One of the highlights of my childhood was going to our public library with my own library card and signing up for the summer reading challenge. Admittedly, I had grand goals of filling in all those lines. I did read. A lot. I just don't know that I ever filled in every line.

I might not reach this personal summer challenge either. But, I'm going to get it a good ol' college try as my youngest gets ready to head off for college. Now that I'm no longer home educating my children, I think I probably have a bit more time to keep up my self-learning. Here (drum roll) is my personal challenge:

I am going to attempt to double my current monthly reading goal. On average, I read three to four books per month. I will shoot for seven, knowing there might be some books that carry over into the next month.

I encourage anyone reading this post to create a summer reading challenge starting today, June 6 through September 7 (Labor Day).

Maybe it is only one book per month. Maybe it is only one book. (I can think of a few books that could take more than a summer to read!) Maybe choose an author and read his or her entire catalog. Maybe pick a series. Maybe include your family and read books together. Maybe include a friend or two and start a summer book club.

Whatever the challenge, pick up that book and read.