Reading Women Challenge
It’s time for the 2021 Reading Women Challenge! Reading challenges are a great way to read outside your comfort zone—and you get to do it with other bookish friends! The 2021 challenge officially begins January 1, 2021 and ends December 31, 2021.
Here’s the rundown: complete as many challenges as you can from the list below. If you have one book that covers two categories (or more!), feel free to count it for both. It's not a contest. Our goal is to encourage you to read widely (and fight the patriarchy, but that was probably a given), so just have fun with it!
This year, we’re focusing on reading international authors (authors from countries other than your own). We’re also encouraging participants to read books by trans women and people of other marginalized genders who are comfortable being included in feminine-coded initiatives.
Be sure to share your progress by using the hashtag #ReadingWomenChallenge.
Need some recommendations? Scroll to the bottom of this page for a list of resources and a link to our Goodreads group.
Happy Reading!
Reading Women Challenge 2021
All books read for this challenge must be by women or people of other historically marginalized genders who are comfortable being included in feminine-coded initiatives.
A Book Longlisted for the JCB Prize
The JCB Prize for Literature is an award presented each year to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian author.
The prize aims to celebrate Indian writing and to help readers across the world discover the very best of contemporary Indian literature. It also makes significant awards also to translators, without whose work no reader can appreciate the scale and diversity of a literature written in over twenty languages.
An Author from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is, as the name says, the eastern part of Europe. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, countries within Eastern Europe are Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the most-western part of the Russian Federation.
A Book About Incarceration
Read a fiction or nonfiction book about any kind of incarceration set anywhere around the world.
A Cookbook by a Woman of Color
You do not have to read every word of the cookbook.
Making a recipe from the cookbook is encouraged but not required.
If you are triggered by food, please feel free to read a book about cocktails, tea, coffee, olive oil, cocoa beans, or anything else food adjacent.
A Book with a Protagonist Older than 50
Bonus points if the author is also over 50!
A Book by a South American Author in Translation
As with all of our translation prompts, you can read in any language you like as long as the book has been translated from one language to another.
Reread a Favorite Book
A Memoir by an Indigenous, First Nations, Native, or Aboriginal Woman
This prompt is inspired by Erin and Dani’s Book Club, which is focusing on Indigenous memoirs this year! Head over to their instagram page to find more information.
A Book by a Neurodivergent Author
While “neurodivergent” often refers to people on the Autism Spectrum, it also includes people with ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities, and any other type of condition that causes cognitive difference.
A Crime Novel or Thriller in Translation
As with all of our translation prompts, you can read in any language you like as long as the book has been translated from one language to another.
A Book About the Natural World
This can be interpreted as specific or as general as you like.
A Young Adult Novel by a Latinx Author
A Poetry Collection by a Black Woman
A Book with a Biracial Protagonist
A Muslim Middle Grade Novel
A Book Featuring a Queer Love Story
About a Woman in Politics
Bonus points for reading about a woman in politics from a country that’s not your own!
A Book with a Rural Setting
A Book with a Cover Designed by a Woman
A Book by an Arab Author in Translation
As with all of our translation prompts, you can read in any language you like as long as the book has been translated from one language to another.
The Arab World consists of twenty-two countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
A Book by a Trans Author
This includes trans women and nonbinary trans authors comfortable being included in feminine-coded initiatives.
A Fantasy Novel by an Asian Author
A Nonfiction Book Focused on Social Justice
A Short Story Collection by a Caribbean Author
BONUS
A Book by Alexis Wright
A Book by Tsitsi Dangarembga
A Book by Leila Aboulela
A Book by Yoko Ogawa
Other Resources
Check out our podcast episode show of our past episodes. (Here's a secret: most of the categories are a variation on last year's episodes.) They're organized by theme, so it should be pretty to find a book in on the category you're looking to fill.
Guest blog posts are great resource for international fiction.
Join the Reading Women Goodreads group for a wealth of recommendations and to chat with others about what you're reading.
If you don't find what you're looking for, feel free to send us a message.