April 2024 Mini-Challenge

April 2024 Mini-Challenge

It’s April Fool’s Day and you know we love having fun with our challenges! So, what better theme for an April 1st mini-challenge than the classic internet prank — a rickroll! Rickrolling is the unexpected appearance of the music video, “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley song. (Thanks to our moderator, Lindsey for this month’s theme!)

For our April mini-challenge, we have three new prompts based on the song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” (You can listen to the song on YouTube here.) As with our past challenges based on song lyrics, the prompts are a little more abstract but are open to great creativity — and we have some ideas below to help you out if you get stuck!

What is a mini-challenge?

Mini-challenges are small, month-long reading challenges. They usually contain two or three prompts built around a specific theme. Match one book to each prompt, getting as creative as you like. If you think the book fits the prompt, it does! These mini-challenges are released sporadically and not every month will have one. (The surprise is part of the fun!)

April 2024 Mini-Challenge:

1. (Never Gonna) Give you up

2. (Never Gonna) Let you down

3. (Never Gonna) Desert you

Match one book to each of the prompts (for a total of three books). For this challenge, you can decide whether or not you’d like to include “Never Gonna” as part of each prompt. The prompts are more abstract than usual which lend themselves to creative interpretations and out of the box thinking, so have fun with it!

Share your picks in our Facebook group, Goodreads group, or on Instagram using the hashtag #the52bookclub2024. You can also find these listed as bonus prompts on our StoryGraph challenge.

Graphics & Printables:

Need some suggestions?

1) (Never gonna) Give you up: The prompts on this mini-challenge are a little more abstract, but as always, you’re welcome to get as creative as you like. If you think a book fits the prompt, it does! For each of these prompts you may choose whether or not you’d like to include “Never gonna.” This will change your interpretation of the prompt, and we’ll walk through that below.

For this prompt, you could choose a book with the words (or a variation of the words) “Give you up” in the title, subtitle, or book blurb.

“Give you up” may also be a theme or plot point within the story. For example, you may choose a fiction or non-fiction book in which a character is trying to give up a specific bad habit or vice. The character may be sacrificing something – example: giving up a dream in order to support their family. It could be a character who has to give someone or something up, or a character who is dealing with the effects of someone else giving them up, or giving up on them.

Alternatively, you may also decide to use the “never gonna” in front of this prompt, which would change the prompt to, “Never gonna give you up.” Instead of a character who is giving something up or sacrificing something, they’re now holding very tightly to it. Some examples might include: a forbidden star-crossed lovers plot, a thriller featuring a stalker, or a mystery featuring a retired detective who has never given up on trying to track down answers for a specific crime. For non-fiction, it could feature any inspiring memoir about not giving up on your dreams or passions.

There are a lot of creative variations and interpretations for this prompt, so have fun with it!

Goodreads list: Give you up

2) (Never gonna) Let you down: As with the previous prompt, any part of this phrase may occur in the title or description of the book. You may choose a book somehow related to the phrase “Let you down” or the opposite, “Never gonna let you down.”

You may decide to keep this prompt open until the end of the month. If at the end of April, you have any 1 or 2 star reads, you could fit them under this prompt because they “let you down.” You could also choose an author or genre who have let you down in the past, but that you want to give a second chance, or a book that another 52 Book Club member reviewed and said was a disappointment or “let them down.”

Alternatively, you may choose an author or series that you love and that you know is “never gonna let you down.”

This phrase could also tie into the plot or theme of the book as a whole, featuring a character who is let down by someone or something, who has a fear of letting others down (never gonna), or is feeling the pressure of letting someone down. They may be disappointed by a person, a situation, or life in general. It could also feature a break-up scene in which one character tries to “let the other down easy.”

You could also choose to go with the “never gonna let you down” and pick a character who is extremely loyal.

Goodreads List: Let you down

3) (Never gonna run around and) Desert You: All three of these prompts can have very similar interpretations, choosing themes or plots featuring characters who are loyal and faithful, or characters who have exact opposite qualities and abandon or disappoint others. This may naturally lean toward genres like romance, family sagas, memoirs, or even military-based stories.

Books fitting this prompt may feature a character who is a “deserter” in a war or someone who has deserted other responsibilities. It could also be someone who takes their responsibilities very seriously and vows that they’re “never gonna desert you.” This may be a group survival story or a found family story that sticks together despite incredible odds, etc.

For this prompt, an additional interpretation may be books set in a desert. It may also be any title or subtitle featuring the word “desert” or any book with a desert on the cover.

Goodreads List: Desert You

Mini-challenge tips:

1) Do I have to complete this challenge in April?
Nope! You can complete this mini-challenge whenever you like. Some members prefer to focus on finishing the main 2024 challenge first, and then go back to complete all the minis afterward. Others enjoy the added challenge of completing mini-challenges in the month they’re released. If you start the April challenge but don’t finish this month, feel free to carry it over into the coming months. Do whatever works for you!

2) Is this a part of the main 52 books in 52 weeks challenge?
Yes and no. Mini-challenges are related to our 52 books in 52 weeks challenge but are also completely optional. Some members may decide to complete the full challenge and all the minis. Other members may choose to skip mini-challenges or to complete some of the minis but not all of them. Some challenge participants might only be joining in for the minis. It’s up to you how (or if) you’d like to participate.

3) Can I use the same books as my 52 book challenge?
It all depends on your personal reading goals! You can choose to read these books in addition to your regular 52 Book Club reads (this mini-challenge makes 58 prompts for 2024), or you can double up and combine them with prompts still left on your 2024 list. Your challenge, your rules!

What books will you be picking this month?