Book Challenges to Boost Your Reading Goals—Popular Ideas and How to Create Your Own!
From prompts to DIY ideas, here’s how to make reading more exciting and crush your goals this year!
Whether you want to read more of your to-be-read (TBR) list, read more of the books you own, or get out of your comfort zone with a new genre, book challenges are here to help. While Goodreads and Storygraph encourage you to track the number of books you read for a year, other challenges, including those created by PS, formerly PopSugar, and Libro.fm, feature fun prompts and thought-provoking ideas to help you reach your reading goals.
You can also create challenges based on your interests. Perhaps you want to read one book that starts with every letter of the alphabet or pick up a novel set in every state. No matter the challenge, the goal is to make reading more exciting. Keep scrolling to discover popular reading challenges and how to make your own.
Popular book challenges
When you’re unsure what kind of reading challenge suits you, it’s best to start with the basics. Think about what you want to accomplish with the reading challenge: Do you simply want to read more books of any genre? Or are you looking to explore formats and genres outside your norm? Maybe you’re looking for something else entirely. In any case, once you have an idea, you can explore different book challenges. Here, a few favorites to help get you started:
Goodreads or Storygraph
If you’re a book lover (like me!), you’re likely using Goodreads or Storygraph to keep track of the books you read for the year. You can set a goal on both platforms for how many books you plan on reading and log them as you finish.
Storygraph also has tracking features for how many pages you want to read or hours you want to listen to if you prefer audiobooks. These apps can also help with the challenges below, as they have lists of books for specific prompts.
PS reading challenge
The PS, formerly PopSugar, reading challenge, which has been running for 11 years, features 40 regular and 10 advanced prompts that readers can try to complete over the course of the calendar year.
For 2025, the PS team tapped into their followers’ creativity to help round out the list. Some of the prompts are also topical. For example, one prompt is to read a book about soccer in anticipation of the World Cup. This year’s challenge theme is transformation, which is reflected in some of the prompts, including a book in which the main character is going through menopause or changes careers.
You can print out the complete list of prompts and the PS field guide to take notes or jot down thoughts after reading. And if you need inspiration for titles, you can always join the Ultimate PS Reading Challenge group on Goodreads.
Book Riot Read Harder challenge
Like the PopSugar challenge, the Book Riot Read Harder challenge is in its 11th year. This challenge comprises 24 tasks (an average of two per month) and encourages readers to explore new formats, genres and perspectives.
How you approach the challenge is up to you: You can read one book per task or apply the same title to multiple tasks. Tasks include reading a standalone fantasy book and a nonfiction book about the environment or nature. Need a recommendation? Sign up for the Read Harder Newsletter and find lists of titles, plus community suggestions.
Audiobook challenges
Prefer to listen to books? There are plenty of audiobook challenges to boost your reading habits and goals. Plus, you can complete any of the prompts above on audio. If you’re an Audible member, the app offers awards once you’ve completed certain challenges. These usually change monthly, depending on your reading. For example, you might be a bronze, silver or gold reader based on how many days or hours you read.
Libro.fm (an Amazon alternative for audiobooks) has also created a challenge for 2025. This one includes 24 prompts, with tasks such as listening to a collection of short stories or an anthology, listening to a banned book or rereading one of your favorite books in audio format. The complete list of prompts is on the website, and links to book recommendations for each prompt are provided.
Create your own reading challenge
The best part about participating in reading challenges is reading books you enjoy. If none of the prompts from the aforementioned challenges work for you, why not create your own? You can make prompts based on your favorite movie tropes, inspiration from your favorite song or artist, or anything else that will excite you!
As a book lover and a Swiftie, I’m trying to read books with Taylor Swift lyrics in the book title or books that remind me of a certain song of hers. Conversely, my boyfriend knows all the words to Billy Joel’s hit song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and has made it his mission to read a book about or related to every topic mentioned. Another good thing about DIY book challenges? You don’t have to stick to a one-year timeline; you can complete it anytime.
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