One Book per Month Reading Challenge
Cozy up next to the fire with a book and blanket more, and your phone or remote less. Try the one book a month reading challenge for some motivation!
This year I challenge you to slow down, light a candle or dim a lamp, and snuggle up in bed with a good book and meet your reading goals this year!
Along our journey to a slower and more natural lifestyle, we have decided to reduce our family’s screen time and start picking up books more.
In order to accomplish this goal, I decided to try this one book per month reading challenge when a friend of mine shared her success with it.
It’s simple: read and complete one different book every month.
The very first time I participated in this book challenge, I was pleasantly surprised at how many books I managed to read over the course of the year. I found it to be so motivational I actually far exceeded one book a month and ended up reading double my initial goal, all because I chose to make a conscious effort to read more and keep track of my progress.
Did I stay up way too late reading some nights? Absolutely, but there is something about getting your hands on a really good book that renders you incapable of putting it down until your eyelids become heavier than the book itself.
Get your hands on some good books and make this year a new year full of learning, growing, and happiness.
Do you need some inspiration on books to read? Check out my list below on the books I enjoyed during my first reading challenge!
Why you will love this monthly reading challenge:
- Keeps you accountable and on track to reach your reading goals.
- Not overwhelming at one book a month, but can be tailored to your own goals for number of books in a year.
- Encourages a healthier, natural form of entertainment over spending more time on a screen.
- Use it to complete your Bible reading goals along with my free printable!
The Benefits of Reading
There are a variety of benefits for both you and your kids obtained through reading as opposed to screen time.
By taking time to slow down and immerse yourself in literature, you continue learning, growing, and increasing your vocabulary and communication skills.
Reading not only improves your vocabulary, but sparks your imagination and creativity all while reducing stress.
You will sleep better! Reading before bed helps you to get a more restful nights sleep, and fall asleep faster, by eliminating blue light and overstimulating movies before bed.
In addition, reading improves overall memory function by exercising your brain making you smarter and improving your memory, concentration, and focus.
I will always recommend reading a real, physical book over a digital eBook any day. Not only is turning the page that much more satisfying, it also reduces blue light exposure and any strain on your eyes that a screen can induce.
Getting the Kids Involved
Beat the summer slump and start a summer reading challenge with your kids. This is a fun way to keep your children learning, creating avid readers, and fostering a love of books this summer.
Today, kids are spending far too much time on screens and not enough time spent outdoors or reading. Excessive amounts of time spent on screens can lead to social and speech delays, behavioral issues, dopamine hits that form addictions, and has no end such as when it gets dark while playing outside.
Screen Strong is a wonderful resource for learning about the harmful effects of screen time on our children and how to make the change in your family.
A kids reading challenge, whether it be for the summer or year round, is a great way to help encourage them to experience adventure without a screen.
Get your kids excited about reading and make it a fun challenge for them with a special surprise at the end of the month! Some surprises could be an ice cream date, field trip, picnic at the park, a new book, etc.
Let them keep track of their progress with a monthly reading log they can color and fill in while they work towards reaching their challenge goal.
For the little ones, be diligent to read aloud to them each day and include books beyond their level as this is very beneficial for helping them learn to read. You will love the conversations that follow and the bedtime snuggles each night as you read aloud to your children.
Tips for Encouraging Reading:
Some ideas for how to both encourage reading throughout your household in addition to helping keep yourself accountable for your reading goals are:
Have books easily accessible and visible
Whether you have books in areas throughout the house, or all in one library space, make sure they are visible and easily accessible. I like to keep board books for little ones low while keeping mine and my husbands novels higher or behind glass doors out of reach from little hands.
For kids, try displaying books forward facing on shelves in their rooms. By having the book covers visible, kids are able to recognize the covers or gain context on what the book is about and are more likely to pick up the book.
Start a Book Club
You could even start a book club with a family member, friends, or other homeschooling families to help meet your goals. Meet up once a month after completing the book to discuss your thoughts or weekly to hold each other accountable throughout the month.
Make your monthly book club a tea party and take this as an opportunity to carve out some designated time to have fun, be social, and enjoy some yummy treats as your reward!
Stay Motivated with Progress Printables
Keep track of your progress and stay motivated with these free monthly reading challenge printables! These fun and beautiful printables are available for you in my free subscribers library and are perfect for tracking your monthly books, kids summer reading challenge, or working your way through the books of the Bible.
You can find access the free reading challenge printables here.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information, see my disclosures here.
Reading List Ideas:
If you are looking for some new books to add to your queue, listed below are some of my favorite book recommendations to get you started!
For Kids
I recommend finding a series of books your kids enjoy as it will keep them immersed in the story and excited to read the next book.
Make Your Bed with Skipper the Seal
Magic Treehouse Series – A favorite of my husbands growing up, we have so much fun reading about Jack and Annie’s various adventures before bed each night with our kiddos.
Nancy Drew Series – I grew up reading these books as well as playing the computer games. There goes that screen time. I am a bit of a Nancy Drew nerd, but love a good mystery and the fact these are clean books for all ages.
Hardy Boys Series – The boys version of Nancy Drew.
Cajun Kids Adventures Series – We were introduced to the author and got a copy of the first book of this series at a homeschool convention and have been hooked ever since.
For Teenagers
If you have a daughter, then you have got to check out these book recommendations – I cannot recommend them enough! You will easily have her surpassing her goals with these book series!
Whether she is a teenager who can start reading them now, or a little one who can read them in the future, these books are truly special. I believe every young girl should read them so strongly that they are actually my signature gift for preteen and teenage girls.
Christy Miller Series – my all time favorite books written by my favorite author for teenage girls and into their young adult years. Robin wrote these books with the girls in her Sunday school and they exhibit every scenario, emotion, and thought a teenage girl goes through in addition to valuable life lessons, such as what truly matters when dating and searching for the right man.
Sierra Jensen Series – Sierra Jensen is part of the Christy Miller series, but personally feel it is written for slightly younger audiences. I love gifting this series to preteens and younger teens in preparation for gifting Christy Miller once they are in high school.
Katie Weldon Series – Another friend of Christy Miller and an expansion to the series. Once you get hooked on the Christy books, you will want to read them all.
I am so passionate about sharing these books because of the values and message they instill in young girls especially when it comes to dating and searching for their future husband.
I gifted the Christy Miller series to my sister-in-law back when she was young and to this day she still thanks me for sharing these with her and how much they made a difference on how she viewed and treated dating even before she was of age to do so. She passed on the blessing to some of her friends as well.
For Moms
The Mission of Motherhood – This book is a reminder to all mamas of the value of the work we are doing in caring for their children. By serving our children and loving them through the trying days, we are serving the Lord.
Glimpses of Grace – A book about seeing God’s grace and His presence in the midst of the mundane. It is about fostering a real relationship with the Lord even when we are deep in the trenches of homemaking.
Christy Miller Series – Listed under the books for teenagers, this is also a fun series for moms as you follow Christy along into her married and baby years.
The Magnolia Story – A lighthearted and fun read from Chip and Joanna Gaines that has some valuable advice every mom needs to hear.
For Personal Growth
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry – A recommendation my husband believes every person living in the 21st century should read. A book about slowing down and freeing yourself from distractions so that you can focus on things that really matter in life: God and family.
For Faith
The Case for Christ – A true story about how a journalist, Lee Strobel, set out to disprove Christianity after his wife became a believer. Instead, he found an overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of Christianity and the life of Christ that led him to becoming saved.
The Bible – The obvious one, but also the most important. I love and appreciate the extra study notes provided in this study bible version to help better understand along the way.
For Natural Living
1000 Hours Outside – written by Ginny Yurich who started the worldwide movement of encouraging and informing everyone of the benefits of spending time outside for you and your family’s health. She also has books full of ideas for outdoor activities to do with your kids as well as her new book and an app to keep track of your hours outside.
Your Health has been Hijacked – An eye-opening, thoroughly researched and well-cited book that is perfect for those questioning the mainstream and beginning their own research into health and natural living. Serves as a go-to quick reference book for living a more natural and holistic lifestyle, anything from food to pharma to household items.
For Christmas
Finding Father Christmas Series – Another wonderful and heartfelt series written by Robin Jones Gunn. One of my Christmas favorites for both reading and watching the Hallmark movie series!
The Bridge – A beautiful and dramatic Christmas story written by Karen Kingsbury and even another Hallmark movie series!
For more recommended book titles and new ideas, check out this post of compiled lists from fellow blogging friends! Happy reading!
More Farmhouse Library Posts:
- DIY Front Facing Wall Bookshelves
- Christmas Star Crochet Bookmark
- Easter Cross Crochet Bookmark
Tag me on social media and share your one book per month reading challenge!
