12 Months, 12 Genres: A Year Out of Your Reading Rut
One genre a month, with three doorway books for each.
Most readers stick to two or three genres and quietly assume the rest are not for them. Usually they simply started with the wrong book. This challenge gives each genre one month and three doorway books — picked to convert sceptics, not to reward people who already read it.
Based on 12 books averaging 350 pages, at 275 words per page and 250 words per minute.
Why do this challenge?
A rut feels like burnout but is not
When reading stops being enjoyable, the usual cause is sameness rather than exhaustion. Switching genre resets it far more reliably than stopping does.
You have probably written off a genre on one bad sample
Most people who say they dislike fantasy or romance are describing one book they tried at fourteen. A genre is thousands of books wide, and the doorway matters enormously.
A month is exactly the right unit
Long enough to finish something without rushing, short enough that a genre you dislike is over quickly. Weekly is too tight for a 600-page fantasy; a year per genre is not a challenge.
It tells you what you actually like
Twelve months of this and most people find at least one genre they had dismissed and now read regularly. That is the whole return on the exercise.
How it works
- One book per genre per month. Finishing early does not oblige you to read a second.
- If a genre is genuinely not working by page 50, switch to another doorway book from the same list.
- Order the months however you like. Starting with the genre you are most sceptical about works well while enthusiasm is high.
- A book that straddles two genres counts for whichever month you are in.
Months 1–6
Each genre gets a doorway book plus two alternatives, so a bad first match does not cost you the month.
Months 7–12
This page remembers your ticks. Parch remembers the books.
The checklist above is saved in this browser. Parch tracks what you actually read against a goal — pages, streaks, and a calendar of the days you read — across your phone and tablet, privately.
Questions about this challenge
What are the 12 genres in a genre exploration challenge?
There is no canonical set. The twelve here — literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, memoir, horror, romance, narrative non-fiction, graphic novels, poetry and short stories — cover the main shelves of a bookshop without splitting hairs over subgenres.
What if I already hate a genre?
That is the month most worth doing. Almost everyone who dislikes a whole genre is generalising from one bad sample, usually read a long time ago. Pick the doorway book and give it fifty pages.
Can I do this in less than a year?
Yes, though a month per genre is deliberate. It is long enough to finish a long book without rushing and short enough that a genre you dislike ends quickly.
How do I pick a good first book in an unfamiliar genre?
Choose a doorway book rather than the genre's masterpiece. The most acclaimed book in a genre often assumes you already love its conventions; the best entry points explain themselves as they go.
Keep going
The 2026 Reading Journal Kit
Six printable pages to log, plan and celebrate your reading year. Enter your email and we'll send the PDF straight to your inbox.
- Reading log
- TBR planner
- Monthly tracker
- Ratings & reviews
- Reading bingo
- Year in books