10 Reading Challenges

Need some help with those New Year’s reading resolutions? Have you challenged yourself to read more than last year? Maybe you’re stuck in a genre rut? Not to worry, we’ve found ten reading challenges to help you kick off your literary year. Try one of these inspirational reading lists to explore outside your comfort zone and find some new interests.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Travel through time with this historical reading challenge. Run by Passages to the Past this challenge is a great place to find and give recommendations. Depending on your available reading time you can pick different difficulty levels for this challenge. You might even want to organise your reading list by picking a new time period every month.

Read the World Challenge

Explore the world through books with this location based challenge run by The Invisible Mentor. Every month pick a new country in which your weekly reads are set. At least one book a month should be written by an author from that same country. At the end of the year you’ll have experienced twelve new countries without ever leaving home! If you need any recommendations check out TripFiction to find books by location.

Read Through Another’s Eyes – Diversity Challenge

Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a character rut. Broaden your horizons by experiencing new cultures, difficulties, privileges, and perspectives. Platypire is currently setting up a 2018 diversity challenge. On their website you can find themed months with book recommendations. They even have a Facebook page to support writers of diverse stories. Their mission statement is ‘to help you write a whole gaggle of flavours into your book’.

A to Z Challenge

Want to alphabetise your bookshelves? Start with this A to Z reading challenge run by Ginger Mom & The Kindle Quest. Read twenty-six books each starting with a different letter to complete the alphabet. For added fun sign up and take part in twitter parties, read-a-thons, and giveaways throughout the year.

Rainbow Challenge

Liven up your bookshelves with this fun challenge and read the rainbow. Find seven books with covers to represent each colour of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Enjoy the broad options of this challenge while also amassing a nice stack of beautiful books to display on your shelves.

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

This twenty-four task challenge is perfect for adventurous readers, or even picky readers looking to branch out. Dipping in and out of genres, time, formats, and other random criteria this challenge makes for a truly interesting literary year.

POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

This is another random reading challenge. However, this one has fifty tasks! It’s a long list but you can join the Goodreads group with over 13,000 members for support and inspiration as you all work through your impressive to-be-read piles.

Reading Subscription Challenge

Love book mail? Then try a reading subscription. In our interview with Mr B’s we got an inside look into this fun way to find new books. After filling out a questionnaire or having a reading consultation you’ll start receiving a beautifully wrapped mystery book once a month. You can choose different subscription lengths to suit your needs. Learn more here.

Indie Challenge

Support the indie book industry. Select a new book every month from a different independent publisher. Don’t forget to buy these books from an indie bookshop! You can find your local independent bookshop here, or order from your favourite one online.

Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge

Not interested in limiting yourself to a theme or a list? If your only goal is to read more than last year then this simple challenge might be for you. Just log into Goodreads and set a target number of books to read this year. Next December see how you measured up to your target.

Don’t forget, these reading challenges are ultimately for fun and inspiration. If you’re not feeling a certain task or challenge, don’t waste time reading a book you dislike when there are so many more to try!

Do you have a reading challenge to share? Lets us know on Twitter or Facebook @FairlightBooks.