Reading Challenges 2020
In 2020, I really wanted to drill down on some things in my writing and reading life. I wanted to make some routines for myself that I could latch onto.
And then COVID19 came along and upended my routines. As of this date, my family is healthy. I’m thankful for that. However, all of the routines and systems I put into place in January had to be thought out again, and I’d need to acknowledge that they might have to change on a dime because our lives could change at any moment.
I often feel like my reading is all over the place. I have loads of books that I want to read, but I can’t seem to read all of them. One day I went through several piles of books and realized I had categories of books that I’d been meaning to read. Why not create a challenge for myself to spend almost all of my reading time in one month totally focused on one thing. I was inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s Summer of Proust. Why not have a monthly reading challenge for myself?
These were the categories I came up with that I already had books on:
Author Studies: Candace Fleming, Steve Sheinkin, Robert MacFarlane, Sy Montgomery
Categories: Investigative Journalism, Baseball, American History, Books set in Southeast Asia
Genres: Nature Writing, Novels in Verse, Graphic Novels
Now that I’m three months into the year, and I have at least 10 more weeks of isolation ahead due to COVID19, I’m thinking that this book challenge will definitely go through the summer, maybe even into the fall.
Process
I gather the physical books I want from my own collection and from the library. I also line up any audio books related to the category. Before COVID19 isolation, I was spending between 1-2 hours in the car between my commute and kid-pickup, so I was getting some serious listening time in. Post COVID19, I am listening to audio books on my walk each day, while I make dinner, and when I occasionally do something mundane (like cleaning).
January—Nature books
February—Baseball books
March—Steve Sheinkin books
I really love nonfiction, and Steve and I were supposed to be on a panel together in April, but it got cancelled because of—you guessed it, COVID19. However, I still enjoyed listening to and reading some of his books.
Surprises
I have a towering stack of books in each category. I way overestimated how many books I can read in a month. I thought I might read 15-20 books in that category per month. Ha! That hasn’t happened yet—even in isolation. I also thought I’d ONLY read books in my chosen category. But I’m in several book clubs, so that just isn’t possible.
I also have books like jump the list—like A WISH IN THE DARK, which I was NOT going to wait until I got to my SE Asian book month to read.
Disappointments
My library is closed, as I’m sure yours is too. I didn’t anticipate this. I thought I might need my library collection, but it turns out, I have plenty to read from the stacks of books on my office floor. I’m still on hold for two Steve Sheinkin audiobooks.
Positives
I LOVE concentrating on one particular focus for the month in my reading. If anything, I almost want to do a repeat of all these categories again later in the year.
Next up
I’m reading novels-in-verse in April. This is a category that I might be able to read more than 5 or 6 during the month. We’ll see…
What are you reading in 2020?
