My Thoughts on the 50 Book Challenge

In the past two weeks my Facebook friends have inundated me with book requests.  It seems they have joined something called the 50 book challenge.  Okay, they haven't inundated just me, they have probably inundated everyone.  I don't want to discourage reading, but there are a couple of things that rub me the wrong way.

The goal is, obviously, to get people reading.  As well as being an important goal, it appears to be a necessary one.  I say this because another post claimed that a large number of people haven't read a book since high school, or that the average family hasn't been to a bookstore in years.  Since no mention was made of the library, I will take these "statistics" with a grain of salt.

If you fall into one of the above categories, I feel pretty confident in saying that 50 books seems like a lot.  I am a daily commuter, and therefore, have plenty of time to read.  A book a week isn't really a challenge--unless someone is talking too loud on their cell phone or the crossword puzzles are particularly difficult that week (I do those too.)  I certainly wouldn't want someone to read 25 books and feel like a failure.  Twenty-five books should be as equally celebrated an accomplishment as 50 would be.  Heaven forbid someone only reads 49.

I understand this is part of that New Years Resolution deal.  As someone who has resolved to lose weight every year, and not always reached that goal, I know how disheartening that would be.  However, if this is the way you motivate yourself, I hope it works out.

As I said, I don't want to discourage reading.  I love reading.  I just don't want this to turn people off reading like some high school English teachers have obviously done.  Please enjoy reading your books at whatever pace you manage.  If you don't get through a book a week, relax.  If you enjoyed your read, it doesn't matter how long it took.

I had never heard of this challenge before, but a quick online search reveals that this is not a new challenge.  It has been going on for years.  I wonder why it has gained so much momentum this year?

For people taking this challenge I would like to offer some advice

v     If you feel yourself behind schedule, there are lots of quick reads out there.  You can sacrifice some of the "classics" you have chosen for some guilty pleasures.  Quick read choices for me include Robert B. Paker, Barry Eisler, and Patrick Robinson.  You can blast through these in a day or two.

v     Don't neglect your library.  Supporting writers by buying books is great, but taking trips to the library is also a  good way of developing a habit--which is an unstated goal of the 50 book challenge.  I am a big supporter of the library because I just don't have enough shelf space for books I have already read.

v     Don't read too many books of the same author in a row.  It can get tiresome.

If you are going to proceed, I would like to offer you a short list of wonderful books.  I have mostly not included a long series of books (such as the phenomenal Ian Ranking detective series).  I have tried to wait before putting this list together because I am sure that I will think of ten more just after I post this....but one has to know when enough is enough and just get the thing out there.

I welcome any comments on this blog, or on my Facebook page if that is where you found the link to get here.

Recommendations

Waterland--Graham Swift

A Prayer for Owen Meany--John Irving

The Crying of Lot 49--Thomas Pynchon

Slaughterhouse Five--Kurt Vonnegut

Barney's Version--Mordecai Richler

Bluebeard--Kurt Vonnegut

The Sun Also Rises--Ernest Hemmingway

90 Day Geisha--Chelsea Haywood

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Stieg Larsson

JPod--Douglas Copeland

Hitching Rides With Buddha--Will Ferguson

Fear and Trembling--Amelie Northomb

Lost Girls and Love Hotels--Catherine Hanrahan

A Separate Peace--Knowles

Pattern Recognition--William Gibson

The Quiet American--Graham Greene

Good Luck Everyone