A New Reading Challenge

Well, 2015 is over and I didn't make it to 50 books.  I am happy that I read or listened to 46 books during this time.  This has been a great reading year for me.  I had some books I enjoyed more than others, but lots of new reading adventures.

1)  Audio Books:  While I am still not an audio book fan, I like the idea of listening to books together as a family.  This was something new we started this year on our road trips as a family.  It gives us something to talk about and everyone thinks it made the car rides go faster.

2)  Book Club:  I've been super annoyed with my book club in the past.  I decided to start a night time one and instead of all reading the same book, we do book themes.  This way we all read different books and discuss them.  Even though it's most of the same people who used to come to the other book club, they actually read the books this time.  I think being able to have flexibility in choosing the book actually helps people to show more interest in reading.  And our themes are pretty lax, so you can really make any book work.  Loving my new book club!

3)  Giving Up:  For so long I have thought you shouldn't give up on books.  I would try to get to a certain page or finish just to finish.  But this year I decided it's ok to give up.  I used to only give up if I thought a book was awful, but now I stop for other reasons.  One book I read this year was really slow moving.  It was interesting, but I just couldn't get into it.  It would have taken me months to finish it, so I decided to give it up and maybe pick it up again some other day.

4)  Challenges:  I like having a reading goal.  I haven't quite made it to 50 books the last couple years, but I have been really close.  This year I am going to do a Reading Challenge suggested by our library.  It has about 40 book suggestions on the list.  I think I might have the whole family try the challenge and see how many we each read off the list.  http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2016-
In addition to that list, I will also be trying to read the Bible in 1 year.  I am doing this challenge with a friend to hold myself more accountable.  We are using a reading plan instead of going in Chronological order.

Happy Reading in 2016!