Finished exams and looking for some productive entertainment so you don’t end up wasting the holiday scrolling and bingewatching? Check out the six reading challenges below, all designed to help you find the motivation you need to read at least 7 books this summer. All you have to do is choose your challenge, choose your books (/plays/poems, etc.), and get reading!
Personal challenge
Read something:
- With your favourite colour in the title
- Featuring a protagonist who shares your first initial
- That a friend or family member has recommended to you
- That you have chosen solely because of its cover (yes, you can judge a book by its cover!)
- Set in a country you have always wanted to visit
- That was adapted into a film or TV show that you have already enjoyed watching
- Written by an author from near(ish) to where you live
Decades challenge
Read something published in the following decades:
- 2020s
- 2000s
- 1980s
- 1960s
- 1940s
- 1920s
- 1900s
Decades challenge (extra challenging!)
Read something published in the following decades:
- 1880s
- 1860s
- 1840s
- 1820s
- 1800s
- 1780s
- 1760s
Genre challenge
Read something from the following genres:
- Romance
- Horror
- Historical
- Bildungsroman (coming-of-age)
- Mystery/crime/detective
- Science fiction/dystopia/fantasy
- Magical realism
Form challenge
Read/watch/listen to literature in the following ways:
- Read a novel
- Read a short story
- Read a poetry collection
- Read a play script
- Watch a play
- Watch a spoken word performance
- Listen to an audiobook
Geographical challenge
Read something by a writer from the following continents:
- Asia
- North America
- South America
- Africa
- Europe
- Oceania
- You’d be hard pressed to find anything written by an Antarctic author, so instead, why not read a book in translation (i.e. originally published in a foreign language)?
Happy reading!
