52 Week reading challenge.....do you dare?

After the revelation of the screen time app, and the vow to cut down on social media usage particularly twitter, I delved into what could be used with the productivity and boost goals/objectives. When I first decided to set up a book blog way back when, I’d then proceeded to write freelance and delve headfirst into the world of drag.

One of the goals set at the end of 2018 for 2019 that have been set is the 52-week reading challenge, I consider myself a somewhat fast reader but even for me, this would be an insanely difficult challenge. Taking to the internet to research what people tend to rack up or the various lists which hold different book challenges. I took to my bookshelves - which may be gorgeously laid out, yes I’m sad and have my books color blocked for aesthetics. Not sure about you, but whenever I see books that are discounted heavily in bookshops the urge to buy is immensely difficult. As a result of this, I’ve racked up a fair few books on the unread pile. What better way to start the challenge than with the unread pile?

After what feels like months the day had come when I finally finished Donald Strunnock’s ‘Roahl Dahl, A storyteller’ the mammoth book which without including the gigantic sources tallies up to 652 pages. These sort of books are quite frankly too tricky to cram in for the reading challenge, although if you wanted to push yourself you could clock up 93 pages a day to try and get the book completed.

The book itself I would recommend, however, if you wanted to know about the thought process of his more popular books you’re in for quite the wait. The last two chapters touch upon his success with classics such as ‘BFG’, ‘The Witches’, ‘Twits’ and of course ‘Matilda’ What was interesting was the reputation he had among his peers and the media figure he became. As someone who loved reading his books at school, one always thought of him as literally the BFG, Roahl who died the year I was born- 1990. I knew very little about the man behind the wacky world of fantasy in his children's books.

Everyone is quick to say how incredibly passionate he was for his writing, yet had a difficult tendency to be controversial. What struck me the most in an incredibly uplifting and positive way was the success he achieved in later life. During his time as a writer, he dipped in and out of adult short stories and rarely saw success in children literature. Yet seeing how his legacy is cemented in the way he creatively and somewhat a little grotesque way he created children's characters shows that its okay to not have a direct path to what we want to do in life. Doing what you love leads to plenty of opportunities, thus letting you stumble into a passion bubbling away.

So this book will be the start of the reading challenge, whilst I doubt 52 books will be read I will set a goal of 26 books to read, this is a midway mark that is somewhat attainable. There are so many lists out there to dictate what books can be read, authors to explore etc I myself will begin with that lovingly stacked unread pile of books staring at me. Below are some great recommendations on how to create your own 52-week reading challenge.