In the wonderful world of Twitter you never know what delightful (or possibly crazy) conversations you might happen into while scrolling through your feed. This past evening I entered into a wonderful chat with @MMOGC (on Twitter or her site: mmogamerchick.wordpress.com) about various authors we are looking forward to reading. I had mentioned I wanted to read more backlists this year with a focus on diverse reading.
In previous years, I typically suffered from “Front Table Syndrome;” failing to seek out more titles and authors outside my stagnant reading habits. I wanted to break out of the box and @MMOGC suggested checking out the Worlds Without End Reading Challenges. Whew nelly, what a fun site!
It did take some time to add the books I wanted to read as part of the challenges. But it wasn’t impossible (hint, after you search for the book click on the actual title to add to your lists by clicking submit – took me a minute to figure that one out). I signed up for both the “Women of Genre Fiction” and “Clear the Shelves” challenges. “Women of Genre Fiction” involves reading 12 books by new-to-you woman authors and “Clear the Shelves” involves reading 15 books, plus five reviews, that have been gathering dust on your bookshelves.
I used a lot of the titles I listed in my Back List Party post from a few weeks ago along with some new ones I have come across that sound intriguing. The idea of joining the challenges with other avid genre readers is exciting and pushes me to really focus on every moment where I could be reading.
It will be fun to interact with the other readers in the Worlds Without End forums and those participating on Twitter. Chatting about books is pretty much the highlight of any day and I look forward to more actively sharing my reading in this coming year.
What reading challenges will you push yourself to try this year?
BooksAbound 