If I were a normal person, I would stick to one reading challenge. But since I’m not, and I read a lot, and I am open to counting the same book on multiple challenges, here we are. I usually attempt at least two or three challenges every year. This year, it’s four. This is also the first year I’m actively posting about them, and I’m going to try to update with the selections I’ve finished about once a quarter. If you are working toward any of these challenges and need ideas, maybe this will help (or ask in the comments if there’s a prompt you’re having difficulty with, and I probably have at least one suggestion).
Girlxoxo Monthly Keyword Challenge
Girlxoxo hosts several yearly reading challenges (and also compiles a hella long master list of challenges others are doing, which I appreciate), but I love the monthly keyword one the best. For each month, they give a list of words, and you choose a book that has one of those words (or some variation of it) in the title. I’ve done ok keeping up with them so far (technically, I didn’t finish January’s book until early February, but whatever).
- January – Wintering by Katherine May (keyword – winter)
- February – Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (keyword – love)
- March – The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh (keyword – beautiful)
Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge
This challenge actively encourages you to count the same book toward multiple prompts, but I read enough that I usually end up with multiple selections for a prompt, particularly after following the discussions in the Goodreads group and reading Book Riot’s suggestion lists. I haven’t finished a lot of them, but I have a plan for all but one of the prompts (if you have different reading tastes than I do and want to recommend a book to me, that would help). If you want a challenge that not only encourages you to try new genres but also mercifully gives you plenty of recommendations, this is a good one.
- Read a book set in a bookstore – Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
- Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character – Loveless by Alise Oseman
- Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author – Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge
The 52 Book Club can also help you get out of your comfort zone when choosing new books to read, but they consider it cheating if you use the same book for a different prompt (but also, no one’s checking up on you, so…do what you want). They also offer a lot of resources, though, to give you choices and diversify your reading. I’ve read books that fulfill quite a few of these prompts already (which is good, since there are 52 of them).
- Featuring a library or bookstore – Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
- Title starting with the letter “E” – Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
- Chapters have titles – The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
- A non-fiction bestseller – How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith
- Involving the art world –The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
- A book that sparks joy – The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
- A book based on a real person – A Match to the Heart by Gretel Ehrlich
- Includes a club – Loveless by Alise Oseman
- A five-syllable title – Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- An unlikely detective – Away With the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood
- Author with x, y, or z in their name – Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
- Addresses a specific topic – Pure by Linda Kay Klein
- Has an “author’s note” – The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
- Recommended by a favorite author – Noor by Nnedi Okorafor (Roxane Gay’s Literati selection for January)
- A book with photographs inside – The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan
- Book title that starts with the same letter as your first name – Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (alternatively, Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson, if we’re going with my legal first name)
- A person of color as the main character – Dial “A” for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
This is the one that I find most challenging, as evidenced by the fact that I don’t even have plans for most of the prompts yet, much less completed reads. This probably has something to do with choosing it last of the four. It wasn’t even on my radar until February. Of course, they have suggestions listed right there on the challenge page, so it is likely that I will end up reading a lot of their recommendations. Book recommendations are the main reason I follow their site, so that tracks. I’m branching out with a few of them, though.
- A book with a character on the ace spectrum – Loveless by Alise Oseman
- A book you can read in one sitting – Epilogue of an Epitaph by ACF Bookens
- A book about a secret – Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
- A book with a misleading title – How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell (as it’s actually about how to do a lot of things – the important things – by saying no to imperialistic nonsense)
- A book featuring a man-made disaster – Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
I usually start off pretty slowly with reading challenges and then pick up speed about mid-summer. So I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made thus far.
Are you participating in any of these (or other) challenges? If so, which ones?
M. Suzanne Terry 
Leave a Reply