FAQs (for the first cohort)

For the first cohort, anyone aged 18 to 24 who is studying at a college in Hyderabad and has a valid student ID is eligible. We hope to expand to other ages, other cities eventually.

No. The Reading Year is open to students at any college in Hyderabad.

You need to be between 18 and 24 on the day you apply. If you fall just short of qualifying and would like to be considered, please write to us at hello@thereadingyear.org.

Applications close on 31 October 2026. If we extend the window, we'll announce it here.

We will read every application. First, we'll check that you're eligible, and then we will review your responses. We're not looking for anything elaborate, and the form should take you no more than ten minutes to complete, but we will set aside applications that don't really answer the questions, including one-word replies. From everyone else, we will choose 100 by lottery.

We'll email you by 21 November 2026 to let you know.

If you missed out on the first cohort, we're sorry. You can still follow along with our monthly choices, which we'll share on this website. And if you'd like, we'll add your name to a list for the next cohort: just write to us at hello@thereadingyear.org.

The program is entirely free for participants. There is no enrolment fee. The books are free, shipping within Hyderabad is free, and the books are yours to keep. All we seek from you is your time, some light feedback, and the willingness to give reading a chance.

Your first book will be ready on 2 January 2027, and you will receive one book a month through to December 2027.

The draft slate is up now, which should give you a good sense of the kind of books you can expect to choose from: roughly 50 books across three broad categories. It's a draft, so a few titles may change; the final slate is confirmed on 1 December, with a second slate to be announced in June. They're grouped into Stories, Page-turners and Ideas, but you can choose from any group, any month.

Unfortunately, not. The program only offers books in English, including English translations of Indian-language literature.

Ideally, even if you don't want to choose, we'd like you to open the monthly email and ask us to pick, which takes a few seconds. But if you miss responding for whatever reason, we will go ahead and choose one for you from the slate, so you don't miss out. See also the answer below on what happens if you don't choose or share any feedback for two months in a row.

Unfortunately, we can't offer a second book in the same month, but the next month's book will be available soon enough. Perhaps you can use your impression of the book you didn't like, to sharpen your choice of the next one.

You can either collect it in person from Luna Books in Jubilee Hills or opt for free shipping to your address in Hyderabad. We urge you to collect in person whenever you can, because it gives you a chance to browse and spend more time among books, but this is not mandatory. We'll ask you each month how you want your book, so you don't need to decide for the whole year, but if we don't hear from you, we'll use the choice you made when you enrolled.

Yes. You'll need to upload it when you sign up and show it when you collect your books in person.

Choose a book each month, read it at your own pace, and share a quick reaction to tell us what you thought. There are also four short surveys: at the start, six months in, at the end, and six months after the program.

That's completely fine. Please don't feel obliged to finish a book that isn't working for you. Just tell us you didn't finish it, and if you share why, that's very helpful. It helps us choose better books.

No. Cohort gatherings at Luna, if we hold any, will be entirely optional.

We understand that life gets in the way sometimes. If you don't respond to the monthly email once, we'll still send you our pick. If you skip a second month, we'll hold your book and get in touch to ask whether you'd like to pause participating. If you do, you can rejoin at any point in the twelve months. If we don't hear from you at all, we'd unfortunately have to pause your enrolment and offer your spot to another student.

You can leave the program at any time. Just email us at hello@thereadingyear.org. And it does not disqualify you from applying to and being included in future cohorts.

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