2019 Diversify Your Reading Challenge

Click here for the 2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge!

When voting in the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards, I noticed that there were some categories where I had read multiple nominated books, and some where I hadn’t read any. Given that everyone has genre preferences, this made sense. But it also made me realize that I need to diversify my reading. I want to be able to vote in all of the categories, or at least most of them. So that is one of my goals in 2019. Welcome to my diversify your reading challenge! I hope you join me.

What’s the ‘Diversify Your Reading’ Challenge?

I have created this challenge to encourage myself to read books in genres I don’t typically read. For each month, I’ve chosen a genre that I think is one of the lesser read ones and I am going to read a book in that genre next month.

If you want to join me, you can either read along in the same genres (I hope you do!) or choose your own genres. Not only will this help diversify your reading, but I also think it will teach you new things and open you up to new experiences. Of course, you can read books from your favorite genre in addition to books in the genre of the month. The idea is to diversify your reading by ensuring you read at least one book in genres you don’t typically read. Who knows – you might end 2019 with a new favorite genre!

» 5 Ways to Track Your Reading Goals «

How to Participate in the 2019 Diversify Your Reading Challenge

1. Pick a book from one of the twelve genres each month. Choose a different genre each month

That’s it! 12 books in 12 genres over 12 months. Seriously, this is SUCH an easy challenge and will no doubt be a rewarding one. I have outlined the twelve selected genres below; however, feel free to swap one for another in order to diversify your reading as much as possible. If you want to read the same book as me, join my Diversify Your Reading Facebook group for discussion opportunities! Also, feel free to join the group just to chat about the challenge or see what others are reading.

Click here for the 2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge!

Which genres are included in the Diversify Your Reading Challenge?

I have chosen genres based on those included in the Goodreads Choice awards. Goodreads has 21 genres in total. Click on each one to visit the Goodreads genre page if you want to know more:

Fiction – Mystery & Thriller – Historical Fiction – Fantasy – Romance – Science Fiction – Horror – Humor – Nonfiction – Memoir & Autobiography – History & Biography – Science & Technology – Food & Cookbooks – Graphic Novels & Comics – Poetry – Young Adult Fiction – Young Adult Fantasy – Middle Grade & Children’s – Picture Books –
Debut Author – Best of the Best

Since there are only twelve months in a year, I cut out 9 categories. I first eliminated Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Mystery & Thriller as I feel that these are the most popular categories. Then, I cut out Best of the Best since it’s a roundup of previous winners, Picture Books since I don’t think you need a month to read one, and Horror because I personally cannot read Horror. Last to go were Debut Author (I’m sure one of the books you read will fall under this category anyway) and Food & Cookbooks (I recommend you buy one anyway). I was still one over, so I combined the Young Adult genres into one.

Diversify Your Reading Challenge: The Line Up

With twelve categories remaining, I have chosen one for each month of 2019. For each category, I have selected six books from past Goodreads Choice winners and nominees (2015-present) as examples.

As new releases are announced throughout 2019, I will also add those under each genre. Perhaps some of them will end up in the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards! I don’t want to overwhelm you with options, but I do want to provide a variety of books so you can find something you want to read for each genre.

January: Memoir & Autobiography

February: Romance

March: Science & Technology

Click here for the 2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge!

April: Graphic Novels & Comics

May: History & Biography

June: Middle Grade & Children’s

I’ve been so impressed with the evolution of middle grade & children’s books recently, and am so excited to actually sit down and read one. They explore such a wide range of topics and do so in an understandable way, so kids are reading about things that actually matter. In all honesty, I think everyone should read more children’s books!

May is a great month to also read a picture book since the middle grade book shouldn’t take you too long!

Pin the 2019 Diversify Your Reading Challenge Genres!

July: Humor

August: Science Fiction

September: Nonfiction

Click here for the 2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge!

October: Young Adult

November: Poetry

December: Fantasy

I’ve been more into fantasy than ever after reading The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden. I absolutely love the series and am looking forward to reading the third book in the trilogy. Check out my reviews of the first two books: #1, #2.

Will you be participating in the 2019 Diversify Your Reading Challenge?

If you want to participate, share your picks for each month in the comments, on our Facebook group, or by writing your own blog post – post a link to it in the link up so others can check it out! And keep an eye out for the monthly Diversify Your Reading Challenges link ups, too! Here’s a badge you can share on your blog, as well:

I can’t wait to diversify my reading in 2019 by choosing a different genre each month, and hope you join me on this challenge! Click here to see what other challenges I am doing in 2019.