Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to read more? You might like to join a reading challenge in 2021. One of the fun things about a reading challenge is sharing what you’re reading with other participants. Many reading challenges offer GoodReads groups or hashtags you can share on social media in order to find other readers tackling the same tasks. Reading challenges invite you to step out of your comfort zone, but also bring people together (virtually!) to share joy in reading. There are tons of reading challenges floating around on the internet, but here are a couple of my favorites:
Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge
This challenge is not for the faint of heart, but if you want to expand your literary diet and challenge yourself to pick up some outside-the-box titles this year, this might be the challenge for you. There are 24 challenge tasks, averaging two for each month of the year. With tasks like “Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read” and “Read a work of investigative nonfiction by an author of color”, this one may really push you outside of your comfort zone. Don’t worry, the Book Riot team will be suggesting titles for each task throughout the year and they have a very active GoodReads group of participants who suggest titles, too. If you decide to try this one, don’t forget that you can use SRCS to request books from libraries throughout Indiana for free.
The POPSUGAR Reading Challenge gives you 50 reading prompts to help you make the most out of your reading year. It’s broken down into 40 “standard” book challenge prompts (like “A book that’s published in 2021” or “A book by a Muslim American author”) and 10 “advanced” prompts to help you tackle your massive To-Be-Read (TBR) list (like “The book on your TBR list that has the ugliest cover”). If you have a long list of books you’ve been meaning to get around to, this might be the challenge for you! And if you don’t already have a long TBR list, you might want to sign up for our Wowbrary emails and get a free list of the books your library has just ordered each week in your inbox. Don’t forget that you can save lists in your online library account, too. Visit our online catalog and click “Log In” at the top right to get started saving lists. You’ll need your library card number (all the numbers on the back of your library card, no spaces) and your PIN number (usually the last 4 digits of your phone number) to log in.
Everyday Reading’s 2021 Printable Reading Log
With just a few fairly easy challenge tasks and plenty of soothing coloring, this one is less of a reading challenge and more of a tool to help you keep track of your reading (and create a beautiful piece of art for your home, if you’re so inclined). If you’re looking to de-stress in 2021, this might be right up your alley. Enter your email and Janssen will send you the free printable 2021 Reading Log, which you can print out in any size that works for you and color as you read. Or color it all at once and add the titles as you go. The visual bookshelves on this reading log are divided into seasons and there are a few challenge prompts for each season (like “A book that takes place somewhere cold” or “A book you’ve never read by an author you love”). I tested it and it’s pretty small if you just print it on a regular piece of paper, so if you want to try this one, I’d recommend making the investment to print it in a large size with a store that does printing.
Are there other reading challenges you like to sign up for? Please share!
