The 52 Book Club’s 2025 Reading Challenge
Want to read more? Try new books? Work through that ever-growing TBR pile? The 52 Book Club’s 2025 challenge is here for you with a smörgåsbord of literary delights for the new year.
What is the challenge?
The 52 Book Club’s annual reading challenge is made up of 52 unique reading prompts. The goal is to match one book to each prompt, for a total of fifty-two books over the year.
Prompts are related to everything from specific words in the title, to cover design, authors, genres, settings, themes, characters, etc. (Think of it like a giant bookish scavenger hunt!) We encourage participants to try books outside of their regular reading comfort zones and push themselves to read more, read differently, and get creative with it!
How does it work?
- Follow The 52 Book Club on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Goodreads or Storygraph, and Instagram. PLUS, don’t forget to sign up for e-mails to stay in the loop with any new challenge news!
- Using the list below, match one book to each of the 52 prompts. (52 books total.) Get as creative as you like with interpreting the prompts!
- When January 1, 2025 rolls around, start reading!
- Once you’ve finished one of the prompts, check it off the list and share your read! The Facebook group is our most popular spot for posting your recent 52 Book Club reads. When sharing on other social media sites like Instagram or X, don’t forget to use the hashtag #the52bookclub2025 and #the52bookclub. This helps us find everyone!
- How often you share is up to you! You can share after every read, share all of your reads at the end of the month, or even just at the end of the year! Some participants chose to track their reads privately and simply follow along in the groups to find amazing recommendations. This challenge is self-led and how you decide to participate is up to you. We’re just glad you’re here!
Want to learn more? This 52 Book Club 2025 challenge video walks you through all the details of our 2025 challenge!
Commonly Asked Questions:
- Do I have to complete the challenge in order? Not at all. Working through the list in order will make the challenge more difficult. Some members choose to work through the prompts in order as a fun add-on to increase difficulty, others like to bounce around. Do what works best for you!
- Can I read (specific book or format of reading) for this challenge? Yes! All reading is reading. Any book that fits the prompts works for this challenge. Each of our prompts can be completed using any format of reading (physical copies, e-books, audiobooks, live readings from the author, children’s board books, graphic novels, etc!) There is no required length or format of reading. Interpret the prompts as creatively as you like!
As we like to say, “If you think a book fits the prompts, it does!”
- What if I can’t read all 52 books? That’s okay! Join anyway and complete as many as you can, or cross off multiple prompts with the same book. This is a self-led, pressure-free challenge! It’s not a competition. Read at your own pace and have fun!
- I read more than 52 books a year. Is that okay? Of course! Sign up for e-mails and keep an eye out for the bonus mini-challenges we release throughout the year. For our most prolific readers, we also have some suggestions for increasing the difficulty of your 2025 challenge!
- Help! I don’t understand this prompt… We’ve got you covered. Head over to our 2025 challenge guide and we’ll walk you through each and every prompt in detail.
- When does the challenge start? The challenge officially begins January 1, 2025! Any books read in 2025 count toward this challenge.
Have more questions? Check out our FAQs.
Ready to see what we’re reading in 2025? Here’s our new challenge:
Sharing the challenge? Don’t forget to use the hashtags #the52bookclub or #the52bookclub2025
Invite your friends and family members to join in. It’s okay if you can’t read 52 books in a year. All are welcome!
2025 Challenge Downloads
Want to download a copy of the challenge for yourself? Check out these free printables! In addition to a PDF and JPEG version of the challenge, we also have a 2025 printable logbook (a simple way to track your 2025 challenge reads), a 2025 post template (perfect for sharing on social media), a Word document copy of the prompts, and templates for sharing all 52 book covers. You can grab them all here:
Note: To edit the shareable JPEG graphics, download a copy and then edit using a photo editing app of your choice. (We like to use Canva.)
The 2025 Journal
Want an easy way to track your challenge reads? We’ve got a custom 52 Book Club 2025 journal just for you! This journal contains review pages for all fifty-two of our 2025 prompts, as well as planning pages, bonus challenges, tools for tracking your monthly reading stats, and more!
This journal is printed by Amazon KDP and is available wherever Amazon ships. (Note: Due to Amazon printing in Australia and Japan, journals ordered from those regions will have black-and-white interior pages. Those ordering from Amazon Australia can find the link to purchase HERE.)
Note: Because this journal is printed through Amazon, pages may be thinner than other planners. We recommend using non-bleed pens when using the journal. This journal is also fully compatible with our 2025 prompt stickers from PlanItWithStickers.com.
For sample photos of the journal or for a video walkthrough showing you exactly what’s included, click here!
If the button does not direct you to the Amazon region closest to you, here are the links to the individual Amazon regions: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon FR, Amazon ES, Amazon IT, Amazon NL, Amazon PL, Amazon SE, Amazon AU, Amazon JP.
Other Resources for 2025:
Need some help with your 2025 challenge? We’ve got some extra resources for you!
Before starting your challenge, we highly recommend taking some time to read through our 2025 Reading Challenge Guide. This guide walks through EACH of the 52 prompts and contains creative interpretations, ideas to get you started, and links to our Goodreads lists. The challenge guide is a helpful launching point for your challenge and will show you a variety of ways to interpret the prompts but it’s not an exhaustive list. Feel free to think outside the box and find what works for you!
Want a quicker way to access the Goodreads lists? We’ve also compiled a full list of all 52 Goodreads lists for this challenge. Click the buttons below to access both of these amazing resources!
The 52 Book Club 2025 sticker set collection from PlanItWithStickers is available now! These stickers are an optional add-on for those who enjoy tracking their reads with physical journals or planners. (They’ll also fit within your 52 Book Club 2025 Journal!) This sticker collection has been custom-designed to match the vibe of our 2025 challenge and contains stickers for all fifty-two prompts. You can purchase a sticker set here!
Connect with us:
Want to make some bookish friends? Have more questions? Our social sites are an excellent place to ask for book suggestions, get challenge help, and meet new bookish friends! We invite you to join our Facebook group, Goodreads group, The 52 Book Club 2025 challenge on Storygraph, YouTube, and/or follow us on Instagram! You can find quick links to each of these groups below. Reading is always more fun together! Come join us!
Ready for 2025? Some challenge years are more difficult than others. We know that there are a few prompts on this 2025 challenge that may feel daunting. That’s okay! It’s all part of the challenge — but it should still always be fun! Research, ask for suggestions, and get creative! Your challenge, your rules!
(Don’t forget to read through our guidelines, FAQs, and our 2025 challenge guide for more tips on completing your 2025 challenge!)
Happy reading!