30 Fun Reading Challenges for Adults to Join

One of the best ways to motivate yourself to read “better” is with these fun reading challenges for adults, from a huge variety of themes bound to suit your needs.

A reading challenge is something you can do on your own or with others to meet your reading goals. Whether you want to read more, or differently, committing to a challenge can keep you going when life gets in the way. It can also help you decide what to read next.

When it comes to reading challenges for adults, I think it’s important to question what you are looking to get out of it at the end of the day: More pages? More diversity? A community of likeminded people?

It’s also important to PUSH yourself outside your comfort zone — it’s called a “challenge” for a reason!

Below are 30 reading challenges for adults you can join now (including The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge I host for fans of Gilmore Girls!)

Keep reading to find one or more that works best for YOU!

Fun Reading Challenges for Adults

Below are more details about the most popular reading challenges for adults mentioned above to help you decide which one or ones is best for you:

GoodReads Reading Challenge

GoodReads is the prevailing social media platform of the book world. Their reading challenge is best for those who want to track how many books they are reading in a particular year, and exactly which books they read.

This is my fourth year participating in this reading challenge, and I find it so motivating and easy to track my reads throughout the year. And, at the end of the year, they provide you an overview of different statistics like how many pages you read, your shortest book, your longest book, your most popular book, your average rating, and more.

PopSugar Reading Challenge

The pop culture website PopSugar also hosts a popular reading challenge each year. Use their printable checklist to complete up to 50 unique prompts and/or join their groups on Facebook and/or GoodReads to participate.

The StoryGraph Reading Challenge

The StoryGraph is a new online-based reading tracker and quasi-social media platform similar to that of GoodReads. A lot of people like it because it gives you detailed statistics about your reading habits. It also has an entire section devoted to users’ reading challenges you can upload on your own or join. Search keywords or browse categories like genre, geography, books written by Own Voices authors, and so many more.

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

Here on The Literary Lifestyle, each year I host the popular Rory Gilmore Book Club Reading Challenge. Each month, we utilize a general prompt, like “a classic book” or “a book adaptation” and then readers choose pick or picks for the prompt from the full list of 400+ books mentioned on the Gilmore Girls.

We share our reads and book reviews on Instagram @TheRoryGilmoreBookClub, and it’s a great, very engaged group of bookish Gilmore Girls fans. Head on over there and follow us to join! I specifically created easy prompts for the first few months so latecomers can catch up in no time.

Summer Reading Challenge

Each year, when Summer rolls around, a lot of Summer Reading Challenges start popping up. My favorite is always from the blogger Modern Mrs. Darcy, who creates full Summer reading guides.

Read Around the World Challenge / Global Reading Challenge

Or, you can challenge yourself to read books from across the globe to inspire diverse reading, education, and even wanderlust. I created a world reading challenge post to track my own reading across the many countries of the world and, I have got to say, even as an avid reader, it’s shocking how FEW countries about which I have yet to read even one book.

One thing that’s especially great about this kind of reading challenge is that you can perform it over any amount of time, and you can perform it along with other challenges too.

My particular global reading challenge contains a master list of countries you can download and fill in as you read books from various countries.

(Note: I also have a Read Across America challenge post that may interest you.)

Harry Potter Reading Challenge

If you’re new to Harry Potter, now just may be the time to grab a boxed set of the Harry Potter books and commit to reading these tremendously popular novels by December, a very momentous time at Hogwarts school for wizards.

More Fun Reading Challenges for Adults

Below are tons more fun reading challenges for adults that I found across the web from various bloggers, websites, and podcasts. I love how specific they are, so that you can commit to something that really works for you.

Blogger and Website Reading Challenges for Adults

• Libro.fm’s Audiobook Listening Challenge (New monthly subscribers can get 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 with the code LITLIFE)
• Book Riot’s Read Harder 24 Book Reading Challenge
• Beyond the Bookends Monthly Reading Challenge
• Booklist Queen’s 52 Book Reading Challenge
• Uncorked Librarian’s Monthly Travel Themed Reading Challenge
• Never Enough Novels Monthly Romance Book Reading Challenge
• Taleaway’s 52 Book World Reading Challenge
• The 52 Book Club’s 52 Book Reading Challenge
• Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
• Gather Together and Read’s Book to Movie (and TV) Challenge
• Celebrity Reader’s Monthly Diverse Reading Challenge
• Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge
• Tea and Ink Society’s Monthly Classics Reading Challenge
• Book Girls Guide’s Monthly Lifetime Reading Challenge
• The Intrepid Reader’s Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
• The Nerdy Bookworm’s 50 Books a Year Reading Challenge
• Stacked Reviews 20 Book Reading Challenge
• The Introverted Reader’s Southern Reading Challenge
• Bookstacks and Golden Moms A to Z Reading Challenge
• Book Girls Guide’s Decades Reading Challenge

Podcast Reading Challenges for Adults

• Professional Book Nerds 11 Book Reading Challenge
• Unabridged Podcast’s 10 Month Reading Challenge
• Reading Glasses 2022 Reading Challenge
• The Currently Reading Podcast’s Indie Press List Challenge

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Those are 30 of the most fun reading challenges for adults you can join today. Which one or ones will you commit to?

If you are a Gilmore Girls fan, be sure to join me @TheRoryGilmoreBookClub reading challenge by following on Instagram and tackling Rory’s reading list with us.