Sometimes I find myself in a reading rut. I love YA and middle grade books, especially realistic and historical fiction. These books make up the bulk of my reading. It’s great for me because I enjoy these books, and it’s great for the blog because there are always new and interesting books to review.

But I have to confess that I occasionally long to break out of the routine. Whether it’s a new creative non-fiction book that I’ve heard about on NPR or a book that I want to read for work, I have the urge to branch out with my reading practices. I have often suppressed that urge by reminding myself of the endless shelves of Slatebreaking books that exist in the world – and I want to read them all! Although it has kept my reading focused, it certainly has not helped me be a diverse reader. I read as many books as I can, but within a narrow scope of genres and target audiences.

I set a goal for myself in 2013: to expand my reading habits. Of course, I am still going to read as many Slatebreaking books as I can. These books are the fuel that stokes my desire to read. However, I feel that I need to intersperse types of books that I don’t usually read, and motivate myself to read books by authors that I have not explored.

How am I going to get myself to read some different books when I have piles of wonderful Slatebreaking options awaiting me? A game, that’s how. This past summer my local library did a sort of “reading bingo” program for adults. I wasn’t able to participate, but I loved the idea. So I made a bingo card of my own. Here’s what I came up with:

My goal is to complete this bingo card by the end of 2013. I would like to motivate myself with some sort of prize or completion marker or something like that, but I haven’t come up with anything yet.

Do you want to play along? You can make your own reading bingo card. Here’s a template!

2013 Reading BINGO

I invite you to join me in this reading challenge. Whether you have always wanted to read some classics or have never picked up a graphic novel, this is a way to push yourself to try something new. I’ll be reporting back in December of 2013 with my progress, and I’ll want to hear how it goes for you, too.