How many 2026 Read Harder Challenge tasks have you completed so far?
There’s a pretty wide range of answers to this question, though the most common response was 12: exactly on track to finish all 24 tasks by the end of the year! The trend seems to be that most of us are a little bit behind, though, which is a change from answers last year. Is the Read Harder Challenge more difficult this year, or are we collectively going through something? (It might be both.)
Which task was or will be the most challenging for you to complete?
There was no debate about the hardest task this year, though: 25% of you said #12: Read/try a recipe from a cookbook about a culture whose food you’ve never eaten. I’d love to hear what makes this one so difficult! I imagine if you are an adventurous eater, it might be tricky to find a cookbook from a culture whose food you’ve never tried.
The runner-up most difficult tasks were #18: Read a nonfiction book about AI or social media and #19: Read a book by an intersex author. Almost all tasks were named at least once, though, with the exceptions of #2, #16, and #23.
Which task was or will be the easiest for you to complete?
This question had more variation in the answers. The top pick was #20: Read a book set in space, followed closely by a tie between #10: Read a book recently adapted for film, TV, or musical and #24: Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!
Once again, though, most tasks were named at least once as the easiest, even some of the tasks most frequently mentioned as the most difficult. The exceptions are #3, #19, #22, and #23.
English (US) · 