The Helmet Reading Challenge 2022
The new Helmet Reading Challenge delves into the world of superheroes, civic activism and historical events. This time, participants also get to consider what kind of book events they themselves would like to be involved in.
The Helmet Reading Challenge in simple Finnish
The Helmet Reading Challenge is now launched for the eight consecutive time. The Helmet Reading Challenge is a playful, year-long reading project that gives you 50 different criteria for choosing what to read next. Join us for an expedition into the wonderful world of literature!
Once again, we have compiled a list of various challenge items, including a book written by a journalist (18) and a book with chapter titles (16). A book combining fact and fiction (1) gives you the opportunity to consider where the boundary between these two genres actually lies, for example, in the case of autofiction, which has become vastly popular over the recent years. Traditionally challenge items 47 and 48 form a pair, and this year makes no exception: we will be reading books written by authors who are related to one another. This time, items 3 and 4 also form a kind of a book pair: they are books with events you would and would not like to be involved in.
Once again, the Helmet Reading Challenge was put together by a group of library professionals based on suggestions from participants. This year, the participants also had the opportunity to respond to a survey to vote for the items that they found most interesting. The survey results were used when selecting the final challenge items, including the item that proved to be the most popular: 6. A book written by an author whose work you have never read before. Our cooperation with the Finnish Centre for Easy Language and Opike also continues in 2022, and the Reading Challenge is once again also available in simple Finnish.
If the full 50-item Reading Challenge sounds too daunting to suit your taste, we also have a lighter option. As the name states, the Little Helmet Reading Challenge is a smaller reading challenge with a list of 25 items. The Little Reading Challenge is compiled of challenge items that are particularly well-suited to children, but readers of all ages are welcome to participate. All of the Little Reading Challenge items are also included in the Helmet Reading Challenge, which means that if you want, you can jump straight from the Little Reading Challenge to the full version at any time of the year.
Five key points for successfully completing the Reading Challenge:
- The Reading Challenge is open to all readers. Everyone is welcome to participate.
- The idea is that the Reading Challenge should increase your joy of reading, not cause you stress. So find your own way to participate that you find inspiring! You do not have to set out to read a certain number of books.
- Everyone is welcome to participate in the Reading Challenge in their own way and make up their own rules. It is up to you to decide whether you want to use the same book to check off more than one item on the list, focus on a particular genre or only read books you have never read before. If you want to keep track of your progress in the challenge, tools for this purpose are available below the item list.
- As sharing multiplies the joy of reading, feel free to share your Reading Challenge experience with others! Join the Reading Challenge Facebook group, discuss the Reading Challenge elsewhere on social media, or challenge your friends to participate, so you can discuss your reading experiences throughout the year.
- Help is always available! If you need help finding a suitable book, you can, for example, head to your local library and ask the staff for their tips. The Reading Challenge Facebook group also includes lots of tips on suitable books. You can also search for help on the Helmet webpage Tips. Help is also available from the Ask a Librarian service.
Have a great reading year 2022!
The Helmet Reading Challenge 2022
1. A book combining fact and fiction
2. A book where ice or snow plays a major role
3. A book with events in which you would like to be involved in
4. A book with events in which you would not like to be involved in
5. A book featuring someone falling seriously ill
6. A book by an author whose work you have never read before
7. A book about friendship
8. A book where something that is lost, or thought to be lost, is found
9. A book whose protagonist belongs to an ethnic minority
10. A book with a title you find boring
11. A book whose events are not recounted in chronological order
12. A poetry book published within the last five years
13. A children’s or young adult’s book published in the 2000s
14. A book about a historical event
15. A book about a topic you want to learn more about
16. A book with chapters with titles
17. A book that has stirred public debate or caused a scandal
18. A book written by a journalist
19. A book has at least three different narrators
20. A book with characters who have supernatural abilities
21. A book that relates to your childhood
22. A book containing text messages, emails or social media updates
23. A small book
24. A book written by an author from the Middle East
25. A book with a title that includes a cardinal direction
26. A book related to civic activism
27. A book recommended by another Reading Challenge participant
28. A book with a minor as its protagonist
29. A book that describes good and evil
30. A book featuring relocating to a new country
31. A book that includes something you find important
32. A book that breaks community standards
33. A book set in Africa
34. A book written by an author whose name includes a nature word
35. A book including a trial
36. A book that follows the lives of many generations
37. A book with a cover or title that makes you feel good
38. A book where a dream or goal is achieved
39. A collection of short stories
40. A book about a country that no longer exists
41. A comic book or book about a superhero
42. A book about living in a commune or shared flat
43. A book that meets at least three of the challenge items
44. A book with a title that includes a name of a city
45. An award-winning debut novel
46. A book with a cover that is mostly red or a title that includes the word red
47.–48. Two books written by authors belonging to the same family or related to one another
49. A book published in 2022
50. A book recommended by library staff
Help with the Reading Challenge:
A printable version of the Reading Challenge (PDF)
Tables for monitoring your progress
Helmet Reading Challenge on Facebook
Book tips
Materials for libraries, bloggers and the media
The Reading Challenge in other languages:
Lukuhaaste suomeksi
Helmet Reading Challenge in simple Finnish
Läsutmaning på svenska
Литературный вызов по-русски
Helmet Lese-Challenge
Helmeti raamatukogu lugemise väljakutse
Helmet Reading Challenges in 2015–2021:
2015 (not available in English), 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Other Helmet Challenges:
Little Helmet Reading Challenge
Helmet Music Challenge
Helmet Game Challenge
Helmet Film Challenge
Little Helmet Film Challenge
Text: Riikka Utriainen, Espoo City Library