At the beginning of every year, prolific readers wanting to expand their horizons look to “reading challenges” to help them with such a task. Just like the one in the image above (you can find that full list here), the challenges are designed to get you to read a wide range of different material – including plenty that you don’t usually go near.
So that’s good. Feel free to check those out. But we thought you might like a crack at our slightly-more-difficult-to-achieve Australian Writers’ Centre Reading Challenge 2016. Good luck!
☐ A book based on a dream the author once had after a night out drinking.
☐ A book set entirely in the year 1983.
☐ A book that was made into a movie that you saw with your mother.
☐ A bestseller written by someone whose surname would score 23 in Scrabble.
☐ A bestseller that was translated into Esperanto.
☐ A bestseller that is now in the bargain bin.
☐ The first book you see when you enter the library.
☐ The first book you see when you wake up in a bathtub of ice with one kidney missing.
☐ The first book you think of when your therapist shows you that ink blot picture.
☐ A book with a main character who is a dog.
☐ A book with a main character who is not a dog, but might be a cat.
☐ A book with no main characters at all, just a bunch of dogs and cats.
☐ A book that is set in Africa.
☐ A book that is set in the song Africa, by Toto.
☐ A book that takes place in the 70s.
☐ A book that takes place in someone in their 70s.
☐ A book that’s written in a foreign language that you don’t know.
☐ A book that has 387 pages.
☐ A book you read when you were 3.
☐ A book with an orange and white cover, and a little penguin on it.
☐ A book that doesn’t use the word ‘the’ on the first page at all.
☐ A book with the word “sausage” in its title.
☐ A book that is thinner than a tim tam.
☐ A book that you can read while standing on top of a train.
☐ A book that you can use to stop a table from wobbling.
☐ A book into which you can press dried flowers.
☐ A book that has 148 chapters.
☐ A book that was written by a Capricorn and published by a Leo.
☐ A murder mystery where everyone is gathered in one room at the end to reveal the killer.
☐ A murder mystery where the butler did it.
☐ A romance novel that involves no kissing or funny stuff whatsoever.
☐ A romance novel where the man’s chest is bigger than the woman’s.
☐ A thriller that you can balance on the edge of your seat.
☐ A self improvement book that does nothing for you.
☐ A literary novel that makes you reach for the dictionary at least 30 times.
☐ A Young Adult novel where no one is a vampire or has a life-threatening illlness.
☐ A book about what it must be like to be a bee.
☐ A book that you’re only reading to impress somebody.
☐ A book that makes you think about your great grandfather’s feet for some reason.
☐ A book that can be used as a bookmark for another book.
☐ A book that Mark Zuckerberg or Oprah didn’t recommend.
☐ A book that you only bought because it had a cool looking cover.
☐ A book with the authors name bigger than the title on the front.
☐ A book that is set in space.
☐ A book that is set in that space behind the fridge.
☐ A book that was published the same day you were born.
☐ A book that contains characters named Dougal, Rex, Rambo, Groucho and Rocky.
☐ A book that you recommend to friends but only so they can suffer what you had to go through.
☐ A book where everyone dies at the end, except the narrator.
☐ A book that will be made into a surprisingly better movie.
☐ A book that you can’t put down.
☐ A book that you can’t pick up.
☐ A classic novel from the 20th century.
☐ A classic novel from the 7th century BC.
☐ An autobiography that you’ll read only because that person just died.
☐ A cricket player’s memoir that has a play on words in the title.
☐ A book that was shortlisted for at least five awards, but never won.
☐ A book that has notes written in the margins.
☐ A book that you borrowed off a friend and won’t return.
☐ A book that cost $24 but there was a “Buy 2, get the second half price” sale on, so you ended up paying $36 for it and another book you will never read.
☐ A book about giraffes.
☐ A book that you bought on a dare.
☐ A book that you bought on a donkey.
☐ A book that takes place on a Wednesday.
☐ A book that reminds you how great it is to know how to read.
