Are you are looking for ideas and inspirations for your reading life and book journal?
I love a good reading challenge! Especially when my tbr pile is ever-growing and I can never decide what to read next. It’s a fun way to set and accomplish goals for your reading – and who doesn’t love checking things off a list?
This year, I decided one of my goals was to branch out of my comfort zone and diversify my reading list, so these challenges were a great way to help me do that.
I love keeping a reading journal to track my progress and reflect on the books I read. In this post, I’m going to share with you ten reading challenge ideas, along with spreads that you can make in your journal to track them.
And there is a free download to go with it! At the end of this post, you will find a link to download the PDF pintables bundle for each of these challenges. So if you’re like me and can’t draw, don’t worry. Just print these out and pop them in your journal and you’re all set to complete the reading challenges. The printables are US letter size, but you can resize when printing to fit whatever size you prefer.
Table of Contents:
- Alphabet Challenge
- 52 Books in 52 Weeks
- Goodreads Challenge
- Book Bingo
- Genre Challenge
- Color Challenge
- Timeline Challenge
- Geography Challenge
- Diversity Challenge
- Habit-Building
Let’s get into the challenges:
1. Alphabet Challenge
There are two ways you can complete this challenge. For every letter of the alphabet, read a book whose title starts with that letter, or read a book whose author’s name starts with that letter. Write in the title and/or author on each line as you complete them.
2. 52 Books in 52 Weeks
If your goal this year is to read more books, this may be the perfect challenge for you. Challenge yourself to read one book a week for an entire year. Write in the book title on each line as you complete them.
3. Goodreads Challenge
If you are not familiar with the bookish platform, Goodreads, I highly recommend checking it out. Every year they host a challenge for all readers to commit to reading a certain number of books for the year. It’s a really fun way to visually see your progress.
When you add books after you read them, Goodreads will automatically update your progress bar to show you the percentage completed on your goal. Plus, they even show you how many books you are either ahead or behind in order to complete your goal by the end of the year. There are many other cool features on Goodreads and on their challenge. I encourage you to participate in it if you are not already.
I also like to keep a tracker for this in my journal as well. I included two versions of this challenge in the printable, one for 24 books (two per month) and one for us readaholics with 100 books for the year.
4. Book Bingo
This is a fun way to gamify your reading goals. You complete it by reading a book that corresponds to the prompt in each square and then checking them off as you go. I have included a version of this challenge that is already filled out with prompt examples, and a blank one for you to fill in with what you want.
5. Genre Challenge
This is the perfect challenge if your goal is to branch out of your reading comfort zone. Read at least one book in every type of genre. I have included many different types of genres for this challenge and you can color them in or cross them out as you go.
6. Color Challenge
There are a few ways that you can complete this challenge. Either read a book whose cover is predominantly that color, read a book whose title has the color in it, or read a book that has the color featured prominently within the story. I have included both a color and black and white version of this challenge in the printable bundle.
7. Timeline Challenge
There are two ways to complete this challenge. You can either read a book that was written during the specific time period, or read a book whose story is based in that particular time period.
8. Geography Challenge
This is another fun challenge is you want to diversify your reading. There are several ways to complete it. You can read a book whose author is from that region, a book whose setting is in that region, or a book that was originally published in that region. I have done my best to include all of the many regions around the world. I included a world-map outline as well that you can mark as you read. I made every effort to be as accurate and inclusive as possible. But I left a few blank lines for you to fill in with any other additions you’d like to make.
9. Diversity Challenge
Yet another good way to branch out with your reading. You can complete this challenge by reading a book whose author identifies with any of the criteria, a book whose characters identify as such, or a book that discusses any of these relevant themes. I have left a few blank lines that you can fill in with anything else you would like to include.
I have made every effort to be as sensitive and inclusive as possible. I think it is super important to consider other perspectives and learn about other ways of life than our own. My intention with this challenge is to help other readers do just that.
10. Habit-Building
If your primary goal in your reading like is to build a better reading habit, this is the perfect one for you.
One way you can track your reading habits is by keeping a yearly log of how many minutes or how many pages you read each day. I included an example page in the printables bundle for how this would look. Another way is to track your progress on a monthly basis and check off each day that you read.
I hope you found some ideas and inspiration to help you with your reading and book journal! Check out the free download below!
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