A Marathon for Bookworms

In 1985, my parents gave me a boxed set of Judy Blume books for Christmas. It consisted of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the latter title I read in confused breathlessness at the tender age of nine. That boxed set began my love affair with voracious reading, and I’ve consumed books since then in gluttonous amounts.

No Walgreens carried THE BELT, but I looked for it in all of them.

Like Katie, I’ve resolved to Think Deeper in 2012, and have found the perfect test to do so through a new local program hosted by the Madison Public Library. The “Madison Mega Marathon” challenges readers to read 52 books in 52 weeks, roughly about 40 pages a day. You can read any book you want, as long as you track each title on the Group’s page at Goodreads.com. Participants who have a public library card are eligible for prizes along the way, providing more incentive to finish. And this mama needs a new E-Reader, so I’m giving it a whirl.

[box type=”1″ align=”right”] MMM How-To Guide & Rules
https://guides.hmcpl.org/content.php?pid=285059&sid=2345973

Be my friend on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2919891-stephenie [/box]I’ve been on Goodreads for a while now and found it a great way to catalog our home library – the smart phone app even has a bar code scanner that helps enter book titles en masse to my virtual bookshelf (very cool!). As for the challenge, I’m three books down, 49 to go before December 31, 2012. Seeing what the rest of the MMM “runners” are reading and being able to add their titles to my own To-Read Shelf is one of the best parts. Not having to run an actual marathon is another good part.

Since Judy Blume, I’ve never looked back, and remember promising myself that when I grew up I would have a fashionable, fast-paced job that involved reading books and wearing cool shoes. I accomplished that goal, and have moved beyond it to focus on the next one – to complete my first “marathon” in 2012. GAME ON.