Full disclosure: As much as I enjoy seeing what other people are reading via social media, I hate the Bookstagram trend of monthly wrap ups that includes a not so humble brag regarding the number of books read that month or a self deprecating “I didn’t reach my reading goal” post.
Even as a kid who loved reading, the Pizza Hut reading challenge was not my thing. I never enjoyed competition in reading.
And yes, I know, I am saying this as we roll out our reading challenge making me sound like a sell out or hypocrite.
But hear me out.
Our challenge is not about racking up large numbers of books. It is about trying new things in reading and those things that enhance reading enjoyment, like abandoning a book you are not enjoying (see September’s challenge).
Reading can be about challenging yourself, but in my opinion, it is about challenging yourself to be more open minded, more adventurous, more creative, more introspective, more relaxed, more social (yes, reading can be social too!) and more of whatever you want.
Even as a reading teacher, I never wanted my students to read MORE books; I wanted them to read more. True, eventually that would turn into more books, but the goal was to make reading a part of life. I never focused on reading more books.
There is a good chance all these feelings come from my own reading struggles. As a child, I was pulled out of reading classes to get more direct instruction. As a middle school student, I never did well on comprehension tests even though I felt like I understood the book. And now as an adult, I read slower than most people I know and less than all of the women in my book club. But I love reading. It enriches my life in so many ways.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk (lol).
And here is the link to learn more about our reading challenge.
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