Australian Readers’ Challenge

I’ve been considering whether or not to do the Australian Readers’ Challenge. It’s a pretty simple challenge – you pay a $5 registration fee, then pick and read ten books from their suggested reading lists and send a completed reading list in when you’re done (by 1 September 2006) in return for a participation certificate, signed by Ian Thorpe.

Seeing as it only costs $5 to participate, and the number of books you need to read is small, I am probably giving it a little too much thought – I should just do it. My hesitation is due to the fact that I have already read many of the books listed and I’m lazy! Yes, I’m lazy, I keep wondering if I can just cheat and choose ten titles and say I’ve done it. It’s pathetic, isn’t it? And no, I’m not considering cheating just because of the Ian Thorpe certificate (I don’t actually care about that part, no, I am not a fan of the Thorpedo) – it’s sheer laziness. I can’t be bothered to reread titles I have already read (it would be simple, because I own most of the ones I have already read), nor can I be bothered to go and search out the titles listed that I haven’t read.

I can’t come up with any reason other than sheer laziness. I mean, would it be so bad to find and read the following titles? Out of the list of titles for adults, I haven’t read these:

1. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail
2. Down Under by Bill Bryson
3. Youth by J.M. Coetzee
4. Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
5. Hard Times by Charles Dickens
   
6. Romulus, My Father by Raimond Gaita
7. Joe Cinque’s Consolation by Helen Garner
8. Bone People by Kerry Hulme (have this one)
9. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
10. The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead (and this one)

And so what if I have to chase down the titles I don’t own? I work in a library, for pity’s sake! And in any case, I buy a book a week, on average – I could buy the books I want to read.

Ok, I am being pathetic. I’ll go and sign up RIGHT NOW. It’s for a good cause.

Note: [16 April 2006] I’ve signed up, and am now reading The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead.

Categories: AustralianReadersChallenge