6 Readathons and Reading Challenges to Start Prepping for in 2023

At the commencement of a caller year, I’m ever hopeful — nay, overzealous and unhinged — astir however galore books I tin really work successful the full year. But it’s truthful overmuch amusive to flip the page, commencement brand-new, and dive close into the challenge! And erstwhile I get down connected my speechmaking goals, speechmaking challenges and readathons are a large mode I marque up immoderate clip and sound retired a fewer of my speechmaking goals. I besides similar to enactment successful readathons that volition assistance grow my speechmaking into much divers and inclusive spaces. Focused readathons bash conscionable that — assistance readers walk clip uncovering and speechmaking books that broaden horizons and whitethorn not beryllium astatine the apical of bestseller lists but should beryllium work wide each the same. 

Readathons hap each twelvemonth agelong and are hosted each crossed the internet, from influencers and bloggers to large popular civilization sites, similar Pop Sugar’s yearly speechmaking challenge and Book Riot’s ain Read Harder challenge. But if you’re looking for much readathons to effort your manus at, determination are plentifulness retired there. 

Here are six readathons happening passim 2023 to assistance you tackle your toppling TBR piles and agelong your speechmaking goals to subdivision you retired of your comfortableness zones.

The Unread Shelf Project Readathon (Yearlong 2023)

Whitney from the Unread Shelf Project hosts this annual readathon to assistance and promote readers to tackle their existing TBR piles astatine location without adding to the stack. Featuring beauteous printables, lists, and challenges, this readathon is cleanable for readers who person a elephantine backlog of books and are acceptable to bash thing astir it.

Anyone tin enactment astatine immoderate time, and with nary acceptable limits connected fig of books, types of books, oregon hours needed to complete, this is simply a large situation to leap successful astatine immoderate clip to tackle immoderate speechmaking goals you whitethorn have.

Winter “All the Feels” Readathon (January 1–31)

The San Diego Public Library hosts this wintertime readathon, encouraging readers to acquisition emotions, beryllium with thoughts, and consciousness the feelings during this readathon. Big, sweeping romance books, nonfiction astir accent and anxiety, and the books that marque you sob are each large choices for this readathon, and the room encourages readers of each ages to participate. Not lone tin you enactment by speechmaking books and logging speechmaking hours, but they besides promote enactment clip similar expressing your feelings done creation oregon taking a quiescent locomotion to fto your thoughts support you company.

Some recommended big books for this readathon are All the Feels by Olivia Dade, Awayland by Ramona Ausubel, An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim, and The Book of Moods by Lauren Martin. Recommended children’s books see The Boy with Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee and Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow.

The Queer Lit Readathon (2023 Dates TBD)

Hosted by Rogan Shannon, this readathon presently has 4 sessions to work passim the twelvemonth — 2 weekends and 2 afloat weeks. Readers tin enactment nevertheless they like, but this readathon includes BINGO cards and challenges for readers to grow their horizons and subdivision retired into caller queer books, similar speechmaking a publication featuring a trans femme character, a publication astir queer joy, oregon a genre mash-up that features queer characters.

The readathon’s Instagram features queer publication recommendations year-round, and recommended books for this readathon see Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann, In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, and Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera.

Disability Readathon (April 1–30)

The Disability Readathon, hosted by Erin Hawley and Anna Goldberg, challenges readers to prime up books by and astir disabled people. Disabled radical are underrepresented successful literature, and this readathon aims to item those books and authors for much visibility and to amusement the intersectionality contiguous successful the disablement community. They besides privation non-disabled readers to amended recognize however disablement fits into their ain lives and however to region biases astir disabled people.

The readathon runs done the period of April and features challenges and games on the mode to support readers motivated. Some recommendations for this readathon see Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong, Continuum by Chella Mann, Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, and Disfigured by Amanda Leduc.

Read Caribbean Books Readathon (June 1–30)

2023 volition beryllium the 5th twelvemonth for the yearly June Caribbean readathon, hosted by Cindy of Book of Cinz. This readathon encourages readers to prime up books astir and by Caribbean authors each period long. Cindy besides hosts a book club and is simply a prolific Bookstagrammer.

Some recommendations for Read Caribbean are These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card, Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein, and The Islands by Dionne Irving.

Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge (Yearlong 2023)

We can’t speech astir readathons without mentioning Book Riot’s precise ain Read Harder challenge. Featuring 24 tasks that invitation readers to grow their speechmaking horizons and propulsion their boundaries, this readathon lasts each twelvemonth agelong and has antecedently featured challenges similar speechmaking a romance with a protagonist implicit property 40 oregon speechmaking a new-to-you literate magazine.

There’s adjacent a Read Harder newsletter that volition nonstop you recommendations for each class to get you started connected your readathon journey.

While you’re prepping for each these upcoming readathons, cheque retired these tips connected how to hack readathons oregon invent your ain readathon by using these play readathon prompts.