Reading Challenge - May: "Sport and Recreation."

*Ahem*
"Oh, yes, with ever changing sports,
We whiled the hours away;
The skies were bright,
Our hearts were light,
In the merry, merry month of May"¹

In the northern hemisphere they sing songs about May because Spring is when everything starts to warm up after a cold winter and people can finally run about and play sports and games and such. Here in the southern hemisphere, May is the start of Autumn - but seeing as summer in the Tropics is so, well, "tropical", we're also quite fond of May - because the cool change makes it more pleasant to run about and play sports and games and such.

This month's reading challenge is our first foray into the 700s with the theme "Sport and Recreation."

The challenge is (as always) to read as many books as you can that fit the theme - of course, exactly how the books fit the theme is completely up to interpretation.

You could read a book in which people play sport. You could read a book about a particular sport (find a handy list of novels here). You could read a book where people call each other "sport" (Gatsby, I'm looking at you). If you are a sportsy kind of person, you might like to find some drills and exercises for improving your game.

Speaking of "game", let's not forget that "recreation" also includes games. Anyone for chess? Hmm, maybe you'd rather play any board-game other than chess? You might be more into poker.² Are there any gamers out there who feel like programming their own games?

Or maybe you just want to come up with some good ideas for things to do with your Youth Group or class on a rainy day?

Whatever you're reading make sure you find at least a couple of books that match the challenge criteria:

1. At least one fiction book
2. At least one non-fiction book
3. At least one book by an Australian author
4. At least one book by an author you haven't read before.

What's that? You want a bonus challenge for May? Well, how about this:

Read a biography about someone who played a sport you're not personally interested in.

For some of you that might be a pretty big field to chose from, but that's okay, it's always good to get out of your comfort zone.