Reading challenge: Living and Learning - An Update to My Challenge

Last year was the first year that I've embarked on a full-fledged reading challenge and I love it so much that I plan to continue every year for the foreseeable future. In my first reading challenge, one of the reasons that I felt the need to challenge myself was that I found myself reading the same books over and over again because I loved them, but I wanted to push my boundaries a little and step outside of my comfortable little YA box.

Another way to encourage myself to read things I ordinarily wouldn't pick up at a book store was to start a book club. I find that, for me, it's easier to start something than to join something. I wanted to be in a book club, didn't know where to find one or where to even look, so I started my own! And it's been a great success in not only broadening my horizons as a reader but also in forging some great friendships! I love book club, it's one of my favorite things and I look forward to it every month!

In my 2012 reading challenge I wanted to read 40 books that I had never read before and was so happy at the end of the year when I completed my goal! However, I missed some of those books that I had re-read so many times, so in my 2013 challenge I vowed to re-read all my favorite YA series. I'm almost 6 months in to my challenge and I've learned a little something about myself. I no longer enjoy re-reading the same things repeatedly. Don't get me wrong, I love re-reading but I also love learning new things and finding new books and stories to enjoy.

I've found this re-reading challenge much more challenging than reading all new books, because I've read all these books before there's nothing pushing me to keep going. I know what happens and there is no suspense. For this reason, I'm making a modification in my 2013 reading challenge! I will continue toward my goal of 50 books by the end of the year, but I'm not going to hold myself to re-reading ALL of my favorite YA series. So far, I have re-read the Twilight Saga, The Infernal Devices and most of The Mortal Instruments. I'll most likely re-read a few more of my favorites and I'm planning to listen to the Harry Potter series again on audio. I just need the flexibility to read other things that I'm interested in and filling my year with 30+ re-reads has proven to be a little boring.

Ah well, live and learn!