Reading Challenge 2011

I can hardly believe that it has already been four years since we set out on our first reading adventure together with Reading Challenge 2007.  That was back on LiveJournal and we had a pretty big group of participants that starting year and several of you have joined every challenge since then.

This year, I am moving the Challenge from my fairly private journal to my rather public blog to make it easier for everyone to participate: whether you use livejournal, blogger, wordpress or any other sort of blog, or don’t have any, and I hope that you will spread the word so that we can all find our way back together here on the blog, and of course, new people are always welcome, as always!

Moving to a more public place is just one of the new or improved parts of Reading Challenge 2011, but underneath and along with the new are the same old reasons and challenges that the very first one contained.

As with every reading challenge in the past, I want to remind you that the goal of these challenges is more than just to challenge you to read more. It’s about reading more things that will make you better, and less of the things that aren’t really worth the time. It isn’t so much about how many books you get through as how many books get through to you.

It’s about honoring God with the choices we make in our reading material, and about expanding our minds with wholesome things. This world is full of books and many of them aren’t worth reading, but a lot are and I hope that as you make your lists and pick out books this year, you’ll remember to test them by our motto:

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8

With that in mind, I want to invite each of you to join us in 2011 for another great year of reading good books! So even if you don’t think you’ll have time to read a lot of books, I hope you’ll still consider joining us in our quest to make the most of the books we do read this year.

Just to recap, here are some of the goals, guidelines and what is going to be new in 2011

Goals

1. Set a Personal Reading Goal.
Challenge yourself a little in 2011 to not just read more, but to absorb more. If this means reading less books and taking more time, do it! If it means taking notes and reading the same book twice, do it! If it means reading more books in less time, make that your goal!  Be realistic, and take time to pray about this goal and how God would want you to use your time this year.
I’ll be writing about my own reading goals for this year later, and if you want to share yours, I’d love to hear about it!

2. Make a list!
You might have a dozen or maybe two dozen or perhaps a whole lot more book titles running around the back of your mind that you really do mean to read sometime, but never get around to it. Along with your Personal Reading Goal, write down a list of books you really should read and make it a priority to check some of those off your list this year during the reading challenge. This doesn’t mean you read every book on your list, but keeping a list of books you want or should read gives you a chance to be more purposeful in your reading and to make sure you are reading a variety of good books.

3. Think deep.
Reading should be fun, but it should also be a means of strengthening the mind. I think that fiction should be a rare dessert rather than our main course, and want to encourage all of you to take time to evaluate and balance your reading and read a good variety of subjects and genres this year.

4. Above all, honor God. In everything you read, make sure that you keep God first. Read only those things that would honor Him, and that will leave you a better person. If you aren’t sure, don’t read it.

What’s New:

I think we’ve made little changes just about every year, but here’s some of the new things to look for in this coming year.

– Monthly Recaps

In the past,  we’ve started out strong, but always ended up short on our participants. And with little to no interaction in the months between the beginning and the end, it is no wonder!

I’ve decided that this is one area that needed major improvement this year, and I’ve scheduled time at the beginning of each month for us to get together and share our book lists, our progress and how we’re doing in general to help keep us motivated,  and inspired and to keep me accountable to get back into reading more faithfully!  Mr. Linky (who is a new favorite bloggy tool these days!) will give those of you who want to blog about it a place to link up, and the rest of you can comment or email or just read a long however you feel comfortable.

- Book Reviews and Giveaways

I’ve recently begun doing occasional book reviews on my blog, and you’ll see more of these this coming year as I read more and have more to share, but what I’m really excited about are the giveaways that are planned for sometime early in the new year! Giveaways are always fun, but what could be more perfect than giveaways of books? I am so thankful for the chance to share some of these books I’ll be reviewing with you, and I know you’ll be blessed by them as well!

-Reading Inspiration

I love good quotes, and good quotes about reading, especially about reading well, sometimes are just the thing to remind me to keep on track and to keep reading the best kinds of books. I’m planning to share some of my favorites with you, and hoping you’ll consider submitting some of your favorites to be featured here. I want this Reading Challenge to be encouraging and uplifting and this is something we’re doing together and I want to be sure that each one of you have the chance to be a part. I’m just one part of the bigger picture that includes all of us.

- Bible Reading

This isn’t new, and a few of you have taken the challenge and it has been such a blessing to me to see others take the challenge of being committed to read the Bible every day for a year. There are lots of good plans to read through the Bible in a year, and I know that every time I’ve read my Bible in a year, it has been such a blessing! But, this year, I want to challenge you to only read as fast as your heart can truly take it in. If you make it through in a year, that’s wonderful! But if you don’t, that’s okay. What matters is that you read it, and that you understood and lived, by His grace, what you read. I’ll be reading my Bible again this year, and sharing my progress and the blessings gained each month in my recaps and I hope you’ll join me as well.

The Guidelines:
Keep a list of every book that you read between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

Keep track by month, and include at least the title and the author of each book read. Bonus points if you rate the book based on how much you enjoyed it/were blessed and write a couple line recap of the best part of the book!

In the past, we’ve had prizes for the person who has read the most pages, and even though I’m not sure if I’ll be able to offer the same kind of prizes this year, I’m counting on your to keep your lists fair and honest just in case.

Copy and paste the code to use the 2011 graphic  on your blogs to spread the word about Reading Challenge 2011!

<a href="http://blog.beautifulsong.com/2010/12/reading-challenge-2011" target="_blank"> <img src="http://beautifulsong.com/images/reading-challenge-2011.jpg" border="0" alt="Reading Challenge 2011">

If you need a different size, just let me know. Be sure to link back to this post if you share so that we can all find our way back together.

If you would like to be a part of Reading Challenge 2011, please leave a comment, email me or let me know one way or another so I can add your name to our list.

Please be sure to include your email address so I can have a way to send you a final reminder at the end of next year.

2011 Participants
Chantel @ Life, Laughter, & Little Things
Samantha
Elyssa @ Pressing Forward
Jaclynn
LeAnna @ Thoughts & Whatnots
Julia W @ Committing My Way
Elizabeth @ HopeScribbles
Jessica @ Jess Harps On
Melissa @ Clothed With Scarlet
Jessica @ Jessica’s Corner
Cassandra @ Adventist Homemaker
Kandace @ Moments & Memories
Heather @ Mrs. Southern Bride
Sierra @ OceanDreams
Ellen
Melinda @ Radiant Purity
Rachel @ Young Homemakers
Jessica G (email)
Happy New Year and here’s to reading well in 2011!