If you’re hoping to read more in 2025, starting a challenge can help you keep you on track
Whether it’s joining the gym, finding a new hobby or quitting a bad habit, making New Year’s resolutions is an annual tradition for many.
One enduringly popular resolution is to spend less time in front of a screen and more time reading. But while you may start out January with good intentions, the reality is that more than 90 per cent of New Year’s resolutions will be abandoned in just a few months.
Luckily, there are some simple steps you can take to stay on track with your resolution, including setting yourself realistic goals. For example, if you read no books this year, it probably isn’t a good idea to aim for 100 books next year – despite how easy BookTok makes it look.
Instead, try to set yourself some realistic goals. If you’re in need of some inspiration, here are some reading challenges you could try in 2025.
1. Alphabet reading challenge
As the name suggests, the aim of the alphabet book challenge is to read a book starting with each letter of the alphabet. Don’t worry, as ‘A’ and ‘the’ don’t count if they’re at the start of the book’s name, so for C, you could choose ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’.
You can select all of your books at the start of the challenge, or choose them as you go.
2. Complete a series
Alternatively, you could start smaller and choose a series you want to finish by the time 2026 comes around. This is a really flexible challenge, and you could choose to read a series of any length.
For a hit of nostalgia, you could even go back and re-read one of your past favourite series. Think J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter or George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.
3. Read everything by an author
Similarly, you could pick an author and work your way through their books. Popular authors on Goodreads and BookTok include Sarah J. Maas, Rebecca Yarros, Ali Hazelwood and Emily Henry, but any author will do the trick.
4. Read around the world
The read around the world challenge involves picking a country each month and then reading one or more books by authors from that country.
The idea is that you will hopefully read outside of your comfort zone and find new genres and authors that you want to explore more.
5. The 52 book challenge
If you’re a quick reader and fancy a bigger challenge, the 52 book challenge involves reading 52 books over the course of the year, averaging one a week.
You can either do this yourself, or you can take part in the official 52 book challenge, which involves finding books based on 52 prompts. Last year’s challenge featured prompts like a book with a sticker on the cover, a book with a yellow spine and a book featuring a wedding.
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