2025 Reading Challenge
January
Hello and welcome to my 2025 reading challenge.
This challenge is designed to get people reading but it should also be enjoyable.
It's a very laid back reading challenge, which you are welcome to dip in and out of. There’s no need to commit to every month. The word book can be interpreted as audiobook, ebook, article, fan-fiction or whatever you feel up to reading.
The main aim is to get people reading and to provide a gentle online space to talk about books and reading.
I have set a theme or prompt for each month, tenuous links are more than welcome. In fact feel free to disregard them altogether.
Everyone is welcome, especially those who love books but are struggling to read for any reason.
Once upon a time I was that person and it was joining a challenge similar to this that reignited my love of reading and got me out of a reading rut.
I will be facilitating this through my various platforms, but I think it might work quite well through my subscriber chat here on Substack. Each month I will post the theme in the chat and then any discussions for that month can take place by replying to that post.
I will also post on Instagram and my Facebook page, feel free to follow me if you don’t already do so.
Inspiration
In 2019 I took part in a similar challenge. I found that it really kept me motivated and part of the fun was finding books relating to each theme. It was a great way of reading some of the many unread books on my shelves at home.
The challenge also got me reading books that I'd never usually consider. For example, one month the theme was Crime/Thriller and I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I'd picked the book up in a charity shop a few years ago as I thought my husband would enjoy it, but it had sat on my bookshelf unread. Not owning any other crime or thriller books I thought I'd give it ago.
After finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I read the next 2 books in the Millennium Series; The Girl who played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest. Although these were gritty crime novels which at times could be gory and graphic, the attention to detail about the routines of everyday life balanced it out (I’ve never drank so much coffee or eaten so many ham and cheese sandwiches as I did during the weeks I spent reading this series of books).
January
To kick the year off, I thought we could get started by reading a book from our TBR pile. I think this is a great way to start the year! I bet there's at least one book that you've been desperate to read but haven't had the time or opportunity to do so.
Usually I would make some book suggestions for the challenge, but this month it is wide open and anything on your TBR Pile goes. You could choose a book from your physical pile or something from your digital library. Maybe you have a mental wishlist and there’s a book you’d love to read - go on treat yourself!
Anyway I’m off to try and choose something from my own pile, the picture below is just a fraction of the books that are ready and waiting for me to read. Which one do you think I should read first? Personally I think I need to use this challenge as a way of getting through all these lovely books that I have bought, but struggled to find the time to read. It’s also made me realise that I’ve been a bit frivolous in my book buying and that I should probably rein it in a bit this year.
I’d love to know what you plan to read this month, let me know in the comments or join me for some bookish discussions on my subscriber chat.