My Public Reading Challenge Awakened a Community I Didn't Know I Had
By: Albert Williams
Photo by Tamarcus Brown on Unsplash
At the beginning of 2019, I challenged myself to read 36 books before year-end. Out of fear that I would discard this plan like the ones to limit sugar and drama in my life, I made the announcement on social media. God knows people already think they are majority shareholders in my life, so why not use them to keep me accountable in this task?
My initial post was met with a mixed bag of reactions.
“Where will you find the time?”
“Awesome, please keep us posted.”
“You got this, Albert!”
This reading challenge has introduced me to many new writers, new worlds and characters. I also had an Oprah ahhha-moment. I’ve long known that reading facilitates self-discovery, and an escape into spaces we may never experience in actuality, but I can also testify that reading builds community.
The first book, My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite, was a Christmas gift from my sister. It is a crafty novella about an enabling Nigerian woman and her younger sibling whose boyfriends all end up dead. Interesting gift, right? I believe my sister is trying to initiate a conversation. As her only brother, she is reminding me that I have duties to perform and so I say to her, “Girl, I have your back”, but we digress. I was able to finish this book within two days, reading in transit to work and during my lunch hour breaks. Any doubt I had that I would own this challenge, melted away. 36 books over 12 months now felt like a modest number. I posted my progress on social media and it was met with jubilant responses. The challenge was real and they were in for the ride; one down, 35 to go.
I quickly fell into a routine; order online, a book a week, update my social media base. Within two months, messages started popping up in my DMs. Friends shared books they bought to do more reading, having been inspired by my posts. Friends checked in if a week had gone by without an update on the challenge. A friend who had recently become a mother requested recommendations of black authors for children’s literature. Friends requested more information about a book I had posted. Friends requested to borrow a recently completed book. I even received books in the mail from friends who had secretly asked my partner for our address. None of this was my intention. None of this I saw coming. Yet, a little community had formed and I was the mayor. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fuel for the journey.
Somehow my co-workers see reading in the lunchroom as an invitation for conversation. My initial annoyance grew into an amazement with how much I learned about my colleagues who willingly shared their reading habits and those of their family members. After 5 years of employment, I am having first conversations with some members of staff who check in to ask, “What are you reading today?” Other bits of information get slipped in and suddenly I am close friends with Jane Doe in accounting. I have been handed gift cards to book stores by colleagues and have had books left on my desk with a note, “You will love this!” There is a mounting pressure to start a book club in the office. Listen, this was not a part of the target I set out in January, but it has been heartwarming to experience.
I am almost done reading my 36th book. I feel a sense of accomplishment that I stayed the course and was able to finish within two months of my goal. However, this victory is not mine alone as I formed a community filled with cheerleaders along the way.
*****
My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel By Oyinkan Braithwaite
2019. Anchor; Reprint edition. 240 Pages. Paperback. $10.49
Albert Williams is a lover of books and the world they offer up to him. As a former teacher of English, he is passionate about introducing people to the joys of reading.
