I had a poor reading year in 2015, managing to complete only 28 books of a goal of 40. But this year I should have more time to read, so I’ve once again challenged myself to read 40 books this year on Goodreads. I set and exceeded that goal in 2013 and 2014, so I’m pretty confident I can achieve it this year as well.
The only feature of the Goodreads challenge is the number of books you plan to read. If you’re looking for a more structured challenge that will expand your reading horizons, here are three:
The 2016 Reading Challenge
Modern Mrs. Darcy challenges you to “read 12 books in 12 different categories in 12 months.” Her challenge includes the following categories:
- a book published this year
- a book you can finish in a day
- a book you’ve been meaning to read
- a book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller
- a book you should have read in school
- a book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, child or BFF
- a book published before you were born
- a book that was banned at some point
- a book you previously abandoned
- a book you own but have never read
- a book that intimidates you
- a book you’ve already read at least once
Modern Mrs. Darcy also offers you some free downloadable forms to help you track and complete the challenge, including a list of these categories and a reading journal (look for a link in the right sidebar).
Take 2016’s Ultimate Reading Challenge!
Macy Williams at PopSugar also has a challenge designed to “help you read a variety of books this year.” Her list of categories is a bit longer than Modern Mrs. Darcy’s, so I’m not going to reproduce the whole list here. But you can download a printable list of the categories and check each one off as you complete it.
The 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
This challenge has 24 tasks, which means you’ll have to complete two a month to finish by the end of 2016. As with the previous two challenges, you can download and print a list of the categories.
There’s also a Read Harder group on Goodreads, and you can “check in all over social media with the hashtag #ReadHarder.” You even have the opportunity to participate in a live Read Harder book group if you live in one of these cities:
- HOUSTON
- NEW YORK CITY
- PHILADELPHIA
- LOS ANGELES
- CHICAGO
- GLASGOW
- BOSTON
- WASHINGTON, D.C.
If you need help finding books to fulfill all the categories, there’s a link here to a list of recommendations from the New York Public Library.
You might be able to find some suggestions for these challenges from 32 New Books To Add To Your Shelf In 2016, which covers new releases through May.
