For the past four years, the American Historical Association has sponsored a Summer Reading Challenge. Each year, there are a series of prompts, of which participants are challenged to complete at least three.
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| The Summer Reading Challenge |
Here are my goals:
- Read an edited collection, journal forum, or other multiauthor work: the Medieval Academy of America Centennial Issue in Speculum, 100:1 (2025).
- Read a history that’s been sitting on your shelf too long: Practicing History by Barbara Tuchman (New York, 1982) Also has the advantage of being an anthology: easy to pick up and put down in times of distraction.
- Read a piece of historical fiction (novel, story, poem, play): The Women in the Wall by Julia O'Faolain. Possibly the only novel on Saint Radegund in existence; certainly the only one I know of where the sixth-century poet Venantius Fortunatus is a main character.
Now I only need to remember not to pack these books away! I'm completing a major international move this summer, godwilling, so I'm not convinced I'll manage any of this, but it's always fun to try.
As I've done in the past, here are my personal rules for the challenge for 2025:
- No buying books! I must either borrow or own the books I read.
- Read in whatever format is possible: print, PDF, ebook--whatever works. In the past I've insisted on print but not this year.
- Write one post about what I read by the end of the challenge (1 September).
