memory, but you get the point.
We writers HAVE to be reading. Have to. So I’ve been watching almost no television (down to just an hour of shows we watch as a family in the evening to bond – because who doesn’t bond over TV?) and trying to read for relaxation instead of zoning out.
So, thanks for this inspiration. Love it!
You’re not writing reviews but how about a star system to let us know if you liked it?
Before I had Cora, I could read a book in one day! I love reading, but with her it’s too hard to concentrate on anything else really…Well, and I have found a new love..blogging!
Thanks for dropping by Curious Cora!
I am in. I read “The Murder’s Daughter’s” this weekend. Completely fantastic. With descriptions like Velveeta-colored lipstick and a character that traces comforting words with her finger on her arm when she’s stressed, I was soaking up every word. Achingly good.
Meant “The Murderer’s Daughters” by Randy Susan Meyers. I have graded too many papers and eaten too many Girl Scout cookies.
An excellent idea! I think I may do the same. I find that when I am able to get a lot of pleasure reading done, the writing ideas just start tumbling out. Thank you for this well-needed push.
I may actually try to join you on this…I have always wanted to read a lot more than I do, and I am seriously behind in the amount I *should* have read compared to what I *have* read over the years. The difficulty is that I’m not a *fast* reader; I’m one of those readers who absorbs everything and takes my time. But, perhaps if I cut back on some TV and internet-trolling too, I might be just as successful as you’ve been so far.
Thanks for the idea!
Yes . . .the internet. I feel less guilty about that than TV. At least commenting and blogs and writing blog and using Twitter has a lot of social elements and interactive elements whereas TV is much more passive. But yes, it can get out of control! Try for a 2 books a month, maybe??
I went for it. You inspired me.
http://veronikawrites.blogspot.com/2011/04/book-week-project.html
BTW how are you picking your books?
Pretty randomly, actually. I went to
Borders recently right before they closed and bought a bunch of books. Plus I have stuff around I’ve been meaning to read. But most of all I suppose through Twitter recommendations .
I love this idea. I also have a kindle (received as a gift) and still unsure about it as Sandy said. I think if I just start reading on it, I may come to like it. Also, I agree that blogging is good for achieving goals even if it’s just for yourself.
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Okay, you’ve inspired me. I’m going to give this a try too. And I’ll follow you further and put a reading list on my blog as well. Hope I can keep up (but what a fun goal!!)
Oh that’s great! I always love seeing other people’s lists. I’ve loved keeping a reading schedule and a public log of books. Even though there is pressure in getting the reading gone, there’s also a release of pressure…what I mean is, there are SO many books I want to read, and knowing I’m keeping a good reading pace gives me hope of getting to those books eventually.
So glad we’ve “met” Lisa. Looking forward to checking out your blog.
I am an avid reader and do read a book a week for sure. I did not know of this challenge. I have so much going on I am contemplating if I should add another challenge into my weekly goals. I lost my job four months ago and all I do now is blog LOL
I made up the challenge! It’s not a national thing or anything. (if that eases the pressure to read along)
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I love this statement because it’s so true: “having a blog is good for achieving random goals.” Haha. I also love that you couldn’t give up 90210 for the reading challenge. I hope you end up doing 50/50 since you’re already halfway there! (Enjoying digging through your archives btw, great blog!)
Thanks so much for checking me out (well, the blog). The biggest impediment to any NEW goals is that I just had my fourth child. So I’m up to my eyeballs…but I love the idea and I’m really considering it. It’s for 2012 though, right?
Wow, a fourth child, congrats! (And clearly you are a superwoman for even considering it. I have no obligations, social life, or cable television and I’m not even sure I can read 50 books this year!)
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