Join the Challenge | Read 20 books by Black Women Authors in 2018

Although we’ve entered the third month of the year, it’s not too late to start a new endeavor for 2018. On their website, The Free Black Women’s Library challenges book lovers to read at least 20 different books by Black women before we ring in 2019.

Reading truly is fundamental. According to Time.com Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, a professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto found that fiction readers “appear to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and view the world from their perspective.”

Fiction deepens our empathy and feeds our soul. In addition, reading can help further your career and teach you more about money. The Huffington Post reports that when asked, Warren Buffett stated that the key to his success was reading. He said, “knowledge...builds up, like compound interest.”

While Buffett ingested 600-1000 pages a day, the Free Black Women’s Library challenges you to read for at least one hour a day to meet the 20 book goal.

What’s really neat about the challenge is that the site provides a list of themes making it both a reading challenge and a fun scavenger hunt. For example the site challenges readers to find and read a book by a Black woman that takes place in their home town. Or how about a book that became a play or a movie. Or a book by a Black woman with a one word title.

To stay connected with others who are taking the challenge, participants are urged to post their progress on social media using these hashtags #TFBWL2018 #TFBWLReadingChallenge #FreeBlackWomensLibrary #BlackWomanBibliophile #BooksbyBlackWomen.

The Free Black Women’s Library is a mobile library founded by Ola Ronke Akinmowo who lives in Bed-Stuy. Akinmowo was recently featured in the Bed-Stuy Patch regarding her work to promote literacy in the community.

*Photo of Elaine Brown’s A Taste of Power by Yaw Asare Aboagye