Announcing the 2021 READ YOUR BOOKSHELF CHALLENGE – a reading prompt for every month of the year
Last year’s Read Your Bookshelf Challenge was such a hit I knew I needed to bring it back for 2021!
This is a low pressure reading challenge with reading prompts for every month of the year.
Plus, is a reading challenge any good if it doesn’t include a book giveaway? (I think not, so my reading challenges always include giveaways.)
You can watch the announcement video below for info on what the prompts are for each month, I also suggest two books I would recommend as well as the book I would read for that prompt if I was choosing right now.
Continue reading on for more details plus the full details on how to enter the giveaway.
Oh, and if you like bookish things, make sure you are signed up for my book-ish newsletter as well as subscribed to my book-ish channel over on YouTube.
You can also head over to my prompt generator website, Hey Reader, to keep track of the books you are reading for the year.
MONTHLY PROMPTS
January
a “home-ish” word in the title
Take this general idea and run with it, the book examples I gave in the announcement video had the words Room, Doors and Mirror.
February
red on the cover or spine
This one is pretty easy. In honor of Valentine’s day we’re going to make sure our book looks festive for the season.
March
recommended by a friend
If you have a friend that keeps recommending books to you, this is the time to read them. Like I mentioned in the video, I have one book in particular in mind for this prompt, if I haven’t read it at this point I need to.
April
five or more words in the title
This one is semi-difficult but there are lots of good options out there!
May
a book you should have read before graduating high school
I feel like there are so many books in this category and I was pretty much assigned none of them in school so I have lots of options!
June
an animal on the cover
A pretty straight forward prompt but I’m curious to see what everyone picks for this one!
July
a book that starts with the first letter of your first name
Once again, apologies to those who will have a harder time with this challenge. I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be until I started looking for books that start with C and I know that’s not even the most difficult letter out there. Maybe this will push you out of your comfort zone and you’ll find a really good book you didn’t expect.
August
a book in a series
One of my goals for 2021 is to finish some of the series’ I’ve started so that’s totally why this prompt is here.
September
a translated book
This was also harder than I was originally expecting but I did share a few options in the video. This is another one of those prompts where I am really curious to see what people choose!
October
set in a different country than your own
This prompt comes curtesy of my ten year old daughter. I think this is a fun prompt because I like reading books set in a variety of different countries.
November
has a night scene on the cover
This prompt is thanks to my seven year old son. I was actually surprised at how easy it was to find books that fit this one, the ones I shared in the video cover a variety of genres.
December
a winter scene on the cover
Of all the times to mood read I feel like December is the month. For me this means snow and snowflakes and all things cold but if you live in the southern hemisphere feel free to adapt it to your climate during this month.
Giveaway Details
This is the part you are all here for, isn’t it?
Let’s talk about the fun giveaway details!
So, once again, I will be giving away a $100 book-ish* gift certificate at the end of the reading challenge!
*After I pick a winner we’ll discuss which online book company they want me to buy them a $100 gift certificate to.
This giveaway is open worldwide!
You can enter the giveaway once a month, you’ll just need to fill out the form below!
Thanks so much for joining in!!!
I think this is a wonderful challenge, interesting and easily doable. I’m going to give it a go! Here’s to 2021📚
Sweet, I am glad you are joining in!
I LOVE this idea! I just came across your YouTube last week, and immediately decided to play! I shared the link and a description within my company’s online bookclub, so I am hoping you get some new fans from that group of 100+ as well.
I even looked up your 2020 challenge, and just started reading Mrs. Jeffries and the Merry Gentlemen… a very Christmas-y theme given the name and the cover image with a wreath on the door & the tree visible in the foyer. Thank you for the inspiration.
Looking forward to reading your blog, and following along with the challenge videos. 🙂
Hi Lindsay, I’m so glad you are here! Thank you so much for sharing my video with your company’s book club, I really appreciate that!
I am really excited about the challeneges in general because it will prompt me to read outside of my normal comfort zone. I think one I am really looking forward to is May. I look back and realize I didn’t put much effort into the books they had us read and I mostly skimmed them. I have a list a mile long that would fit this category 🙂
I am really glad I stumbled upon this on Pinterest 🙂
I am so glad you stumbled across my reading challenge! I honestly think I will get a lot more out of the high school reads books now as an adult than I would have as a teenager. I’m really looking forward to that month!
Can we read non-fiction?
Thanks,
Laurie
Absolutely you can!
I’m in! I forgot to comment earlier this month, but I’ve already read my first book a couple weeks ago! Thanks for hosting it, and I loved some of your monthly suggestions in the video. I will probably use you as my “recommended by a friend” in March since I don’t have friends who are readers, unfortunately.
I’m so glad to have you join in for the challenge! That’s too bad that you don’t have any in-person reader friends, but I hope you like whichever recommendation of mine you choose from the video!