A book challenge isn’t really necessary to encourage me to read lots of books over the year. I love to read.
I love to write and don’t really need to have a writing challenge to keep me writing. Yet I love participating in NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) and Camp NaNo over the year.
Setting goals might not be necessary, but they do keep nudging me to make sure I set time aside for meeting those goals. They are like deadlines.
My reading goal on Goodreads is 70 books again this year. The number is doable and challenging.
Books are not the only thing I read over the year. Science and writing magazines take up time. The Sunday newspaper is enjoyed weekly.
That is why a book challenge matters. It’s too easy to read materials other than books.
Why does reading books matter?
As an author, I read not only for pleasure, but to see what works and what doesn’t in a book. Do I find the book enjoyable? Why?
What parts of the book bore me? Do the descriptions work well? How do they enhance the story?
These answers and more help me improve my own writing. There is no way I can ever copy some other author’s style or story because my background is much different. The answers tell me how I can focus my plot, bring a setting to life, increase the suspense or tension.
What will I read this year?
I don’t really know. There are shelves and piles of books at home. And there is the library.
In fact, the library can be too tempting. I had to wait for someone at the library for ten minutes or so. First I browsed the table of large print books. Next I noticed the picture books on the bookcases. There is a table of juvenile books.
Yes, I brought home a book from each place even though I am half way through two books at home.
The juvenile book is “Virtual Currency” by Martha London. It was interesting. I like starting to learn about a complicated subject with a juvenile book as adult books often make the number one teaching mistake of assuming the reader knows vocabulary or other things the neophyte doesn’t.
So I have completed my first book of the 2023 book challenge. Only 69 to go.