The Master Hang
I read books of all kind, but this year I was inspired to pick up the "No Dudes Allowed" reading challenge from Lilit Marcus. I have a very long list of books that I want to read by all sorts of people, but I think this challenge with be fun and I hope to share my experience.
The Rules and The Guidelines...
For the "No Dudes Allowed" or, if you rather, "All Female Authors" Reading Challenge.
As I have mentioned before, this challenge will be a test of self-discipline. These conditions were not made by Lilit Marcus, I come up with them so that they can help me keep prioritize my reading. Since I want to step out of my comfort zone and expose myself to different perspectives and worldviews, it's fair if I try not to read about the same basic argument over and over again.
The items under "Rules" are the conditions that I have to absolutely follow, where as the items under "Guidelines" are conditions I will try to follow to the best of my ability and they can be subjected to change over time.
Rules:
1. No books by male authors. (If it wasn't obvious enough.)
2. No comic books or manga by male authors. (This will be a huge obstacle to face since the mainstream comics are almost-all written by men. I saw a few comics by women, but not a significant number; even in the indie-comics scene, men seem to have more work out than women. I don't have to worry too much about manga, because I actually enjoy some Shoujo and I know there are a few really good non-Shoujo series by women.)
3. School-assigned readings are an exemption, because I want to pass English.
Guidelines:
1. No less than 40 books.
2. Don't go re-reading stuff to go through the minimum 40 books faster. (This won't be followed very well, because I love Jane Austen. But it's a good rule of thumb for picking out totally new books and I plan on exceeding 40 anyway.)
3. There's a library nearby (three actually) and a bookstore (not-so-near, but close enough), I don't have an excuse not to be reading except for when studying for AP Exams.
4. Take a break once in a while. (I already started a pile of Chick Lit, and I am not ashamed. Not even of the fact that I included Meg Cobat's The Princess Diaries.)
5. Finish at least one series/trilogy.
6. Included books by LGBT authors.
7. Choose books with different perspectives.
8. Balance Non-fiction and Fiction, as well as the amount of Non-fiction about whites
9. Reading spoilers of male-authored books/comics is okay.
This is all I'm going by for now. After I finish The Devil Wear Prada by Lauren Weisberger, I plan on reading The Chinese in America by Iris Change (author of The Rape of Nanking).