POPSUGAR released a reading challenge for 2015, located here: http://tobyfife.blogspot.com/2012/09/remembering-september-11th.html It's a checklist of books to read, to give people some ideas for more books to read, if they need some encouragement or ideas. A group was set up on Goodreads by some folks as a way to get a community thing going with the challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/152301-2015-reading-challenge The one issue with the Goodreads group is that it has framed the challenge in the paradigm of a weekly read, which is different from the general "read these at some point this year" checklist of POPSUGAR. I know the group says you can read in any order, but they've set it up so that the discussions are only posted a few weeks in advance. I suppose their point that they want to keep discussion relevant and current makes sense, but I don't like it.
Anyways, I've printed the challenge, and it's on my fridge (you can find a Word doc with the list split in half for printing on a single page here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzbPxewaK5DgbS1ERzk4QV96Tm8/view?usp=sharing ). I'm currently reading Quiet by Susan Cain, as the "book your mom loves." Given that I'll be at school with a full load this semester, I rather suspect my school books will make up a good chunk of the challenge reading for a bit.
On the subject of reading more, I found a blog post by a guy named Austin Kleon, here: http://austinkleon.com/2014/12/29/how-to-read-more/ The post itself is good, as are the links found within, especially the links to Ryan Holiday, which lead to more interesting things: http://ryanholiday.net/how-to-read-more-a-lot-more/ http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2013/04/read-to-lead-how-to-digest-books-above-your-level/ http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2013/08/how-and-why-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/
The idea of a commonplace book is a fantastic one. I've been keeping little notebooks that I fill with ideas or anecdotes, for a while (although now their place has been taken by my smartphone, sometimes in note form there, but more usually the voice recorder - good for inflection, I suppose). The biggest issue is, of course, actually doing something with the things I write. A codified commonplace book system would likely help, at some point, and I did start that to a certain extent with a Google Drive spreadsheet. But even organizing the ideas is moot without action. So I suppose we'll have to see what action I take with the small things I write and voice record. For now, this blog's reviews will suffice.
Anyways, I've printed the challenge, and it's on my fridge (you can find a Word doc with the list split in half for printing on a single page here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzbPxewaK5DgbS1ERzk4QV96Tm8/view?usp=sharing ). I'm currently reading Quiet by Susan Cain, as the "book your mom loves." Given that I'll be at school with a full load this semester, I rather suspect my school books will make up a good chunk of the challenge reading for a bit.
On the subject of reading more, I found a blog post by a guy named Austin Kleon, here: http://austinkleon.com/2014/12/29/how-to-read-more/ The post itself is good, as are the links found within, especially the links to Ryan Holiday, which lead to more interesting things: http://ryanholiday.net/how-to-read-more-a-lot-more/ http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2013/04/read-to-lead-how-to-digest-books-above-your-level/ http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2013/08/how-and-why-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/
The idea of a commonplace book is a fantastic one. I've been keeping little notebooks that I fill with ideas or anecdotes, for a while (although now their place has been taken by my smartphone, sometimes in note form there, but more usually the voice recorder - good for inflection, I suppose). The biggest issue is, of course, actually doing something with the things I write. A codified commonplace book system would likely help, at some point, and I did start that to a certain extent with a Google Drive spreadsheet. But even organizing the ideas is moot without action. So I suppose we'll have to see what action I take with the small things I write and voice record. For now, this blog's reviews will suffice.
