Hey y’all! In spring of 2022, I got a notification on my phone from the Kindle app that I had gained an achievement, which seemed very strange. Apparently Kindle has introduced achievements that vary by season. That first notification was for the Spring Challenge, and they’ve continued to do seasonal challenges since then with each covering a three month period.
There are usually about 15 achievements, with some being consistent across all challenges (number of days read, number of books read, etc) and each with it’s own set of Mystery Achievements that are revealed at set dates over the three-month challenge.
► Here are my original thoughts about the Kindle Achievements, back when they first started and I had no idea what they were! 🙂
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There are three categories for the achievements: number of books finished on Kindle, number of days that you’ve read on Kindle, and a set of mystery ones that will show what the criteria for them are on a set schedule. The first reveal is on April 15th.
The badges when achieved are little bookmarks. I have no idea what happens with them once the time-frame has ended, but it seems like there might be a little collection to see.
I don’t think this would motivate me to read more, but it’s a fun little way to see what my reading habits are with a visual! What do you think? Are you hoping to collect some of these new little badges for digital reading?
FAQ about Kindle Achievements
How to access
So far, it looks like this is only accessible in the kindle app or on their newer e-readers with a home page setup. My Kindle Fire tablet has them, as well as the app on my phone, but nowhere on the Amazon or Kindle websites are they shown yet.
Unfortunately, this is also still only available in the US for some reason. International friends who want to participate, share your methods for tracking in the comments and feel free to use the challenge guides to collect your badges!
Mystery Badge Reveals
Mystery Badges are hidden at the start of each seasonal challenge set. They have dates assigned for when the title and criteria to achieve the badge is listed. Prior to the reveal, there is a question mark mask layer over the badge image, so you can slightly see what’s underneath.
The first mystery achievement was revealed on April 15, 2022, and it was for a Scholar badge that requires finishing a nonfiction title. I’m not totally sure how they judge the criteria for each book, but it probably links to the book’s Amazon page and details on it. The achievement has a list of recommendations for titles that would work.
Another mystery achievement was revealed in April for World Book Day, tying in to the free books Amazon gave away for that week. If you read a kindle book on April 23, 2022, it gave the Voyager badge.
Mystery badges can have a range of criteria, from reading a certain genre to performing some action unique to Kindle books (ex. Kindle Vella, following an author, etc)
What counts as “Reading” on a day?
I haven’t found an exact amount of pages or time that you need to do in order to qualify the day as having read something. I’ve read for as few as 5 minutes and as few as 4 pages and had those both still count. It seems like as long as it’s a few minutes and/or a couple page flips, it will count it for the day!
If you read on a different kindle device, it will sync up your progress when it’s connected to the internet and you’ll get retroactive credit. However, I have seen some people comment that it doesn’t always work correctly for them, so I’d recommend syncing up as soon as possible if you really want to get credit and using newer devices or ones that are connected to the internet when possible.
Leveling up badges
Some badges stack, like the Perfect Week and Perfect Month badges where you read every day for that time. When you achieve it again, it adds a little multiplier sticker in the corner. These also keep track of your days so you know where you’re at. Missing one day in April was super annoying to see on that tracker the rest of the month. xD The Reading Insights streak calendar can help with tracking this as well if you’re unsure where you missed a day.
Seeing the other badges
After a challenge ends, the badges you received can be seen in a expandable panel at the bottom of the Reading Insights section of the app.
In addition to the badges for reading a certain number of books, there appear to be 2 badges related to a specific genre or list of book. This challenge has one for reading sci-fi / fantasy and one for reading a book from the 2021 Best Books list of Amazon (linked on the badge in the app). And yes… these dang achievements absolutely did push me to read a book that I had posted about a while ago since it was on this list and I wanted the badge. xD I’m a sucker. ….But it was a good book!!
The badges that I had (apparently??) achieved in January are listed in a little section below the current challenge to view. If there were any others I didn’t get, those are no longer shown. I had no idea these even existed until April so maybe they were backdated? If anyone else has others listed, comment below because I’d love to hear it!
- Bronze Reader: read at least 7 days in January
- Series Starter: started reading a series title in January
- Quitter’s Day: read on January 19th, the day most people quit their New Year resolution
- Finisher: finish a book in January
The 2022 Spring Challenge’s Unlocked Badges
- Bronze Reader: Read 15 Days during the challenge (non-consecutive)
- Silver Reader: Read 40 Days during the challenge (non-consecutive)
- Gold Reader: Read 75 Days during the challenge (non-consecutive)
- Perfect Week: Read every day for a calendar week (Monday – Sunday)
- Bookish: read one book
- Bookworm: read two books
- Bibliophile: read three books
- Final Frontier: read a Science Fiction or Fantasy book
- Scholar: read a Nonfiction title
- Voyager: read on World Book Day (April 23, 2022)
- Great Escape: Read a Fiction title
- I’m A Fan: follow an author’s page on Amazon
- Perfect Month: Read every day for a calendar month (ex every day in June)
- Chart Topper: read a book from Amazon’s Best Books of 2021 list
- Quick Bites: read a Kindle Vella story
- Final Chapter: Read 2 days between 6/12 and 6/18
My Book Joy 
Oh, how interesting! Is this on the Kindle app or is it on the Kindle itself? I noticed that it keeps track of how often I’ve read on my Kindle when I look at the app on my phone but I haven’t seen this latest achievements update. Looks cute!
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It looks like it’s only on the app. I didn’t see it on the kindle reader website. I assume devices like a fire tablet or kindle itself would have them, though as well! Apparently there were some from January too that it told me I got, but I definitely never saw them before. xD
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I haven’t seen it on my kindle tablet but they’ve really changed the interface up so maybe I just need to look properly 😂 I feel like the kindle reader site has gotten worse (or at least worse when you open a book and read it) or is it just me? 🤣
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Yeah I’m not loving the new tablet updates either. I feel like they’re showing less of the books and library, which are the whole point!!! I do see the achievements in the Kindle app home page on my tablet now though, so looks like they added there too
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I have finished a challenge and badge doesn’t reflect it. What can I do?
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Sorry you’re dealing with that! That was so frustrating to me, too. It depends a bit on which challenge it’s for, but a few things that worked for me that you can try are: manually marking a book as read from your library, disconnecting from wifi then reconnecting and forcing a refresh; and just waiting a day or two because sometimes it was just slow to update (especially if it was from my older kindle reader).
At worst case, I recommend going to their support as they helped me with one previously. Here’s the link, just go through the applicable options and at the end click “I need more help” and it will have you call or start a chat with someone.
Hope you can get it to work, if so please comment how so others can know as well! 🙂
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