Dagna Jezioro is a Grade 11 boarding student at Trinity College School who recently completed a unique reading challenge – reading 52 books in 52 weeks. Reflecting on this, Dagna says, “I’m relieved that it’s over but I’m so happy that it happened. I knew I was testing my limits and am glad to know it was possible.”

Dagna recently sat down with Senior School librarian Shelagh Straughan (in a Zoom room) to talk about her experience. Below, Ms. Straughan summarizes their discussion:

The obvious question - why? 

It seems that the challenge was an experiment of sorts. Dagna didn’t really expect it to actually happen or to continue for so long! Having fallen out of the reading habit and finding herself wasting too much time, Dagna thought aiming to read a book a week during 2021 could be fun. The timing was fortuitous; it turned out to be a welcome distraction during the pandemic. Once she started, she realized that she hadn’t thought it through; the beginning was challenging to the point that she didn’t think she could stick with it. Perhaps starting with a 700+ page book was a poor choice!

Overall, while she didn’t think she would make it through the full year, it turned out to be “a great way to discover my interests and see what books I like.” Dagna didn’t tell many people about the challenge for fear she would fail; then because she didn’t want to look like she was bragging. Good thing her librarian is here to do the bragging for her!

Print, ebook and/or audio?

Certainly not audio; “a big NO for me!” Dagna says. She prefers reading in print (borrowed from friends or school library) or on her Kindle (great for highlighting and taking notes. While she does appreciate the accessibility of ebooks, she says, “I really wish I could get all my books in print so that I could have this huge library one day. That’s the dream.”

Have you always been a keen reader?

Dagna remembers reading “so, so much” in Grades 4-6. Like other tweens and teens, she fell away from reading for a few years, and thinks that technology may have been a distraction. Realizing how much she missed reading, Dagna used this challenge as a way to find time to read and to discover new books.

How did you choose your books?

Dagna started by reading some old favourites such as The Land of Stories, imagining her younger self and remembering how much she loved certain books. She then moved on to recommendations, finding that everyone was happy to answer “what book did you really like?” It turned out to be a great way of connecting with people. She also kept lists of books she wanted to read for reference.

How did you track your reading?

Dagna numbered lines from 1 to 52 in a journal and added titles as she finished them, also noting page count and a rating out of 10. The highest rating was The Book of Joy (week 25) at 9.8; the lowest rating was We Were Liars (week 3) at 3 (“over-hyped!” in Dagna’s view). The most represented genre on the list was psychology (5-7 titles). She also read a few biographies and autobiographies, noting, “I never expected to like them this much,” but that they’ve become her favourite genre.

Did it go as expected?

Dagna found her groove after the rough start. Her key to success was making the most of all available time; between classes, during flex, after school and before sports. “It got really hard when school started back on campus last September – I had to really schedule my time.” After a while it became a habit; it didn’t feel like homework, it was just second nature. She found it interesting that some people thought the weekly challenge meant that she was limited to shorter books, but that wasn’t the case – she just had to plan carefully for longer titles.

Other than the joy of reading and knowledge gleaned from the books you chose, do you have an overall takeaway from this experience?

“I have so much more time than I thought I had!” Dagna notes. And she was surprised to discover that she really loves longer books because you get completely immersed in a story (both fiction and non-fiction): “Reading is transformative…you take experiences from your own life and put them into another life. Reading 52 books is like living 52 lives.”

Any tips for someone thinking of taking on a similar challenge? 

Make reading a habit, Dagna suggests: “it became something in the back of my head telling me to ‘go read’!” There will rarely be time to read – you need to make it happen.

---

Shelagh Straughan is the Senior School librarian at TCS. She does not share Dagna’s disdain for We Were Liars (which she thought was a well-constructed YA mystery with an excellent twist), but does take complete responsibility for making Dagna “sob uncontrollably” through one of her recommendations, The 100 years of Lenni and Margot.