Tuesday, December 16, 2014

New Year's Resolution Reading Challenge

December 15, 2014 – January 31, 2015


What do you want to accomplish in the New Year? Will reading a book help you reach your goal, keep your resolution, or complete your project? Start the year off right by reading books that support your goals, resolutions, and projects.

Whether you want to write a novel, start a new career, or be happier, there are books to aid you in your quest. The New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge is to read one to four books that will stimulate action on your goals. Here are the levels:

Resolved: 1 book
Determined: 2 books
Committed: 3 books
Passionate: 4 books

The books can all support the same resolution — you could read four books on getting organized, for example. Or, read four books to help with four different projects — one book on moving to a foreign country, one book on health and fitness, one book on small business, and one book on knitting (on your way to becoming a healthy expat entrepreneur with great scarves).

The New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge is a short event, running to the end of January (about seven weeks) as we end 2014 and start 2015. Later in the week I’ll announce a full-year challenge for those of us who have “Be Healthier” as one of our New Year’s resolutions.

We will have a link-up every Sunday from now through February 1st to share our book reviews, list posts, and early progress on our 2015 goals.

For the last few years, in conjunction with this challenge, we’ve also done a Read Along. I’m open to suggestions. I would be interested in re-reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield or Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson. I perused my Goodreads list earlier today and came up with these titles that might have wide interest:

  • A Blueprint for Your Castle in the Clouds: Make the Inside of Your Head Your Favorite Place to Be by Barbara Sophia Tammes
  • A Short Guide to a Long Life by David B. Agus
  • Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back by Brooks Palmer
  • Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters by Michael Bungay Stanier
  • Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long by David Rock
  • Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath, Dan Heath
  • Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
  • Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success by Chip Conley
  • Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way by Dan Buettner

Are any of these books on your TBR? Or, do those titles remind you of books that you would like to read?

This reading challenge is hosted by Joy's Book Blog. For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.