Just One More Pa(i)ge Reading Challenge 2019

Just One More Pa(i)ge Reading Challenge 2019

I have seen about 30 book challenges for the new year so far. A lot of them look really good (like The Reading Women Challenge). And I know I *should* participate in a couple of them (like Beat the Backlist, for example, which I did at least partially participate in this last year, with reasonable success – full report out on that coming soon). But to be honest, I’m looking for something in particular that I couldn’t quite find. I want to work on continuing to read diversely, and would like some structure with that. Specifically, I want to make sure that the authors that I’m reading are diverse, and not just the topics I’m reading about, so I can intentionally support their work (with enough flexibility that I can maintain my mood reading feels while remaining diverse in my choices) . Also, I want the time constraints to be specific (more than just “by the end of the year”), but not restrictive. To that end, monthly parameters seemed like a good compromise.

At this point, I enlisted my husband. He has phenomenal skills with seemingly aimless internet searching. I had a few ideas to start, but needed help refining my plan. So we spent at least an hour googling different celebrations and recognitions for each month. I chose one theme per month, with as wide-ranging and inclusive a selection as possible. For any where the author’s background is not specified, that month’s book should be one that falls within that theme and is written by a female/POC/other minority writer, as the goal, as mentioned, is diversity.

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Without futher ado, here is the outline for the (hopefully) inaugural Just One More Pa(i)ge Reading Challenge:   

January: Mental Wellness Month – read a book addressing mental health issues or by someone with a mental health illness

February: Black History Month – read a book by an African-American author

March: Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month – read a book by or about someone differently-abled

April: National Poetry Month – read a book of poetry

May: Asian Pacific Heritage Month – read a book by an Asian Pacific author

June: Pride Month – read a book by a writer who is LGBTQ+

July: 4^th of July Political Woke-ness in the US – read a book that would fall under the #resist category (a stretch, perhaps, but I feel good about it)

August: Women in Translation – read a book by a woman that has been translated from its original language

September: Constitution and Citizenship Day (Sept 17) – read a book by an immigrant/refugee

October: Bullying Prevention Month – read a book centered around friends/close relationships

November: Nonfiction November – read a nonfiction book (bonus point: if the book is by an American Indian author, as it’s also American Indian Heritage Month)

December: End of Year Happy Days – read a rom-com or other positive feels book (to end the year on a positive note…also, we have fun “naming” this month)

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What do you think? I’m really pretty excited about this and I hope it goes as well as I’m imagining! Also, I’d LOVE for any/all of you to join me. Do you think you might? Even if you were to join for just a month or two…which month(s) would it be? And, do you have any suggestions for what books to read for any of these themes? I can’t wait to hear from you all!