The 2020 Christian Reading Challenge

Do you love to read? Do you want to learn to love to read? Do you enjoy reading books that cross the whole spectrum of topics and genres? Then I’ve got something that may be right up your alley—the 2020 Christian Reading Challenge.

Whether you are a light reader or completely obsessed, this 2020 Christian Reading Challenge is designed to help you read more and to broaden the scope of your reading.

How It Works

The 2020 Christian Reading Challenge is composed of 4 lists of books, which you are meant to move through progressively. You will need to determine a reading goal early in the year and set your pace accordingly.

The Light Reader. This plan has 13 books which sets a pace of 1 book every 4 weeks.
The Avid Reader. The Avid plan adds another 13 books which increases the pace to 1 book every 2 weeks.
The Committed Reader. This plan adds a further 26 books, bringing the total to 52, or 1 book every week.
The Obsessed Reader. The Obsessed plan doubles the total to 104 books which sets a demanding pace of 2 books every week.

Begin with the Light plan, which includes suggestions for 13 books. Choose those books and read them in any order, checking them off as you complete them. When you have finished those 13, advance to the Avid plan. Use the criteria there to choose another 13 books and read them in any order. Then it’s time to move to the Committed plan with a further 26 books. When you have completed the Committed plan (that’s 52 books so far!), you are ready to brave the Obsessed plan with its 104 books. Be sure to set your goal at the beginning of the year so you can make sure you’re reading at the right pace.

All you need to do is download the list (or buy a printed version—see below), choose your first few books, and get going. Happy reading in 2020!

Ideas

Take the challenge with your spouse and divide the list in two.
Take the challenge with your family and divide the books between the entire family.
Take the challenge with your youth group or small group and divide the books between all of you. Regularly report on your progress with short reviews.
Set your goal and read the books from all of your lists in any order (rather than progressing from Light to Avid to Committed).
Discard all the rules and choose books from any plan in any order. Use the 2020 Christian Reading Challenge as a guide to diversifying your reading.
Use #vtReadingChallenge to connect and to keep track of others on social media.
Have fun with it!

Get the Challenge

The 2020 Christian Reading Challenge is available in 2 formats: plain and pretty. The plain version is a simple list you can easily print at home. The pretty version is styled as an infographic and will look amazing on your wall all year round. It might also make a neat Christmas gift. You can purchase it as a professionally-printed poster from our store. Those who subscribe to Visual Theology can download the HD file to print at home or take to a local printer.

FAQ

How does the 2020 challenge differ from the last few year’s? I learned a lot from several years of Reading Challenges and made a few changes. Most importantly, I now offer “wildcard” spots for you to fill with any book you like. Also, I wanted to provide a better balance, so now have categories like theology, Christian living, and church history appear multiple times instead of only once. And, of course, I keep changing up and rearranging a good number of the books each year to keep it fresh.