Saturday, December 26, 2020

Just Read: 2021 Reading Challenge


After looking at over a dozen reading challenges posted online and feeling entirely uninspired, in 2019, I decided I would create my own with categories that don't feel impossible and that could easily be recycled from one year to the next, tweaking occasionally for variety, if I so choose. More importantly, the category prompts won't pigeonhole you into reading the one book that fits but is a book in which you have zero interest, but instead are broad or vague enough to apply to books across a wide spectrum of reading interests. And so was born my (newly renamed for 2021!) reading challenge.

It has far more categories than I will likely ever get to in a single year--there are 100 now and that is officially where I am capping it--but my goal is to check off as many as I can while letting the category prompts inspire the books I choose. I thought I'd share my list with any of my other reader friends who might be interested but haven't found a reading challenge that spoke to them yet--and 2020 was the first year that several people decided to join me! I dare say we had a blast with it, comparing book selections to fill a category and cheering each other on.

I'm not big on rules when it comes to reading, so we'll keep it simple:
**While a single book will certainly apply to more than one category prompt, each book can only be used to fill one category.
**Choose carefully, because once you've placed a book, there's no changing your selection! (I wait to make my final decision until after I have finished reading the book in most cases, to make sure that I know exactly which remaining category prompts will apply. Pro tip: Use the applicable category prompt you believe will prove to be the most difficult to fill, saving the easier ones until the end, as prompts fill up.)
**Category prompt interpretation is up to the person doing the reading. If the fit makes sense to you, you don't need my permission. No one is keeping score. Just let yourself be inspired!
**100 category prompts is a lot, right? The goal isn't to get to all of them--but yay for you, if you do! Rather, it's to get inspired to read with a little bonus challenge of trying to fill as many category prompts as you can. Read as many or as few books as your personal reading style allows. There is no minimum requirement for you to participate and share what you read! The goal is to read as many books as you can and to be inspired by the prompts to choose books that appeal to your reading taste. No one is keeping score of how many you read or judging the books you enjoy. The point is...get this...JUST READ. (Novel idea, yes? And no, I am not sorry about the pun.) And by sharing and following the hashtag, maybe you'll find new books you'll want to read, meet a new book-loving friend, or get into a good discussion about books.
**There is no minimum page requirement for a book to qualify. If it's a book and you finished it in 2021, it counts.
**There is also no deadline to start! Jump in whenever, look over the books you've finished already for 2021, apply them to the categories that fit, share them with us on social media if you like, and join in the fun!
 

Share what you read and which prompt you applied on Instagram and/or Facebook using #JustRead2021Challenge

Happy reading!

  1. A book with several short stories or novellas
  2. The first book in a new-to-you series
  3. A book from a series you've already started
  4. The newest book from a series
  5. A book that's part of a trilogy
  6. A book that is at least 10th in its series
  7. A book with 500 or more pages
  8. A book with 150 pages or less
  9. A book published before 1990
  10. A book you've been meaning to read for at least ten years
  11. A book published in 2020 or 2021
  12. A book someone else raved about or recommended
  13. A book you've been really anticipating
  14. A book you're not sure you'll like but want to try anyway
  15. A book you picked up on a whim
  16. A book you wanted to read last year but didn't get to
  17. A library book
  18. A book you already own
  19. A physical book
  20. An e-book
  21. A book geared toward children, teens or young adults
  22. A mystery or thriller
  23. A memoir or autobiography
  24. A book that is historical fiction
  25. A book that takes place during contemporary times
  26. A non-fiction book
  27. A book set between 1900 and 1940
  28. A book set in your time zone
  29. A new-to-you author
  30. An author you've been meaning to read more by
  31. A longtime favorite author
  32. Written by a woman
  33. Written by a man
  34. Written by an author who is not white
  35. Written by two or more authors
  36. A book with a title or author that is alliterative
  37. A book you hope helps you to learn or grow
  38. A book that teaches you a lesson
  39. A book that is pure brain candy
  40. A book with a one-word title
  41. A book with a two-word title
  42. A book with a four-word title
  43. A book with red on the cover or in the title
  44. A book with orange on the cover or in the title
  45. A book with yellow on the cover or in the title
  46. A book with green on the cover or in the title
  47. A book with blue on the cover or in the title
  48. A book with white on the cover or in the title
  49. A book with black on the cover or in the title
  50. A book with a TITLE containing a color not listed above
  51. A book with clothing on the cover or in the title
  52. A book with food on the cover or in the title
  53. A book with a beverage on the cover or in the title
  54. A book with a utensil, weapon, or tool on the cover or in the title
  55. A book with a season in the title
  56. A book with a holiday as a theme or in the title
  57. A book with a place in the title
  58. A title that mentions something found in nature
  59. A book with some form of water on the cover or in the title
  60. A title that mentions some form of weather
  61. A book where the title or the cover includes something you find in the sky
  62. A book that has a day of the week in the title
  63. A title with a number in it
  64. A book with a question mark in the title
  65. A title that includes an animal
  66. A book with a dog or cat on the cover
  67. A book with any animal that is NOT a dog or cat on the cover
  68. A title that includes a person's name
  69. A book with a person on the cover
  70. A book with a body part on the cover or in the title
  71. A book with ONLY words on the cover
  72. A book with a cover that makes you want to read it
  73. A book that takes place in a different country
  74. A title that starts with the word 'a' or 'an'
  75. A title that starts with the word 'the'
  76. A title with the word 'and' or 'or' 
  77. A book with a type of building on the cover or in the title
  78. A book with a window or a door on the cover
  79. A book with a piece of furniture on the cover
  80. A book with a type of transportation on the cover
  81. A title with a directional reference (north, down, left, under, etc)
  82. A title that mentions sound in some way
  83. A title that mentions time in some way
  84. A title that includes an action or activity
  85. A title that mentions an emotion or feeling
  86. A book with something related to reading on the cover or in the title
  87. A book that references music on the cover or in the title
  88. A female leading character
  89. A male leading character
  90. A title that references a profession
  91. A book with a title or author that includes the name of a month
  92. A book with a title that made you want to read it
  93. A title that references royalty/nobility
  94. A title with a familial connection in it
  95. A book you expect to make you think
  96. A book you expect will make you laugh
  97. A book of your choice
  98. Author whose first or last name contains exactly four letters
  99. A book with flowers on the cover or in the title
  100. A book with more than one storyline from different time periods

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