There are so many reading challenges out there, but there’s one I figured I’d be able to complete with little pressure: the Dymocks’ Reading Challenge of 2020. Even if you’re not an Aussie reader, this could be something fun that we could all participate in! Have a read of the prompts with me, and please– give me suggestions for the topics. There’s a lot of brainstorming I must do.
I’ve never participated before, as Dymocks has long closed-down in my local area. For international readers, Dymocks would be the equivalent of Barnes & Noble in the US. They are the most popular bookseller in the nation, aside from having usually an extra fee on all items, just coz. Nowadays, I like to support whatever’s cheapest (most of the time, that means it’s sourced from Book Depository or Booktopia; both of these are owned by Amazon, sadly). The two closest book shops near me are QBD (matches the price of Dymocks, typically) and BOOKFACE (which is even MORE expensive than Dymocks). You know what the killer is? Not a single book shop stocks hardbacks. It’s not a thing here in my area of Australia. It’s way too expensive and we don’t have a heavy demand of reading to begin with.
I like that Dymocks is making an effort to engage with the online reading community, which is largely hegemon-ised by young, white American women with $$$ to spend. There’s nothing wrong with that– I love reading their content, I can relate to many features from their content. But I want something a little bit more close to home. Also, I want to encourage the deconstruction of such American-focused online presence. This is a slow journey, but hopefully through the pursuit we can introduce other perspectives, tales and folk-lore that aren’t the same 3 topics re-iterated and discussed in every American novel.
Here are the prompts (see also an attached PDF file):
The 2020 #DymocksReadingChallenge is here!
We want you to better your reading personal best every year, so we put together an engaging prompt list to help you read more!
To download a printable list and learn more click this link 👉 https://t.co/Lx1WmFayK7 pic.twitter.com/H19poG4Snl
— Dymocks Books (@Dymocksbooks) January 7, 2020
A text version of the prompts:
- A book by an Australian author
- A book by an Indigenous author
- A book from our Top 101
- A book from our Kids’ Top 51
- A Dymocks ‘Book of the Month’
- Re-read your favourite book of all time
- Ask a friend for a recommendation
- A book featuring your favourite country
- A book from your TBR pile
- An award-winning book
- A Mystery/Thriller
- A Memoir
- A book outside your usual genre
- A book of short stories
- A Self-Help/Motivation
- A Fairytale/Fable adaptation
- Book 1 in a Fantasy series
- A book that teaches you something new
- A book adapted into a film/series
- A book with a red cover
- A book with a colour in the title
- A book you can read in a day
- A book about books
- A book that makes you laugh
- A book published this year
- A book you said you’ve read but haven’t
Which prompt do you think is the most difficult/challenging to fulfil?
Cal's Reading Corner 
This is a great reading challenge! I don’t live in Australia but I do try to drop by Dymocks when I’m there 😀 I think the hardest prompt to be filled out for me is #2, but I also think it would be worth the read!
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I highly recommend Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe if you want to read an Aussie Indigenous perspective, but it technically doesn’t say which Indigenous culture 😉 so if you’re from a colonised country, have a search!
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