Summer Reading Challenge(s)

The more I think, the more I overthink. So, as promised here: my first proposal for Mary J Moerbe Summer Reading Challenge(s). (Starting places to find Lutheran authors: a list of living Lutheran authors and a list of Lutheran publishing houses.)

Option A: Various Lutheran Categories

First, determine how many books you think you can read.
Add one. Or aim higher, but not high enough to add unnecessary man-made laws into your life.
Start picking from the categories below.
Do not count repeated categories, but do count books. In other words, some categories contain more than one book.
Rereads are totally acceptable.
Proverbial bonus points for recommending Lutheran titles to libraries (physical or digital). 😉
If you need more categories because you’re awesome like that, let me know and I’ll try to come up with more.

PS. I’ll keep the categories pretty general so that books can count for more than one. That way if you need to juggle them around a little it’s easier to. See how I roll?

Option A Categories

A book by a Lutheran author you’ve read before (rereads are totally acceptable)
A book by a Lutheran author you have not read before.
A series by a Lutheran author
A book of fiction by a Lutheran author
A book of non-fiction by a Lutheran author
A book with a Lutheran contributor, meaning a book with a collection of authors at least one of whom is Lutheran
A children’s book by a Lutheran author
A book illustrated by a Lutheran
Any random book suggested by a fellow Lutheran
A Lutheran devotional text (let’s say either a complete text since some are short or a minimum of 60 devotions)
Lutheran books from consecutive centuries
A Lutheran book from the Reformation era/ Martin Luther’s lifetime
A Lutheran book from the Early Orthodox era (I’m totally gleaning these from a wiki article)/ time of the Book of Concord’s culmination
A Lutheran book from the Lutheran Scholastics
A Lutheran book from late orthodoxy/around Johann Gerhard’s time
Something fitting jargon like “confessional,” “liturgical,” etc. (“Pietistic” does not qualify!)

Option B: Read Like a Lutheran

Upon quick review, the dates are May 26–August 5, 2018, and, if you’ve ever signed up, your account probably still exists. Just read until you’ve got 1000 points to be entered into the prize drawings. Children can enter, too!

Option C: Read your Kindle library backwards

Obviously, not all Lutheran reading revolves around Lutheran authors. To be honest, I really like books I have zero expectations about. I find them relaxing. You’ll get no shaming from me about random finds. This Kindle summer reading challenges is what I periodically like to do since I get so many free books from bookbub.com.

Option D: Gone Hard Core

Even I’m not sure if I can handle this, but this may be the one I go for this year and it would be a great option for you heavy readers out there:

Gather together a big ol’ stack of books by Lutheran authors. (Rereads are totally acceptable. Borrow as necessary.)
Try to read one a week, but start with a short one.
Aim to post a review on the book on both Amazon and GoodReads within the week or the following Monday.
Are words necessary? Not necessarily. You can start with stars and see if you grow more confident and comfortable about it.
See how long of a streak you can get going. Four weeks? Eight? TWELVE?! SIXTEEN?!
If a book takes more than one week to read, that’s fine. Select a shorter book next and see if you can either “catch up” or restart a streak.

You could go on for just about forever, because if you can manage that, maybe you can get people to send you their own books! 🙂

Miscellanea

No prizes offered, but I’m happy to encourage you along the way! We should read for the sake of reading—it’s its own reward.

Maybe I can find some Lutheran authors to type up some recommended reading as we go along.

Oh, and summer starts whenever you’d like.

Happy reading, folks, but don’t forget to write, too, if you can grab a chance!

Summer Reading Challenge(s)