2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge

2020 will be the second year of the Diversify Your Reading Challenge, and I have no doubt it’ll be the best one yet! This 2020 Reading Challenge is open to anyone and everyone who wants to diversify their reading by exploring new genres. The first year of the Diversify Your Reading Challenge saw hundreds of people from around the world participate, 149 of which joined the Facebook group for book chatter, group reads, and discussions. 

The 2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge will look very similar, but I’m hoping it’ll be bigger and better than ever. Last year’s challenge was based heavily on the Goodreads Choice Awards categories and, while I’m still going to turn there for some inspiration, I’m breaking away a bit to introduce some new genres and focus on new authors. Plus, I’ve taken some feedback from the 2019 participants to build the 2020 challenge around the things that worked best, and improve the things that didn’t work so well.

The format remains the same: 12 months, 12 genres, 12 books. Whether your 2020 reading goal is to finish 1 book, 12, or 120, the Diversify Your Reading Challenge is meant to break you out of your reading comfort zone and introduce you to new genres.

Participants can join the Facebook group for group reads and discussion (which I recommend), choose their own picks for each genre, or read entirely different genres altogether. It 100% depends on how you want to Diversify Your Reading! 

And now I present the 2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge Genres…

2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge

• JANUARY: Historical Fiction*
• FEBRUARY: Romance
• MARCH: Self-Help/How To*
• APRIL: Young Adult
• MAY: Science Fiction
• JUNE: Non-Fiction
• JULY: Suspense/Thriller*
• AUGUST: Contemporary Fiction*
• SEPTEMBER: True Crime*
• OCTOBER: Fantasy
• NOVEMBER: Memoir & Autobiography
• DECEMBER: Mystery*

The genres with a * next to them are NEW! for 2020.

That’s pretty much all you NEED to know for the 2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge! However, if you’re interested in participating in group reads or want to kick your challenge up a level, keep on reading. I’m also in the process of putting together a list of what to read for DYRC20 with my recommendations.

What’s New in 2020?

As mentioned above, the 2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge looks pretty much the same as the 2019 challenge. However, there are a few new things to be aware of:

• DYRC20 is on Instagram! Yes, that’s right, Diversify Your Reading now has its own Instagram account. If you love the bookstagram world or simply want to receive DYRC news somewhere other than Facebook, follow @diversifyyourreading

• It’s all about the backlist. We’re going to take a break from new releases and focus on books that are already out for our group reads. This means it’ll be easier for people all over the world to join in, easier to get the book from the library, and hopefully there will be more things to discuss all around! We’ll be picking books that were released in 2019 or earlier.

Share your picks for the 2020 Diversify Your Reading Challenge on Instagram using these Stories templates!

More About DYRC 20

Group Reads

There will be a “group read” each month that falls under the selected genre. These group reads are voted on in the Diversify Your Reading Challenge Facebook group. However, you don’t need to be a member of the group to read along (though that’s where you’ll find out about them first)!

Each group read will be announced in the Diversify Your Reading Challenge Facebook group a month ahead of time and on Instagram (@diversifyyourreading and #DYRC20) on the first day of the month. Be sure to use #<strong >DYRC20 in your posts, too, if you’re participating in the challenge!

How to Prepare for DYRC 20

• Make your book list! Using the templates above, come up with a book to read for each genre. I recommend starting with your existing TBR list – you may already have something for each genre. Here are 36 books I recommend for the challenge.
• Purchase your January book. Some of my favorite Historical Fiction novels include The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, and Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
• Buy Book Darts. I started using these earlier this year and they’ve quickly become my favorite way to mark pages and passages for discussion. If you’re participating in the DYRC group reads, I highly recommend you pick up some of these!
• Check out these other reading resources:
  • • How to Track Your Reading Goals
    • Sign Up for the Mongan Moments newsletter for monthly updates & exclusive content

Advanced Challenge

Looking to challenge yourself even more? Here are some modifications to take the Diversify Your Reading Challenge one step further:

Read as many as possible

Go all in on the selected genre each month by reading as many books within that genre as you can. It may feel like genre overload, but you’ll certainly have a better understanding of the genre by the end of the month!

Build on previous months

Start the year with your favorite genre; then, in February, read a book in that genre + a book in a new genre. In March, read your January genre + your February genre + a new one. You catch my drift…

This means you’ll be reading 12 books come December but, hey, what better way to spend your holiday break!?

Break into sub genres 

Diversify your reading within each genre by breaking it down into sub genres. For January, you could consider reading one WWII historical fiction book, a historical romance, and a historical fiction book set in South America, for example.

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I can’t wait to hear how you’ll be diversifying your reading in 2020 – don’t forget to share your book lists & book pictures using #dyrc20 or by tagging @diversifyyourreading. I look forward to reading with you!

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DYRC Archive

2019