Hello book lovers!
Are you looking for a fun reading challenge for the new year?
One of my newest yearly favorites has been the52bookclub's annual reading challenge, which includes 52 unique prompts and sometimes includes bonus prompts and giveaways!
(image belongs to and links to the52bookclub.com)
This is the 7th annual challenge and has garnered quite a following over at Facebook, Goodreads, and Instagram. They also share this reading challenge on Storygraph which has a fantastic way to keep track of what you may and do read for the challenge, as well as see what other participants are reading for each challenge in case you are having trouble with a prompt or two.
Without further ado, here are the prompts and a couple of hopefuls I have planned for each of them!
1. A locked-room mystery
(both locked-room mystery & isolated-area mystery novels count)
My recommendation:
Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
(takes place on an isolated island!)
What I might read for this prompt:
Murder on the Orient Express
One By One
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
The Sanatorium
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
2. Bibliosomia: A smelly book:
I do love a smelly book!
I'll probably link this prompt with some of my childhood "smemories" (smell-based memories) because I was an early reader and some book smells remind me of different times in my life. For example, certain book smells remind me of my elementary school library. Another is that I had a Little Bear book as a child that had a specific smell that I've only encountered once or twice since. Smemories are fun.
3. More than 40 chapters:
My recommendation:
Outlander
What I Might Read:
Probably an Outlander sequel (I've been stuck on the 4th for years!)
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
4. Lowercase letters on the spine:
(instead of all uppercase letters)
What I Might Read:
Class by Stephanie Land
(physical book has an all lowercase title on spine)
5. Magical Realism
My recommendation:
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
What I Might Read:
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
6. Women in STEM
(both locked-room mystery & isolated-area mystery novels count)
My recommendation:
Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
(takes place on an isolated island!)
What I might read for this prompt:
Murder on the Orient Express
One By One
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
2. Bibliosomia: A smelly book:
I do love a smelly book!
I'll probably link this prompt with some of my childhood "smemories" (smell-based memories) because I was an early reader and some book smells remind me of different times in my life. For example, certain book smells remind me of my elementary school library. Another is that I had a Little Bear book as a child that had a specific smell that I've only encountered once or twice since. Smemories are fun.
3. More than 40 chapters:
My recommendation:
Outlander
What I Might Read:
Probably an Outlander sequel (I've been stuck on the 4th for years!)
4. Lowercase letters on the spine:
(instead of all uppercase letters)
What I Might Read:
Class by Stephanie Land
(physical book has an all lowercase title on spine)
5. Magical Realism
My recommendation:
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
What I Might Read:
6. Women in STEM
Hidden Figures
7. At least 4 different POVS
My recommendation:
Sign Here by Claudia Lux
What I Might Read:
???
8. Features the Ocean
My recommendation:
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
What I Might Read:
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
9. A character-driven novel
My recommendation:
Sign Here by Claudia Lux
What I Might Read:
???
10. Told in nonchronological order
???
11. Title starting with the letter 'K'
Killers of a Certain Age
12. Title starting with the letter 'L'
Lute
Little Eve
Looking-Glass Sound
13. An academic thriller (dark academia)
My recommendation:
Catherine House
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
What I Might Read:
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
14. A grieving character
???
15. Part of a duology
My recommendations:
Six of Crows / Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
This Poison Heart / This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron
What I Might Read:
This Savage Song / Our Dark Duet by VE Schwab
Fable / Namesake by Adrienne Young
16. An omniscient narrator
(an 'all-knowing' narrator)
My recommendation:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
What I Might Read:
Dune by Frank Herbert
17. Nominated for The Booker Prize
(best novel written in English / published in the UK or Ireland)
What I Might Read:
Shuggie Bain
18. An apostrophe in the title
Paladin's Grace by T Kingfisher
19. A buddy-read
Hmm. I have no buddy-reads planned at the moment.
Will have to see if my book buds are up for it!
20. A revenge story
???
21. Written by a ghostwriter
Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobbie Brown
22. A plot similar to another book
???
23. The other book with a similar plot
???
24. A cover without people on it
Murder Road by Simone St James
25. An author 'everyone' has read except you
Catriona Ward
('everyone in the horror community, at least)
26. Hybrid genre (cross genre)
???
27. By a neurodivergent author:
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
28. A yellow spine
After the Forest
29. Published in a Year of the Dragon
(1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024)
???
30. Picked without reading the blurb
The Bad Ones
You Like It Darker
31. Includes a personal phobia
???
32. Time-frame spans a week or less
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
33. An abrupt ending
???
34. Set in a land-locked country
???
35. Title matches lyrics from a song
???
36. Has futuristic technology
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
37. Palindrome on the cover
???
38. Published by Hatchette
???
39. Nonfiction recommended by a friend
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year
40. Set during a holiday you don't celebrate
???
41. A sticker on the cover
???
42. Author debut in the second half of 2024
???
43. About finding identity
???
44. Includes a wedding
45. Chapter headings have dates
46. Featuring indigenous culture
47. Self-insert by an author
(when an author writes themselves in as a character in the novel)
48. The word "secret" in the title
49. Set in a city starting with the letter "M"
50. A musical instrument on the cover
Lute by Jennifer Thorne
51. Related to the word "Wild"
52. Published in 2024
Hashtags
#the52bookclub
#the52bookclub2024
You can find out more about this challenge over at the52bookclub's website!
If you want to keep up with what books I'm reading for which prompts, feel free to follow at Goodreads, Storygraph, and Bookstagram!
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