I had great fun creating this fall reading challenge 2025! It’s perfect if you, like me, are looking into how to reset your reading habit this fall. If you’re looking for practical, fun, and actionable tips for how to dive back into the books this autumn, keep reading!
How To Make Reading A Daily Habit Again
Fall is the perfect time to reflect on your habits and hobbies and explore ways to improve them so you can hit your personal goals for the year. When it comes to getting back into reading, participating in a seasonal reading challenge is a great way to have fun while simultaneously getting pushed outside your comfort zone. But, before we dive into the details regarding the fall reading bingo, let’s establish the basics with realistic tips for how you can reignite your passion for reading.
Make Reading A Vibe, Not A Chore
Here’s the thing: if you’re not having fun with your hobbies, it’s highly probable that you’re not going to stick to them. The same rule applies to reading. Hence, it’s crucial to make reading an immersive, sensory experience.
Try pairing your books with a cozy fall beverage appealing to your sense of taste. Terrific options would be anything pumpkin-spiced, chai, cinnamon tea, or apple cider.
Next, consider tickling your ears with a vibey playlist that matches the theme or atmosphere of either the book or season. As a general rule, I try to listen to instrumental playlists so as not to be distracted from reading. Favorites include anything jazz, lo-fi, soft electronic, ambient, nature sounds, or classical. Here’s one of my favorite ambient electronic playlists from Spotify.
Lastly, create a cozy environment perfect for snuggling up to a book. Dim the lights, light candles, put on a pair of fuzzy socks, don your favorite sweatshirt, grab a throw blanket, and get settled into a cozy chair in your reading nook, bed, or living room. Now, doesn’t this sound like a delightful way to spend your time?
Permit Yourself To Read Fun Stuff
While I will always and forever encourage intentional reading that highlights critical thinking and engagement with the text you’re consuming. It doesn’t mean this has to be arduous or boring.
Select books that you’re interested in reading, prioritizing genres and authors that you like and enjoy. This may not be the time to dive into an intensive nonfiction or explore classic literature.
It’s ok to read for joy, especially when you’re doing a reading habit reset. Remember that you can analyze and engage critically with all the books you read and still have an entertaining time.
Go Short & Sweet
If you’re neurodivergent or find yourself struggling with focus and concentration due to restlessness, take it easy on yourself. You can’t expect yourself to go from 100 to focused in 2.5 seconds.
Support your nervous system first. Take time to meditate, take a calming walk, listen to relaxing music, or just nap for fifteen to twenty minutes. Afterward, you can transition into enjoying a leisurely reading session.
Another option includes using the Pomodoro method and reading for short bursts, typically twenty-five minutes, and taking a short break, usually five minutes. This can help you balance reading while also honoring your need to move around as you enjoy moving or engaging with other things during your breaks.
Lastly, you may consider reading an anthology of short stories, picking up a novella, or a collection of poetry. You’re still building your reading habit and enjoying literature.
Make It Social
While reading is primarily an independent activity, you can still become involved with the community to inspire and hold you accountable for reaching your reading goals.
Consider joining a book club. Themed book clubs, such as mystery thriller, dark academia, and horror, are popular during this season. Shameless plug, but I’ve soft-launched a book club, EmpowerLit, on the Bookclubs app. We’re all about embracing diversity across all genres and encouraging critical reading in a fun, approachable way. Check it out if you’re interested!
If that sounds too people-y, perhaps a buddy read with a friend or self-paced online read-a-thon would be a better option. Serving to scratch the itch of being social and honoring your need to nurture your solo time.
Freshen Up Your TBR Stack The No-Buy Way
While book shopping trips and buying new books are a fun dopamine hit, it’s not always necessary. Especially if you have a sizeable physical TBR. Here are some ways to “freshen up” your TBR without spending money.
Visit the library and browse. What books stand out to you? Check them out and read them. You’ll get a nice dopamine rush from acquiring a new book without impacting your wallet. And, the mini deadline creates urgency, making you more apt to read it before it’s due date. Win-win.
If you have a Kindle or Kobo app/reader and membership, browse the catalog of books in their database and add them to your digital library to read.
Check out little free libraries in your area. There’s a locater app you can download to find locations within your neighborhood. You may luck out and find some really good gems. Make sure to replace what you take!
Lastly, you can participate or host a book swap with your friends, where you all swap out books that you want to unhaul or share. Even better, if you make it seasonal and prioritize swapping spooky season books, dark academia novels, or cozy mysteries and fantasies.
Set Tiny, Tasty Goals
We often see goal-setting as long-term and arduous, and rarely as short-term and simple. Yet, having easy, achievable goals increases your confidence, empowering you to create and tackle bigger, more complex goals.
An example of a short and sweet goal would be to aim to read for twenty minutes a day for a week. Or, to read one chapter with your morning coffee. You could even set a goal to read for thirty minutes before bed. Whatever works with your lifestyle and preferences!
Match Your Mood with Your Setting
You may decide to give mood or seasonal reading a try. Aim to pick up books based on what your emotional and mental needs currently demand. Are you craving an escapist, no-thoughts, head-empty kind of read because you’re stressed? Check out a cozy romance or cozy fantasy.
Want something that matches the fall weather? Pick up a book that’s set in the fall and is full of picturesque and atmospheric seasonal vibes. The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is full of seasonal and witchy vibes, perfect for this time of year.
Craving something that you can sink your teeth into? Start a fantasy series full of political intrigue and epic world-building. Like Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, or dive into a character-driven literary fiction such as Intermezzo by Sally Rooney.
Ditch What’s Not Working
Considering that I have an existential crisis regarding the reality that there’s no possible way I’m going to read all the books in the world before I leave this earth (Panic!), what you won’t catch me doing is reading a book that isn’t working for me. And you shouldn’t either.
Life’s too ephemeral to be saddled with a book that doesn’t inspire joy and delight. It’s more than acceptable to abandon a book that isn’t hitting the mark. Not everything is going to work, but there is so much out there that will!
Fall Reading Challenge 2025
Now that you know how to make reading a daily habit again I created a fun and cozy fall reading bingo board that you can download and print to inspire you to get back into reading this season.
