Organize 2014 Reading with Reading Challenges

Does your time and reading plans coincide? Is your to-be-read (TBR) pile so high you can’t see over it? Don’t know where to start? How about solving the dilemma with reading challenges?

Last year was the first time I took part in reading challenges. I loved it so much I subscribed to almost every reading challenge I came across. Needless to say, too much is not good.

This year I’m taking a more modest approach. Well, at least in the beginning, I’ll probably add more challenges as I discover them.

Benefits of Reading Challenges

It’s fun.
If you like ticking off items on a check-list, then you will enjoy completing challenges.
It’s a great way to set your reading goals for the year.
You are not alone. With these challenges you meet other participants and reading groups.
Goodreads is the home to all bookworms. Make friends with other bookworms with similar reading tastes. Recommend books and read the reviews of books you want to read.
The different reading challenges allow you to organize your books in categories that make sense in a fun way.
Take part in the TBR-pile challenges and read those books you’ve always wanted to but never get time for.
It’s a great way to rank the books you want to read for book reviews.

 

Reading challenges for 2014
Goodread Reading Challenge

This is the main Goodreads Reading Challenge. How many books are you planning to read in 2014?

My goal is to read 24 books.

2014 Reading Challenge

Retha has

read 4 books toward her goal of 24 books.

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4 of 24 (16%)

view books

To add this widget to your blog, find it under edit profile on Goodreads.  

 

Christian Fiction Devourers Group Challenges

The variety of reading challenges in this group is more than enough to keep you busy for the year. I chose the following challenges:  

 

Finish the Series Reading Challenge

The object of this challenge is to finish a series. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t started or whether you’ve read some of the books in the series and never finished the series. There are three, maybe four, series I chose to read:

The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead
The Song of Albion by Stephen Lawhead
Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Empyrion by Stephen Lawhead

In this challenge add the number of series you want to finish, not the books.     

 

Back to the Classics in 2014

 The object is to read books that are classics, including children’s classics. My goal is 7 books. It is inevitable that specific books will fall under more than one group. For example Chronicles of Narnia is a series I would like to finish. The books are also ideal for the Back to the Classics challenge.    

 

I love puzzles of different kinds. This challenge satisfies the puzzle lover in me. The object is to read 6 books with one of the following descriptions in the title:

A type of element of the weather, such as wind, rain, thunder, in the title.
A profession such as preacher, teacher, detective in the title.
A number written in letters in the title, such as twelve, thirteenth, tenth.
A body part, such as eye, hand, foot, in the title.
A building such as, house, temple, office, in the title.
Reference to time in the title, such as final hour.

 

New Author to You Reading Challenge

This is a great reading challenge to inspire you to read books by authors you haven’t read before. The author may be well-known but to you, who read the book for the first time, he or she is a new author. My goal is to discover 6 new authors.    

 

E-Reader Challenge

E-readers are convenient and extremely beneficial to book lovers. I don’t think my budget and my desire for books were ever compatible, until e-readers. E-readers opened a door to a vast selection of books at affordable prices and instantaneously available to read with the click of a button.  Needless to say this challenge delves into all those eBooks waiting to be read. My goal is 8 eBooks, which is a very modest goal.    

Non-Fiction Challenge

Although life is a journey that becomes a story, all book lovers know that all books are not fiction.  This challenge is for those great non-fiction books you want to read. My goal is to read 4 non-fiction books.    

 

The Phd-TBR pile Challenge

At last, the reading challenge that will make a dent in your pile of books you’ve been planning to read for so long. My goal is to read 10 books from this long-awaited to-be-read pile.   Are you joining me in these reading challenges? What other reading challenges are you taking part in? Happy reading!  

    Retha’s bookshelf: 2014-read

           

 

           

 

            Taliesin

 

            by Stephen R. Lawhead

 

            Stephen Lawhead is a great storyteller, and Taliesin is a beautiful Christian fantasy.

 

            tagged: christian-fantasy, challenge-series, challenge-the-phd-tbr-pile, an…

 

           

 

           

 

            Merlin

 

            by Stephen R. Lawhead

 

            tagged: christian-fantasy, challenge-series, challenge-the-phd-tbr-pile, an…

 

           

 

           

 

            Rose Then and Now Bible Atlas

 

            by Paul H. Wright

 

            Fascinating! Do you read the Bible and wonder what the weather was like, what type of soil the Israelites had to contend with or where exactly did these specific events take place? At a glance the Rose Then And Now Bible Map Atlas reveal…

 

            tagged: 2014-read, challenge-e-reader, challenge-new-author-to-you-reading,…

 



     

    Share book reviews and ratings with Retha, and even join a book club on Goodreads.

 

 

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The post Organize 2014 Reading with Reading Challenges   appeared first on Retha Groenewald.

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