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If you have never heard of the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do (HRCYED for short) prepare to have your inner nerd light up. I recently discovered this amazing reading challenge and knew I had to attempt it.
What is HRCYED?
HRCYED stands for the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do. This reading challenge was started in 2024 by Q over on her YouTube channel Qwordy. The goal of this bingo-style challenge is not to actually complete it (a near-impossible task) but rather to push your reading boundaries and selections. There are 25 prompts set up in a bingo board. The goal is not to get a line across but rather to black out ALL the squares.
The catch? Each prompt involves multiple books. It’s almost like rolling 10 reading challenges into one big one. If you were to complete all the prompts it would be over 125 books!
Why participate in HRCYED?
The beauty of this reading challenge is the impossibility of it. Every good book nerd wants that crazy huge checklist of prompts with the ability to build and rebuild our TBR piles.
The other bonus is that the prompts promote diverse reading. While you can mostly stick to genres you prefer, it guides you towards authors of different identities, characters facing physical challenges, and stories written from around the world. Reading is meant to expand your mind and this challenge pushes you to do just that. I know I am going to read books I might not normally have selected and will hopefully find some new favorites.
Plus, when doing this challenge, you really are completing a series of mini challenges. I have a long list of reading challenges I like to try every year and HRCYED overlaps with a lot of them.
When is the HRCYED?
Q created this challenge for their birthday so the challenge starts on July 7 and goes for 1 year. This year is the second round (HRCYED 2.0) and the prompts are just as difficult! You can truly start this whenever you want but if you want to be part of the Discord community and get a certificate (if you really complete it) then you can sign up to start on July 7.
Where Can I Get the HRCYED Challenge Info?
The best place to get all the details is from the creator themselves. Check out the Announcement video by Q over on the Qwordy YouTube channel.
In the video description there is also a link to a website they created that has an amazing spreadsheet for tracking your reads. There are also printables if you have a reading journal you like to use. Or you can make your own printables like I did for my planner.
Freshly Read Books on YouTube also has created their own version of the printables in Canva and has graciously shared them for free.
Someone created the challenge in Storygraph as well. If you use this app definitely join the challenge there. There are lots of great book suggestions under the prompts.
How I am doing the HRCYED Challenge
I am all about completing the challenge as opposed to getting as much done as possible in a year. I am a slow reader and I want this to be pleasurable. As with all the reading challenges I do, I won’t stick to a specific timeline. I treat them more as rolling reading challenges. I keep chipping away at them until they are done and then start the next version whenever I want to. Really any reading challenge is about pushing yourself to read more and don’t we all just want to do that?
Also, I have made a few tweaks to some of the prompts.
The “Last Ten Years” prompt which is reading one book published from each year for the last 10 years I have changed to The 80’s. I am going to read one book published in each year of that decade. Just because here at The Book Curio I like to rediscover some forgotten reads and offer them up to my audience (it also helps me with my Birthday Bestseller Challenge!).
I’m also going to have every book from all the prompts (except the TBR Game prompt) be one I get from the library. I feel like libraries have been hit hard this year with funding and book banning and I want to try and shine a little spotlight on them and the wide variety of books you can get from just up the street…for free!
I will try and post updates as I progress, let you know what I have been reading and how I am doing in the challenge. Comment down below if you have participated in the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do before or if you think you might try HRCYED this year.
