Reading & Mini Reviews

How Do You Read?

Posted on by Khaya Ronkainen

It’s not officially summer but I’m posting the reading challenge in advance. If you are reading with me this summer, I hope you’ll have enough time to think about your reading list.

I’ve mentioned here that I tend to lean more towards female writers. There are a number of reasons. But the most relevant is that I’ve been working on my debut novel, which deals among other things with roles of women in certain societies. I think I gravitated towards other women writers to learn how they depict strong female characters.

Here’s my question to you. How do you read?

Unedited self stealing a read in between gardening activities.

I invite you to chase diversity with me as we read this summer. So, the challenge is not so much about how many books you read but to think carefully about the books you choose to read.

Chasing diversity means including in your list: books by authors from different backgrounds, cultures, gender, age, time periods, traditional published, indie press, and of course different genres. The challenge start June 1st and end August 31st

So, you get to determine the number of books (in any form) you want to read. Here are some ideas to help you with your list. You don’t have to tick them all but at the end of the challenge, please tell us how you managed to diversify your reading.

  1. From your bookshelf (physical/digital), pick a book you bought but haven’t read yet.

  2. A book in a genre that bores you or don’t care for, and see if your “prejudice” against the genre is well founded.

  3. A book set in a country you’d like to visit or written by an author from that country.

  4. Is there a classic someone was surprised to hear you haven’t read? Ignore that, instead pick a classic you’d like to read.

  5. A book in translation (from any language to the language you’re comfortable reading in).

  6. A nonfiction book on a subject you “know” your friend/sibling/spouse would benefit from reading.

  7. A book from your favourite genre by an author you’ve never heard of.

  8. A book recommended by a friend/colleague/stranger as a must-read.

  9. Sharing snippets or images of your reading experience on social media is optional.

  10.  Recommend at least one book by an author you think we should all read. 

Next week, I’ll post my reading list where you’re welcome to add your link in the comments section, so we all know who is reading with us. Hope you have fun tidying up your bookshelves. 🙂

Oh, I recently came across this reading flowchart, I truly think it’s brilliant!

Random Things

Unconditional Love

Posted on by Khaya Ronkainen

1. On Mothers’ Day

I love the idea of a day set aside to celebrate mothers. Because mothers are a blessing; they make magic happen with their unconditional love. But I also know not all parent-child relationships are harmonious, more especially it comes to parenting adult children. So, I found myself nodding as I listened to siStars on Motherhood talk about motherhood.

p.s. Behind siStars is Kathy Garland, Michelle, the Therapist and Lady G.

2. Human Connection

With European elections coming up, I’ve been watching the debate among lead candidates running for presidency. And I realised that Josh Gross, who advocates for a more personal approach to science communication is onto something, because the same can be said about politics. Anyway, read for yourself what he suggests in this article To Better Save the Planet, Show Yourself.

3. The Song

It’s time again for cultural diplomacy. The Eurovision Song Contest has commenced. It’s disappointing that Finland got eliminated so early. But watching politics play out in this contest is always interesting enough to keep me glued on the screen. Of course, I’ll be voting for my favourites.

4. TBR List

I pride myself in reading globally but it occurs, as I prepare my Summer Reading Challenge list, that I don’t diversify my reads enough. My TBR list reveals that I read female writers more. I felt guilty about this shortage of male writers in my list, until I ran into numerous articles that point out that, in fact, men (most) aren’t reading women writers either. So, I find myself rethinking my reads.

5. Habits

Some start the day with a prayer, I start mine with a poem. Reading a poem or poems first thing as I sip my morning coffee is something I do out of habit. And the right poem is just the thing to put me in the right frame of mind for the day ahead. I used to do museum visits out of habit, and as “ME” time. But with a busy schedule that sort of became a luxury I couldn’t afford. But I’ve recently renewed my museum card in order to get back to enjoying time alone, learn, reflect and be inspired. So, see you at the museums!

But over to you, how has your week been?

Occasionally, I share five random things I’m reading, watching, doing and thinking about. Hope you find them interesting.