December 2024 Mini-Challenge

December 2024 Mini-Challenge

Our final mini-challenge of 2024 is here! With this month’s prompts, we’re tackling the sights, sounds, and tastes of December! This will look vastly different for each of us depending on where we live and our unique December customs, so we can’t wait to see what you read for each prompt!

How do mini-challenges work?

Mini-challenges are smaller month-long reading challenges, usually comprised of three prompts built around a specific theme. Mini-challenges are released sporadically throughout the year and not every month has one. Match one book to each of the prompts and have fun reading!

To ensure you don’t miss any future 52 Book Club mini-challenges, don’t forget to sign up for e-mails!

December Stickers:

As part of our 2024 Mini-Challenge Sticker Subscription, we have released a set of stickers to match your December mini-challenge! This is our final mini-challenge sticker set of 2024. While we don’t currently have plans to release mini-challenge stickers in 2025, you never know what will happen!

NOTE: December mini-challenge stickers have been delayed to a Canada Post national mail strike. As no mail is moving in Canada, stickers are currently stuck at the depot but will be on their way as soon as the strike is resolved. Thank you so much for your patience!

December 2024 Mini-Challenge:

1. Sight: December captured on the cover

2. Sound: Holiday harmonies

3. Taste: Features festive flavors

Match one book to each of the prompts (for a total of three books.) 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) December captured on the cover — For this prompt, we’re looking for a cover that screams “December!” This will look different for each of us depending on where we live and what the month personally represents/looks like.

Some members may choose a cover with a wintery, snowy scene, while our friends in southern hemisphere countries may choose a cover with a beach scene or warmer weather on the cover. If you celebrate a December holiday, you may choose a cover that captures the feeling of Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanzaa. It may represent December for you currently, or a representation of what December used to look.

The title does not have to include December-themed words, and while the cover may represent December to you, the plot or theme of the book does not have to revolve around or take place in this month. The book may be any genre.

Examples: The Christmas Bookshop, The Night Before Christmas, The Bear and the Nightingale, The Christmas Appeal, Rock, Paper, Scissors, Eight Sweet Nights, Midnight in Everwood

Goodreads list: December captured on the cover

2) Holiday Harmonies — This prompt was inspired by the sounds of December but is open to a broad range of interpretations. Because the prompt doesn’t specify which holiday, you may decide on a holiday set in any month. Some examples for how to interpret the prompt include (but aren’t limited to):

Title: You may choose a book with the words, “Holiday” or “Harmonies” in the title. You might also choose a title inspired by a classic holiday tune. (This may be an exact song title, like Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark, or a twist on a classic, like Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey.)

Cover: You may find a holiday-themed cover with music notes, musical references, or characters singing.

Character: Does the main character love to sing or write music? Is there a carolling scene? Is the main character’s name Harmony or Carol? Any of these options would fit this prompt!

Looking for a creative twist? Read a book while listening to the holiday harmonies of your choice!

Examples: The Christmas Countdown (carolling scene), A Christmas Carol, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, Christmas in Harmony Harbor, The Carols of Christmas

Goodreads List: Holiday Harmonies

3) Includes festive flavors: For this prompt, give us books featuring all those festive flavors!

The Cambridge dictionary defines festive as, “having or producing happy and enjoyable feelings suitable for a festival or other special occasion.” This means that the prompt can feature any festive flavors, from any festivity or celebration. You may decide on a festive flavor from the month of December, or not! Whether a flavor is “festive” or not will vary for each of us depending on our personal history, location, and/or experiences.

The flavor may appear as a word in the title, part of the cover design, or somewhere in the story itself. It may be a book that includes a festive recipe, a character who bakes or cooks festive foods, the name of a character, author, or town (Chestnut Springs, Cranberry Cove), etc. The festive flavor may appear in a small scene or play a significant role in the book as a whole.

As long as the flavor feels festive to YOU, it fits this prompt!

Examples: Eggnog Murder, Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery, The 12 Dates of Christmas, Christmas Dessert Murder, Love and Latkes

Goodreads List: Features festive flavors

Mini-challenge tips:

1) Do I have to complete this challenge in December?
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 December 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 74 prompts for 2024, not counting the Summer Challenge), or you can double up and combine them with prompts still left on your 2024 list. Your challenge, your rules!

Comment below and let us know what you’re reading this month!