2015 got even more special for books the moment Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched his own reading challenge, and made an fb page, A Year of Books
When he posted on his timeline, "My challenge for 2015 is to read a new book every other week -- with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies.
Thanks again for all of your suggestions, and I'm looking forward to a year of books!" I almost got delirious with joy. What more could a bibliophile ask for, than a modern-day self-made celebrity with a huge following spreading the love of books?
When he posted on his timeline, "My challenge for 2015 is to read a new book every other week -- with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies.
Thank you to all 50,000 of you in our community who gave me suggestions for different challenges.
Many of you proposed reading challenges. Cynthia Greco suggested I read one book a month that another person chooses -- and got 1,900 likes on her suggestion. Rachel Brown, Bill Munns, Marlo Kanipe and others suggested I read the Bible. My friend and colleague Amin Zoufonoun suggested I read and learn everything I can about a new country each week.
I'm excited for my reading challenge. I've found reading books very intellectually fulfilling. Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today. I'm looking forward to shifting more of my media diet towards reading books.
If you want to follow along on my challenge and read the same books I do, I've created a page, A Year of Books, where I'll post what I'm reading. Please only participate in the discussions if you've actually read the books and have relevant points to add. The group will be moderated to keep it focused.
Our first book of the year will be The End of Power by Moisés Naím. It's a book that explores how the world is shifting to give individual people more power that was traditionally only held by large governments, militaries and other organizations. The trend towards giving people more power is one I believe in deeply, and I'm looking forward to reading this book and exploring this in more detail.
I appreciated all of your other suggestions for possible challenges as well. Many of you suggested I give money to help people in need -- and Priscilla and I fully intend to keep doing that through our philanthropic work. We'll have more to discuss there soon. Some of you suggested that I meet a new person every day. That was actually my challenge in 2013. Others suggested I teach a class. I've done that too, and I'd love to do it again and get more involved in education in the coming year.
Post by A Year of Books.
My thoughts on this:
#1. Wow, If Mark Zuckerberg does it, millions on facebook would follow. Now that is called leveraging your "social" networks for a good cause: getting people to read more, learn more, suggest more!
#2 Another book recommendation list. Let me add a few more pages to my to-be-read list.
#3 His first Book club choice: The End of Power by Moisés Naím is selling well, which is an indication of how good an influence a public personality can be, on people. He will surely ge them to read.
#4 He finds books intellectually fulfilling! *all smiles*
For me, this is all good news, what do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
