Try Something New: A Mini-Challenge

As part of the Dewey’s Books Challenge, hosted by Chris and Robin in Dewey’s memory, I bring you the Try Something New Mini-Challenge. Here’s how it works:

During the month of March, you’ll be asked to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. It can be something Dewey-inspired, like a comic aka graphic novel, a YA novel, a book on feminism, etc. But it can be something else too: poetry, a short story collection, manga, non-fiction, a cookbook, a book on knitting or other crafts, a book on social issues, a play, a horror book, fantasy, sci-fi, a collection of fairy tales or a fairy tale retold…you decide. It’s not mandatory that you have never ever read a book of the kind you pick before…all I’m asking is that you pick something that is still mostly new territory for you.

To make things more fun, the Mini-Challenge is going to work in pairs: you sign up using the Mr Linky at the bottom of this post. If you're an even number, you’ll be paired with the person before you; if you're an odd number, with the person after you , like we sometimes did for Weekly Geeks. Then you and your partner will get in touch by e-mail and talk about what type of book you’re thinking of reading. If your partner happens to be an expert in something that is new territory for you, then maybe they could offer some recommendations. If you're both thinking of picking the same type of book, maybe you could read it together.

(If we end up with an odd number of participants, I'll take the last person to sign up as my second partner.)

What you do exactly is up to you and your partner, but there’s a third step necessary for completing the mini-challenge: when you’re done reading your chosen book, you and your partner should collaborate on a wrap-up post. It could be a co-review of the book or books you read. Or it could be interviewing each other about the books you read, about the whole experience, about something else entirely. When you’re done with that, you’ll have completed the mini-challenge.

The Prizes: There will be several giveaways. Some will be open to those who sign up, others only to those who complete the three steps of the mini-challenge. By signing up on the Mr. Linky below, you’ll be entered to win a Calvin & Hobbes collection or a set of two of my homemade boomarks.


Those who complete the mini-challenge will be entered to win a copy of Paper Towns by John Green, a $10 Eco-Libris gift card, and yet more sets of homemade bookmarks.



To recap:
1) Sign up and get in touch with your partner
2) Read one book
3) Collaborate on a post

The mini-challenge will run for the month of March, and it's open to everyone, so you can participate even if you're not doing the Dewey's Books Challenge. Happy reading!

Edit to add: Final Mr. Linky up here.