The Ultimate Reading Challenge: Complete a Goal, Open an Envelope, and Reveal Your Bookish Prize!

by Weldon Owen

Level up your reading life with 25 unique literary challenges, and reward yourself with 25 bookish surprises!

This delightful collection of 25 reading challenges and rewards inspires bookworms to live their best reading life. Each pocket inside this portfolio challenges readers to a literary challenge. Once the reader completes a challenge, they can open the pocket to claim their bookish prize. 

Use these challenges to finally tackle your to-be-read pile, check out the books on Bookstagram and Booktok you’ve been dying to read, or discover new and hidden treasures.

The perfect gift for book lovers of all ages, genres, and abilities, The Ultimate Reading Challenge encourages bibliophiles to:

Read personally

Re-read a book you loved as a child.

Ask a family member what book has made a lasting impression on them.  

 

Read compassionately 

Read a book that features an indigenous person.

Read a book about a person with a disability.

 

Read broadly

Visit your local bookstore and ask a bookseller to recommend a book.

Read in a place you’ve never read before.

 

Engage creatively

Make a snack or meal described in a book you’ve read.

Write a letter to someone who has influenced your reading life.

 

Prizes include:

A laser-engraved wooden bookmark

Bookish greeting cards

Coffee cup sleeve

Book darts

A mini notebook

And much more!

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Books About Books

1 pages, Novelty Book

First published February 1, 2022

About the author

Weldon Owen is an imprint of Insight Editions, a publisher of illustrated books on food & drink, photography, music, and popular culture. Elegant and informative, Weldon Owen titles showcase the best of art, photography, and design in exquisite presentations of the bookmaker's craft. They are located in San Rafael, CA.

Reviews

[Becks]

The prompts are too overlapping but otherwise fine. The real issue is that this book doesn’t know who it’s for. Adults? Teens? Little kids? Because the prompts and the rewards send very different messages! The rewards are pretty much all garbage; full list below!

- 4 cutesy miniature notepads (not even sticky notes!),
- FOLDED UP stickers, one of a bike, one of generic plant doodles, ‘this book belongs to’ sticker pack, and 3 to/from gift tag stickers.
- a glasses stamp (?)
- 2 cardboard gift tags
- A SINGLE PAPER CLIP
- a tacky laser engraved bookmark
- a pencil
- 3 mini note cards
- paper thin doorknob hanger
- random cardstock square that says “there are a lot of books in here.”
- 1 button
- 2 book darts
- 1 magnetic bookmark
- 1 rubber magnet
- 1 cardboard coffee sleeve
- 4 paper coasters (?????)
- washi tape with unidentifiable pattern
- rubber typewriter keychain
- the pièce de résistance, a miniature composition notebook, 8 pages, including front/back.

All in all, do yourself a favor and just copy down the list of prompts and take yourself down to dollar twenty five tree for your own rewards— you’ll at least get cuter stickers that way!

[Kailey (Luminous Libro)]

This "book" has little envelopes along the inside of the cover, with prizes inside for each reading challenge that you complete. If you read a graphic novel, you get a pad of notepaper that says "Books>Everything Else"! Each challenge has some sort of little prize, bookmark, notebook, coaster, keychain, button, or card.

I love the bright design of the challenges and prizes. The artwork is really attractive and fun! All the prizes are so cool! This definitely got me excited about reading, because I wanted to open each little envelope and find the surprise inside, and I was not disappointed!

The challenges are really thoughtful too! The prompts encourage you to read more broadly in new genres, read from other cultures and ethnicities, and to reconnect with old favorite books from your childhood. There are even activities like cooking a bookish recipe, or writing a letter to someone who influenced you to read more.

I almost wanted to give this to a friend of mine who also loves to read, but then I decided to be selfish and keep it for myself! haha! It's just too good to give away! I'll just have to buy another one for my friend.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Kaiju Reviews]

Thanks Goodreads and the Publisher for the free copy.

My updated review on this is that I can't recommend it for the price. The 'gifts' in here aren't worth it, and if you just want motivation, you shouldn't have to drop 30 bucks. This is a great idea poorly brought to life.

The Ultimate Reading Challenge is basically a binder filled with small envelopes; each envelope labeled with a task. Once completed, open the envelop to see what you get!

I'll update this as I move through them (though without spoilers).

My first impression is average, based on the construction and discovery that this didn't have any text really - there's no book here (unless some burgeoning insights are contained in some of the envelopes).

And while I hesitate to suggest that men and women have different color palettes, the style of the exterior and interior here felt very much marketed to a female audience. That isn't to suggest that anyone along the gender spectrum can't find enjoyment here, i mention it just to be aware of your target audience. This feels like the perfect starting place or gift for a casual book club. Not for your Tom Clancy loving dad. (Though that's a shame, because reading outside the comfort zone is exactly what this is designed to encourage, and I feel perhaps a more subtle approach in design could've opened it up to a larger audience).

[Amber]

This was so fun. It really challenges you to step outside your comfort zone with the prompts. It was interesting to try to complete the challenges for the month.

[Kristina Mateo]

I think this is a brillant idea and hope to find others. Maybe bigger and better rewards and more challanging things to complete. Overall I really liked it and would recommond.

[Maggs852]

A fun way to get myself reading outside of my comfort zone, which for most readers (like myself) can be very hard without the right motivation! I've peaked into a couple that I've completed already this year and the prizes are adorably book oriented. Perfect gift idea for any book lover of almost any age. I love the creativity in some of the suggested goals and can't wait to see how far I can get this year, hopefully through them all!
(Thank you to Goodreads/Weldon Owen for the free giveaway copy.)

[James]

great book here is link to in on amazon if you want to check out

[Jody Porta]

I won this in a giveaway on Goodreads. I think the theory of what the author was trying to do is good....read books outside of what you normally would go for. I did that. Yes, the things inside of the envelopes are cheap, however, I think this is more about what you READ than gifts for doing so. The price point at $25 is too expensive if you were going to buy it. It's a great idea in general.

[Gaby Oakes]

A fun way to motivate myself to read more this year! Super excited to discover some new books, complete different challenges and get prizes for doing it! 🙌🏻

*Thank you to Weldon Owen for my free copy.

[Dakota Kelley]

This is more of a reading challenge than a book to read. It has cute little goals to meet each day and when completed there is a little prize. I love the creative daily challenges. Very happy with this purchase.

[Pamela]

This was a very neat idea for a book and I liked all the little prizes and challenges in the book.

[Katie Killebrew]

Reading challenges and tiny bookish prizes. It’s a year round advent calendar for bookworms! What’s not to love?

[Stephanie]

Super fun.

[Lorrie]

Having a great time sharing the challenges with my daughter since there's enough to do one each month 😊 The challenges are getting us outside of our reading zones 😀 Glad I won this!

[Kathleen]

Fun!

[Andrea]

Delightful reading prizes to be had. This would make a wonderful gift or...gift for yourself!

[Awjtf]

Fun way to read! Some surprises were not so good but others were interesting. Not sure if it was worth the price I paid.

[Gabriella]

Love everything included and really encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone with reading! :)

[Jennifer Dale]

Cute concept. Loved the little gifts.

[Library Queen]

Just bought this, looks adorable!

[Cassandra Corrigan]

Some prizes were cool, others not so much. One ripped as I took it out of the envelopes and went straight to the trash.

[Suellen]

1-Write a Letter-Took a liberty with the challenge, I wrote a letter to my grandmother, Mary. I attribute my love of books to her. I remember her starting my reading journey with The Hobbit. [Three small cards in pocket.]

2-Participate In a Book Club- CCPL, Janet Harte, Sue Monk Kidd, The Book of Longings. Enjoyed meeting a new group in person. Not all agreed about the book. Appreciate the fact the we can discuss a book in an open environment. [Small yellow note pad with print of library check out card.]

[Dawn (DeDe)]

Absolute crap - $29.99 USD for $5 USD of junk. Save yourself the disappointment and do an internet search for a list of books to read instead and gift yourself $30 to buy some books at a local bookstore when you finish your list. The carnival prize rewards in this mess aren’t motivational.

[Davi Kladakis]

A fun way to figure out what book to read next.

[Amber Hairfield]

First challenge I'm doing is "Read a book much longer than I usually read."
Book to be read "We Are Water by Wally Lamb"