Q&A: A New Year’s Book Challenge in Poland
In 2016, Mikołaj Więckowski wants to read 104 books and write 104-word reviews of each one.
This year, Mikołaj Więckowski had a different kind of New Year’s resolution: the Manifest 104 challenge. He decided that in the 52 weeks of this year, he was going to read 104 books and write an 104-word post on Medium about each one.
Więckowski, 21, is from Kraków, Poland. He’s an American studies student and works in journalism. I spoke to him about his project and how it’s going so far.
Why did you decide to do this project?
At the end of 2015, I closed my blog where I had been writing for more than three years, so I was looking for a new project. I also love reading, and the more books I buy, the more I’m afraid that I’ll never actually get the chance to read them all. That’s why I decided to challenge myself: to speed up the reading process.
This project is actually my New Year’s resolution. I saw that a lot of people wanted to read 52 books in 2016. That’s not a big deal for me, so I’ve decided to raise the bar. And that’s how Manifest 104 was born. At first I was afraid that I wouldn’t make it, but now I’m almost certain that reaching the goal won’t be a problem for me.
What is your favorite book so far and what is the book you can’t wait to read?
So far I’ve read 26 books, and my favorite one among them is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It’s a thick volume, which I’ve been mostly reading in 2015, but I finished it shortly after New Year’s Eve. The thing I liked about is that it combines an interesting plot with a kind of political manifesto. I’m sure not everyone would agree with Rand’s beliefs (I don’t agree with all of them as well), but I think that some ideas in her book are really compelling.
There are a lot of books I can’t wait to start reading! They’re all waiting on my reading list, but sometimes I buy something new and it goes straight to the top of my list. As of now, I definitely want to finish The Witcher series, two Houellebecq’s novels, read one of the Steinbeck’s novels and a few non-fiction books, especially on architecture and U.S. history.
What do you like about Medium?
I love the idea of creating valuable content that brings users together. Medium’s tools are much better than the ones provided by other blogging platforms. And I love the minimal UI, since it helps to emphasize the content.
Follow Więckowski’s progress (in Polish) on Manifest 104.
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