2022 Reading Challenge
Happy New Year! I cannot believe how fast 2021 came and went. 2021 was definitely one of the hardest years for me personally, but I am very thankful for the blessings and the lessons that the Lord gave me throughout the year and I am looking forward to what He has in store for me in 2022.
While there is some debate and different convictions regarding goals and resolutions around the New Year (which on one hand I understand), I have decided to set a few goals for myself—one being the 2022 Reading Challenge.
The Reading Challenge idea is not a new one. One of my favorite podcasts is the What Should I Read Next Podcast by Anne Bogel where she puts out a reading challenge every year for her listeners. Also, for about four months of 2021, I worked a local library branch where we held reading challenges throughout the summer for our patrons.
I don’t know what sparked me to want to do my own reading challenge this year (other than my love for reading), but I decided that this is a goal that I would like to achieve this year.
My reading challenge includes the following types of books:
- A trilogy
- A book with a pretty cover
- A book on audio
- A book in a genre you dislike
- A book from the library
- A children’s novel
- A book from your bookshelf
- A personal development book
- A memoir or autobiography
- A book where you learn a lesson
- A new release
- A book about family
- A book by your favorite author
- A book that you’ve abandoned
You can also download the 2022 Reading Challenge Guide.
So why do I want to achieve this goal? Well, there are three reasons that I have narrowed it down to: for entertainment, to create better habits, and to discipline myself.
For Entertainment
When I first thought of this challenge I had some doubts or ideas that maybe this wouldn’t be a good idea because I knew I would want to read fiction in addition to, what I call, personal development* books that are not necessarily centered around the Christian life. I wasn’t sure if it would be okay to read books that were just for entertainment or books that were not supplementary books to growing in God’s Word. The thought of, “Well if I am reading, shouldn’t I be reading my Bible” also crossed my mind.
Ladies, if you are married, I encourage you to always go seek your husband’s counsel when you have questions like these; so that is exactly what I did! I asked BJ what he thought of me reading fiction and personal development books, then I asked him what he thought about me making a goal to complete my own reading challenge. He thought about it for a moment, but he told me that as long as I do not neglect reading and studying my Bible, I do not read anything too indecorous, or look to these other books for Truth; he sees no problem with me reading for entertainment or having a goal to read a variety of different books.
In addition to his counsel and encouragement for the reading challenge I also read GotQuestions.org’s answer to my question. They affirmed that there is nothing inherently wrong with reading, or writing, fiction as long as it is within the parameters of the Bible and that the Bible should always be our number one priority.
One thing that I like about making my own reading challenge is that I am in control of the categories of the books that I am reading as well as what books I am choosing to read for those categories. Before making my own reading challenge list, I looked on Pinterest for a reading challenge. There were many categories in some of those lists that were completely contrary to God’s Word, and as a believer in Christ I knew there was no way that I could read those types of books.
To Create Better Habits
The new year is always a time for reflection and we look for opportunities to grow and form better habits. Like most people, I spend way too much time on my phone. Sometimes it is inevitable as I need it for work or running my blogging accounts, but most of the time I use it for entertainment.
Now, I use my phone a lot less than what I used to because I have managed to cut back my amount of screen time with the help of BJ. We have been very mindful about our screen time for a couple of months now and it has been really great! However, when we are both doing our own thing or he is at work and I am alone, I find myself gravitating towards my phone and wasting a lot of time mindlessly scrolling. This reading challenge will help me to create better habits because instead of being attached to my phone all the time, I can use that time to do something else that I enjoy—things that I honestly put on the back burner because I just play on my phone.
This reading challenge will help me create better habits for myself and for my family, and I have already seen how much more intentional I am with my time because of it.
To Discipline Myself
My last reason is to discipline myself. I have never followed through with any goals I have set for myself. This reading challenge is not very big or long, so I thought it would be a good place to start. Since coming up with the challenge I have already read two books and, like I mentioned above, have seen that I am more intentional with my time.
Like many people my age, I have a very short attention span and I get distracted really easy. Watching TV is hard for me because I get distracted and pick up my phone or move on to do something else, which is why I usually just have it on in the background while I am doing cleaning, working, or completing some other activity.
Reading is one of the few activities that I do not get easily distracted from, and since doing this challenge, I have noticed that I can read in very long stretches of time without moving on to something else. One reason is I am choosing books that keep my interest, but every time I read I am building a greater reading stamina. I have even noticed that I can do my Bible reading and studying longer because I am building that stamina.
It is really cool because this reading challenge is bleeding over into so many other areas of my life. I plan on writing a review and blog post on every book that I read for this challenge. I am also sharing it over on Instagram on both my @happilyhansen_ account and my @mckenzie_the_reader account.
I pray that this post gives you a better understanding to why I am so excited and passionate about this reading challenge, and I hope that you will consider completing it along with me. Let me know your thoughts about my reading challenge or if you plan on completing it too by sending me an email or filling out the contact form here on the blog, or by tagging me or sending me a DM on Instagram.
Praying that you and yours have a happy new year!
Blessings,
*When I say personal development books, I mean books that talk about other things I am interest in—education, technology, politics, organization, home decor, cookbooks, etc.