Short Story Reading Challenge

Monday, January 11, 2010

Another Challenge? Yeah, I know I am wondering if I am biting off more than I can chew too but here we go. I just ran into the Short Story Reading Challenge hosted by Kate over at a blog set up just for this challenge.

Here are the details (in short):
Options 1 & 2: If you're short on time, you can simply commit to reading ten short stories by ten different authors over the course of 2010. If you're relatively new to reading short stories, any ten will do. If you’ve already got a lot of short stories under your belt, make it ten short stories by ten writers whose work you have not yet read. How about that—a year long challenge that you could conceivably complete in the course of a day!
Options 3 & 4: If you've got a bit more time to devote to this endeavor, you can commit to reading between five and ten short story collections over the course of 2010. Again, if you're a short story novice, the world is your oyster as far as selection is concerned. But if you're a seasoned short story reader, you'll want to choose collections by writers whose short stories you have not yet encountered.
Option 5: This is the custom option under the rubric of which you can tailor your reading list to best meet your personal reading aspirations. You might wish to craft a list that focuses on a particular place, or era, or genre. Or you might wish to include reading about short stories as well as of short stories, for example, such works as Frank O'Connor's The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story. It's entirely up to you.

I am signing on for option 3, I challenge myself to read 5 short story collections by the end of the year. Shouldn't be too hard, I already have 2 short story collections in my library and will hit the library up for the other 3. I really enjoy reading short stories but for some reason I almost never end up coming home with one after a trip to the library or bookstore. That will change this year with this challenge.