2019: The Challenge is Real!

The reading challenge that is. Want to join me? I’m continuing my series of “I’m so behind posts” with a determined effort to remind myself I’m exactly where I need to be. You feeling it? Anyway, yep. It’s a New Year. New goals. New aspirations. New determination.

One of the many things on mine, and it seems, almost everyone else’s list of Things That Will Be Done in 2019 is read more. I’m a voracious reader. I have been all my life. But, somewhere, in between life, jobs, family, miscellaneous responsibilities, writing, laundry, and who knows what else reading starts to take a second and third seat. I’m still consuming books like bonbons, but I want to be more intentional about it this year.

Once upon a time, (that's code for I'm getting old, y'all!) I used to be able to tell you the name of each book I’d read in my lifetime, the author, and my thoughts on what I read. Show me the cover, and I could recite the main characters and conflict. Maybe my brain is crammed too full now but I'm not that good anymore and to make matters worse, I either forget to write my reading down, or I lose the sticky/envelope/napkin I made notes on.

And, while I swear each year I'm going to sit down and read such and such number of books, time slips away or somehow gets pushed behind the daily to-do. Reading challenges are everywhere this year. Depending on your favorite platform you can find a reading plan sure to suit you.

But I’m still feeling a bit overwhelmed by ALL THE THINGS, and I’m not really online that much. So, I’m going old school. I’ve created a printable for my planner and setting myself the challenge of reading at least  6 non-fiction books and 6 fiction books. That's not a lot and I would have laughed at myself ages ago, but if I read more, I'd like to feel like an over-achiever.

(Confession time. That doesn’t include my absolute metric ton of favorite fanfiction stories I’ll be reading, but I often feel they are like calories: they don’t count when …). Some might disagree, but this my challenge and ha! my rules.

My goal is to post monthly updates on my various social media platforms so you can see where I'm at and I’d love for you to join me. You can be your own boss. Set your own rules. Make your own challenge. You can also grab a copy of my printable HERE.

Let the reading begin!