I'm chucking my challenges out of the window. Yes, you heard me right, all challenges that have a time limit have been discarded. Which means I can read without guilt! No more thinking 'I really should read a book for my challenges'.
Reading Samantha's "cry of freedom" made me consider if I too should quit my book challenges. Like Samantha, I chafe under the constraints of the challenges in which I am participating. The constant pressure to ignore all the new and interesting books that I find each week in order to read books to which I am already committed.
However, I think that my reading benefits from the challenges. I find there is a certain amount of inertia in reading. It is easy to read books that are like all the other books I have read, to read only books that are entertaining or easy, or those in a particular genre that I find appealing. This is the first year in which I have participated in challenges. During this year I have read many books that I would never have read without the challenges. Literary fiction, literature in translation, novels in unfamiliar genres. So, while I can certainly see why Samantha chose the freedom of reading as she pleases, I think I am going to persevere with my challenges.
What about you, do you participate in challenges or not? How have they affected your reading?
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