I decided to creat the 13 Ways of Looking at The Lifetime Reading Plan perpetual reading challenge after recently reading from two books: 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley and The New Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major. As I was looking at the lists in both books, I thought that these lists would make for an awesome reading challenge to broaden our reading horizons.
This new reading challenge is being hosted at my new reading community site, Gather Together and Read. I have also moved all the challenges I host to this site so everything is easily gathered in one place.
INFO ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
This is a perpetual challenge, meaning there is no set ending or goal. You read at your own pace. It's really about challenging ourselves to read perhaps beyond our comfort zone, and to read books that are considered "great" or, as Jane Smiley said, books "that would illuminate the whole concept of the novel." Also, many of the titles on the lists will easily crossover with other reading challenges!
To make things a bit more challenging (just so the challenge doesn't languish, as many perpetual challenges do), I'm going to follow the lead of Read the Nobels and host a yearly challenge inside this challenge where you commit to reading a set amount of books from the lists in a year. That will kick off on January 1, 2017.
In addition, I will host read-alongs of books from the list periodically. I want to make this site about community and I think read-alongs are an excellent way to foster community.
In addition, I will host read-alongs of books from the list periodically. I want to make this site about community and I think read-alongs are an excellent way to foster community.
Both lists for the reading challenge can be accessed in the sidebar menu at the site.
