Sunday Sundries: Burnt Out on Challenges... So Here's Another Challenge!

So this past week I was totally ill (and, actually, so were my mum and dad, so... that was fun!) so I don't really have very much to report from a real life perspective- It was gross and there was some phlegm involved. That's about it. OH! Except that I did drag myself out to the shops one day (or... my cousin made me. Let's go with that) and I bought this awesome long skirt that I LOVE except that I sort of feel like I might fall over in it quite spectacularly one day, which will obviously be fun for everyone!

So, because of the lack of having anything to say, the sensible thing would be to not write a Sunday post AT ALL, I realise, but when have you really expected sensibleness from me? (Basically everyone I went to school with, I suspect, expects me to be sensible, but that was then and now I'm an idiot. Burst that bubble, huh!) ANYWAY, so instead of just stopping, I'm going to have a bit of a whinge and then go away. Sounds good, right?

SO. I signed up for a few challenges this year which felt like a good idea because I own so many books that I haven't read, and they need to be read, and so I thought I'd make a conscious effort to get them read. But, by the time of my mini-progress report at the end of March (quarterly, guys!) I was sorely disappointed in myself because, well, who only reads TWO out of thirty books in 3 months? Nobody does that badly at anything, ever! So I thought, hey, I'll step it up a bit, and I did and I'm doing pretty well thankyouverymuch (next progress report in 2 weeks, I know you're all excited!) BUT this comes with a downside too.

Cause, like, it's like, if I read a book that isn't something I can like 'tick off' any of my challenges (i.e. add a link to in some kind of category in the 'Current Challenges' section up there) I feel sort of disappointed about it, even though I probably really really enjoyed it (this was the case for, for example, Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal) and it's stupid and it SUCKS. And I realise it's just me and my brain being absolute idiots, but it's still what I do and I can't really help it. And thus I blame and resent the challenges, making me less likely to want to read a challenge book even though it brings me the gratification I desire in the end.

BASICALLY, I'm an utter moron.

So. I realise this is something that probably nobody else ever even has a problem with because they're normal and well-adjusted (hey, what's that like?!) and I also realise that I could just stop the challenges and just read whatever books I like (which I can do anyway. Because I'm in charge of my own reading and all) but, well, the whole point of the challenges was to like, shop my own bookshelves, which, to be fair, it has made me do. So actually what I need to do is to not be a crazy-daisy and just accept that the challenges are making me read more things and buy less (probably... I haven't been properly monitoring that, but I'm sure I've bought less books this year than I had at this time last year... maybe...) and that these are all good things, BUT if I need to read, say, War and Peace but I only got it this year, well, then, I need to read War and Peace (Note: I don't need to read War and Peace. Not yet. Crime and Punishment is going to be my Russian Literature for this year.)

So. I say all this, but who knows whether my mental brain can accept it or not? Let's just say that there will definitely be less challenges next year (maybe none) and that I still love my Stephen King 'challenge' beyond words (since the aim of that was basically to read all the Stephen Kings that I'd acquired and yet hadn't read yet. Totally working!) AND Let me also say that I'm taking part in another reading challenge!!

I know. Moron. Did we get that yet?

BUT listen up! Cause Frances alerted me on twitter to the fact that someone was doing a Fuck the Patriarchy Readathon, and hello, can I resist something with a title like that?! So, the readathon is not what we book bloggers would call a readathon, BUT it does involve reading 20 books that you haven't read before over July and August. Which I pretty much do every two months, only not quite, and so I've chosen short books to read and I should be fine! So basically, if you want to sponsor me then the justgiving page for the event is here and all the money goes to Rape Crisis, so, you know, that's a pretty great cause! Also, if you want to sign up to read 20 books in 2 months (go onnn, I know you can do it!) then you can do so here. AND, if you want to know what I think I'll be reading, here's my non-finalised but sort of accurate list (although, if you can think of any short-ish/easy books that are awesome, let me know them and I'll maybe substitute some of these. Maybe.)

1. Anthony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare (plays seriously take no time to read)
2. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
3. The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir (literally the only long book on this list. And it is about fucking the patriarchy...)
4. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
5. Once There Was A War by John Steinbeck
6. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
7. In Love and Trouble by Alice Walker
8. The Invention of Solitude by Paul Auster
9. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (oh yeah, another long book... but Murakami!)
10. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
11. A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
12. The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell
13. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller
14. Beloved by Toni Morrison
15. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
16. Needful Things by Stephen King
17. Gerald's Game by Stephen King
18. The Reader by Bernard Schlink
19. Postcards by Annie Proulx
20. Mildred Pierce by James M Cain

And yeah, I'm going to read these and hopefully make some money and, well, fuck the patriarchy by having chosen some (mainly?) books by and/or about women. And also a couple of Stephen Kings and Murakamis, but hey, whatcha gonna do?