RC 2016 – Year & January Intro

I am excited to start my 2016 Reading Challenge – I’ll consider it my inaugural Reading Challenge, as my 2015 Challenge (apart from Summer’s) only lasted half the year. During the inaugural Challenge, I learned how to use Goodreads to track the books I want to read, that I have read, and those I’m reading, as well as connect with other readers and groups interested in challenging themselves throughout the year. I’m still discovering publishers, authors, and other bloggers who provide beautiful insight, tips, and previews related to the wonderful world of reading, writing, and liberal arts – allowing me to make educated, spontaneous, and exciting decisions about my own reading, writing, and future (in addition to my past college education).

I’m telling you this because it’s wonderfully satisfying to fit into a niche I care so much about and want to contribute to, and I needed to express my excitement. Now, onto the first Reading Challenge of the year.

My primary goal is to read twenty-four books over the course of the year, or two books each month, for the Challenge. One book will be fiction, the other nonfiction. I would like to say the titles will only be those that have been published recently, but I cannot promise that. Another goal is to read at least one classic novel each month. Their inclusion in my discussion at the end of the month will be flexible, depending on how much time, focus, and attention I need to give my two primary titles for an adequate analysis.

I will partake in a Summer Reading Challenge that will call for a hiatus in the general Challenge, and I haven’t quite figured out what the theme or focus will be during those summer months. That will be an intro of its own.

So, I think I’ve covered what I needed to cover in an introduction for the 2016 Reading Challenge; now for January specifically.

This month, I will be reading The Goldfinch and Modern Romance, both of which were published in 2015. The latter, by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg; the former, Donna Tartt (a Pulitzer Prize winner). If you are not familiar with these titles, Modern Romance is nonfiction and The Goldfinch is fiction. I will be updating their status on my Goodreads profile, which I invite you to follow, along with a classic title I have yet to choose.

What are your reading goals for 2016? Share them with me in the comments below, and let me know if you have a Goodreads profile I can follow. Good luck, and Happy New Year!