A few more reading challenges

 

The last post I published on reading challenges (here) proved to be quite popular, so, because I am so good to you, here are a few more challenge ideas. I do like the way in which challenge ideas can draw readers to those books that they might not otherwise have read, so I hope that this brings something new into your "to be read" pile. If not, I hope you at least enjoy this piece!

A book about, or heavily featuring, a car/cars

Under this challenge, I might recommend On The Road by Jack Kerouac, which, when I first read it as a teenager, captured me with its depiction of life on the open road of mid-twentieth-century America. Kerouac's tale of sex, drugs, and beat life, depicts perfectly the restlessness of post World War II America youth, with their lost innocence and desire for something more than the dream that was offered. Or, perhaps you would prefer Stephen King's Christine, which tells the story of a car apparently possessed by evil supernatural forces and the hold it has on its owner. Whatever book you choose for this challenge, you might end up in the fast lane!

A book about, or heavily featuring, drugs and/or alcohol

We all know James Bond, Ian Fleming's creation, liked a martini, and throughout the series of Bond novels you'll find spirits, cocktails, and beers aplenty! Or, perhaps you'd prefer Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, in which Huxley's dystopia makes use of the fictional drug, Soma, to keep society in check. I am a big fan of Huxley and would recommend his most famous work to anyone that hasn't read it. When it comes to the use of hard drugs, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, and Junkie by William S. Burroughs (drug use can be found throughout much of Burroughs' work), both in their own ways depict the users world in a raw and honest way. 

A book for self improvement

Now, with this one, we could go the route of the self-help book, and if you do so, you'll have plenty of choice. The last book I read that concerned itself with the problem of how to attain happiness was a book called Happiness By Design by Paul Dolan, a Professor of Behavioral Science. In this book, the author explored how purpose and pleasure are the main constituents of happiness, and how to get that balance just right. In the not too distant future, I plan to read, and discuss here, Peter Jones' How To Do Everything and be Happy. In this book, the author tries to take an approach to maximising happiness using practical methods, such as the use of diaries, lists, and scheduling. I will discuss this one, as I say, in a later post. However, self improvement doesn't mean a visit to the self help section, it could be that there is a non-fiction book you have been meaning to read that could lead to you developing a better understanding of politics, history, science, or art. Anything really. What self improvement means to you is really up to you!

A book that makes you cry

I suppose with this one, it need not be a book; it could be a poem, or a play. And they need not be tears of despair, but tears of joy. Still, we ought not to be afraid of those works that bring a tear to the eye, or maybe even a stream of tears. Those feelings are just as valid as happiness, and don't we read partly so that we can explore those feelings in a safe way? I know I do. In this category, I might recommend Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, a book that can be a hard read, but a book that deals with themes of loneliness and mental illness beautifully. I might also recommend One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey, which is one of those stories that, to me, blends hope and brutality. Whatever it is for you, I urge you not to shy away from those books that make you cry.

A book you never get tired of

Again, it needn't be a book. I could never get tired, I don't think, of reading and rereading The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. It is such a beautiful, gothic, musical poem, and if you haven't read it, I wholly recommend it. Or, see if you can find James Earl Jones' reading of it on the internet! Oh, that voice! Or, I am rereading The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, a book I fell for, as did many others, when I first read it. I will be discussing this book in an upcoming post too. This challenge is a comforting and cosy challenge, perfect for blankets and coffee along with that book you love. Or, if not coffee, something a little stronger perhaps.

Children's/YA books

On my shelves I have a book, a Winnie the Pooh book, that I had when I was a child, and I have as much respect for that book as I do for anything Tolstoy or Dickens ever wrote! It is beautiful. And, those books we love as children, it could be argued, can have a greater influence on us than those we embrace as adults. I also have Batman and Deadpool graphic novels standing on my shelves, those comics and superheroes I loved as a kid and a teenager . . . Well, I still love them. I'm sorry. I just do. As for YA fiction, I might suggest The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, a book that deals with themes as weighty as anything you might find in Ishiguro. Go on, immerse yourself in a kids book, or a book for teens. An opportunity to revisit childhood, or those tumultuous teenage years.

I hope you got some ideas from this little piece, and if you did enjoy it, perhaps you would consider following/supporting me over on ko-fi. Ko-fi is a platform specifically for creatives. If every reader donated just the minimum, it would make such a difference to me. But, if you can't, but you have a ko-fi page of your own, do consider following. Thank you.

Stay safe, read lots, and see you soon.