Ready to diversify your reading this year? Join the best Reading Challenge of 2023 and read a book a week with the Booklist Queen!
Want to up your reading game in 2023? Then I have the ultimate goal for you – The Booklist Queen 2023 Reading Challenge.
Join thousands of others as we read a book a week in 2023. That’s right, this 2023 Reading Challenge has 52 different categories to expand your reading selection.
When I originally launched the reading challenge a few years ago, I worried I would be the only one crazy enough to want to do a 52 book challenge. Oh, I was so wrong.
Since then, I’ve been joined by thousands of readers who are just as crazy as me.
If you feel overwhelmed by 52 categories, don’t worry. It’s okay if you don’t finish the challenge. I want this Reading Challenge for 2023 to be aspirational. I want to push you to read more – whether that’s 12 books a year or 52. I want you to get out of your reading rut and try new genres.
Don’t like one of the categories in the 2023 Reading Challenge? Change it or skip it. Double count a book for multiple prompts. Interpret the prompts any way you like. Do what you want to make this reading challenge your own.
As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.
Enjoy!
Reading Challenge 2023
A Book A Week with The Booklist Queen
1. Winter Read
2. Goodreads Winner in 2022
3. By a Black Author
4. With More Than 500 Pages
5. Published in Your Birth Year
6. Famous Author You’ve Avoided
7. Character with a Disability
8. Fiction & Nonfiction Pairing
9. Fiction & Nonfiction Pairing
10. By a Local Author
11. A Western
12. You Own But Haven’t Read
13. Animal on the Cover
14. Recommended by a Librarian
15. Newbery Award Winner
16. About Royalty
17. Written Before 1850
18. With Dual Timelines
19. Dewey Decimal System: 300s
20. Mother-Daughter Story
21. Empowering Read
22. World War I Book
23. Domestic Thriller
24. 2023 New Release
25. Read with Jenna Book Club Pick
26. A Book Everyone is Talking About
27. Book Becoming Movie in 2023
28. About Complicated Relationships
29. Recommended on TikTok
30. An Audiobook
31. Set in the 1930s
32. Contemporary Fiction Bestseller
33. About Adoption
34. Genre You Don’t Usually Read
35. Title Starts with “A”
36. Set in South America
37. Detective Story
38. About Power
39. 2022 Bestseller
40. By an Author You Love
41. With a Long Title
42. Five-Star Read
43. YA Historical Fiction
44. About Magic
45. A Book That Makes You Happy
46. Award Winning Nonfiction
47. Modern Classic
48. Borrowed from a Friend
49. Red Cover
50. Reread a Favorite
51. Bottom of Your To-Read List
52. Holiday Romance
Sharing on Social Media? Use the hashtag #booklistqueenchallenge23
Free Bookmark
Printable Reading Challenge
While the bookmark is great for Pinterest, it’s way too small to write your book selections on it. I would know because I’ve witnessed my husband try it.
That’s why, exclusively for my newsletter subscribers, I’ve created an awesome printable handout for the 2023 Reading Challenge that has space for all your book selections.
Not a subscriber yet? Just enter your email below to join the weekly newsletter. You’ll stay up to date on the reading challenge, my blog posts, and receive exclusive content just for you. Every week I highlight one of this reading challenge’s prompts with book suggestions just for my favorite readers.
Monthly Challenges
If the full 2023 Reading Challenge feels like to me, you can break it down into monthly segments. Feel free to do the Reading Challenge in order or skip around. If 52 books are too many, just try one of these monthly challenges and do it instead. That’s only 4 or 5 books to read in a year.
Need a little more challenge than that but not ready for the full Reading Challenge 2023? Just pick one category from each month.
Personalize my 2023 Reading Challenge as much as you want. The goal is for you to read more and to have fun doing it!
Read Along with Me
Be sure you don’t miss a thing. Sign up for my weekly newsletter. I’ll keep you up-to-date on the reading challenge, my blog posts, and provide exclusive content just for you. Every week I highlight one of the reading challenge prompts with book suggestions just for my favorite readers. Plus, only subscribers get the printable version of my Reading Challenge 2023 with space to fill in your selections.
Have fun reading in 2023! Be sure to let me know what books you pick for the 2023 Reading Challenge.
Kathy Bricco says
Rachael, I am so excited to read the new 2023 booklist! I am making myself wait until I get it printed and get my coffee before I read it. I’m also printing the 2020 list. I didn’t join you until 2021, so I’m going to go back and fill in that year with any of my extra books. I usually read about 150 books a year (now that I am retired) and have had no place to fill in the extras. Yay! My printer just stopped so LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!
Kathy Mayer says
Ok…I HAVE to know. How do you ready so many books in a year? I’m retired too and would LOVE to do this.
Larisa says
This looks so fun! Can you provide a little more context on the fiction/ nonfiction pairing? Do you mean read a fiction and a nonfiction about the same topic?
Rachael says
As always this prompt is open to interpretation. Which I know some people hate because they want specifics! I was imaginging you would read a pair of books – a fiction and a nonfiction book that go together. Either about a similar topic, with a similar setting, or maybe by the same author. I don’t care how tenuous the connection is, as long as you feel like the fiction book and the nonfiction book could be paired together.
Randi Robinson says
I just listened to The Mad Girls Of New York by Maya Rodale. It is a fictional account of Nellie Bly. It was excellent! Next I am reading Nellie Bly’s book Ten Days In A Madhouse.
Susan says
Super excited for the 2023 challenge! This will be my3rd year of your challenge.
It’ll be fun to see what is in the 300 Dewey decimal range.
I like your double counting idea, I think I’ll do that this year!
Christine says
Hi,
your challenge sounds like tons if fun.
I was just wondering how you would find a book online with my birth year as published year?
Some books are republished so not quite sure how to go about this one.
Thanks for your inspiration 🙂
Christine
Rachael says
Usually you can just google “Books published in year” and a list will most likely pop up. Though if you happen to accidentally pick a book republished in your birth year, no worries. The challenge is rather flexible from my perspective.
Shar says
Love this challenge! I have subscribed to email for a while but 2023 is the year to embrace this challenge. Super excited!
traci@titlesurfingwithtraci says
excited to attempt this challenge again in 23. I will track on my blog!
Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books) says
I’m in for another year. Thanks for hosting!
Susan
Rachel Young says
Thanks for putting this challenge together! Is there a Goodreads group for the 2023 Challenge?
Rachael says
Yes, there is! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1176287-booklist-queen-reading-challenge
Ericka Smith says
I’m going to share your website on my blog on Friday in case any of my people are looking for a Reading Challenge this year. (Pretty Literate)
Danielle says
This reading challenge sounds so fun! Can I share book suggestions for your categories? I’m new to your challenge 🙂
Rachael says
Yes, you can share recommendations in the comments if you want. But if you really want to chat about the reading challenge with others, you should join my Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/booklistqueen
Diane says
I’m a subscriber, but can’t figure out how to print the 2023 challenge. Can u help, please
Rachael says
All my printables are in my secret library: https://www.booklistqueen.com/queens-secret-library/
Every weekly newsletter has a link at the bottom with the password. I think it’s also in the first one of the welcome emails. Feel free to email me if you are still having problems.
Saskia says
Hi Rachael,
I love your Reading Challenges and would really like to be a part of this one!
However, I don’t seem to be able to subscribe to your newsletter. When I enter my name and email address, I don’t get the email with the confirmation link.
Would it be possible to add my email address manually? I’d really like to print the 2023 challenge so I can plan which books I want to read.
Many thanks in advance for your support on this! <3
Cheers
Saskia
Rachael says
Got you covered! I just sent you an email.
Karen Clark says
Trying to locate printable 2023 book challenge, can’t seem to find anywhere to click! thanks, Karen
Rachael says
It’s in my secret library, just for subscribers. I sent you an email about it!
Felicity says
Hi Rachel, just tried to sign up to your newsletter because I want to join the 2023 reading challenge – but it gave me an error and wouldn’t complete it. Can you add my email address to it please? Thank you! Felicity 🙂
Rachael says
I would love to have you in the newsletter! I can’t manually add you (it’s a spam-prevention measure). Try again on one of my other signups. I have them scattered all over the blog. Or you can visit the subscribe page: https://www.booklistqueen.com/subscribe-weekly-newsletter/
Teresa says
What is winter read?
Rachael says
I made a whole book list for this since I’ve been asked a lot. It’s pretty subjective. You could do a book set in winter, a book set during the holidays, a book to help with New Year’s Resolutions. Or a book that would be perfect to cuddle up with next to a fire.
Here are some recommendations: https://www.booklistqueen.com/winter-books/
Deirdre says
Love this list and have already started! Could use some clarification on what you mean by fiction/nonfiction pairing.
Rachael says
For a fiction and nonfiction, pick one of each that you think relate to each other somehow. They could have a similar theme, the similar setting, the same author, the similar title, or even just a similar theme. As long as you can article something that would connect the two together, then it works!