Hello Readers! This will be my fifth year to participate in the Popsugar Reading Challenge! If you’ve never heard of the challenge, you can learn about it here. There’s also an informative Goodreads group here, as well as a Facebook group. What I like about this challenge is it pushes me out of my comfort zones a bit, but I can almost always find books off my own shelf to fill the prompts. The list creators are always encouraging readers to make the list their own and to interpret the prompts in the way that is best for their own use, as well.

The day they release the prompts is always a little bit like Christmas morning for me. I always have way too much fun planning out my reading year—even though I rarely stick to it too closely.

I try to pick out existing books on my physical and digital shelves first and then fill in any other spots with books I’ve been wanting to read but don’t own yet. What usually causes my list to change the most are my ARCs. It’s usually while I’m reading them that I discover they’ll fit a prompt on the list. But I do also like to allow some room for mood reading.

After browsing through 2022’s prompts, I think I’m most excited about how diverse this year’s list is. I’m also loving the “two” theme in the advanced prompts for the year, 2022. I’ve been able to fill prompts with mostly books I already own, with the exception of 3 or 4 books. Here’s what I’ve “planned”. We’ll see at the end of the year how well I stick to what I’ve picked. 😉

• A book published in 2022 – I’ll fill this spot with whichever ARC I read first that doesn’t have a prompt to fill on the challenge.
• A book set on a plane, train, or cruise ship – Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (alternate – How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce)
• A book about or set in a non patriarchal society – All Systems Red by Martha Wells (alternate – Scythe (Arc of Scythe, #1) by Neal Shusterman
• A book with a tiger on the cover or “tiger” in the title – Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry (alternate – The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams)
• A sapphic book – Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey (alternate – Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron)

• A book by a Latinx author – West Side Love Story by Priscilla Oliveras (alternate – A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria)
• A book with an onomatopoeia in its title – Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
• A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid – Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, #2) by Chloe Liese (alternate – All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr)
• A book about a “found family” – The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
• An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner – Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (alternate – Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison)

• A #BookTok recommendation – Circe by Madeline Miller (alternate – It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover)
• A book about the afterlife – One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (I think this one works here.)
• A book set in the 1980s – Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss (alternate – My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix)
• A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title – The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (alternate – Heartburn by Nora Ephron)
• A book by a Pacific Islander author – The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

• A book about witches – The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith (alternate – The Ravens by Kass Morgan)
• A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2022 – The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons, #2) by Julia Quinn (alternate – Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney)
• A romance novel by a BIPOC author – Digging Up Love by Chandra Blumberg (alternate – The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang)

• A book that takes place during your favorite season – My favorite season tends to be whichever one I’m in, so I’ve decided to try and do one book for each season. If it doesn’t happen, and I only read one, that’s okay, too!
• Fall – The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Empire Falls by Richard Russo)
• Winter – Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long (alternate – Voices in the Snow by Darcy Coates)
• Spring – The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (alternate – I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith)
• Summer – Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand)

• A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read – I’ll leave this blank for mood reading.
• A book about a band or musical group – The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl (alternate – Station Eleven by Emily St. John)
• A book with a character on the ace spectrum – The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
• A book with a recipe in it – Heartburn by Nora Ephron (alternate – Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg)
• A book you can read in one sitting – I’ll leave this one blank for now, as well, and just fill it in with the first book I read in one sitting.

• A book about a secret – Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (alternate – The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty)
• A book with a misleading title – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gayle Honeyman (alternate – Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid)
• A Hugo Award winner – Dune by Frank Herbert (alternate – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury)
• A book set during a holiday – This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (alternate – 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston)
• A different book by an author you read in 2021 – The Lost Husband by Katherine Center (alternate – Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren)

• A book with the name of a board game in the title – Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid (alternate – Scythe by Neal Schusterman)
• A book featuring a man-made disaster – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (alternate – The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah)
• A book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page – You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle – quote on the cover by Christina Lauren (alterntate – A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria – quote on the cover by Emily Henry)
• A social-horror book – Very Bad People by Kit Frick (alternate – Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron)
• A book set in Victorian times – Premeditated Myrtle (A Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery, #1) by Elizabeth C. Bunce (alternate – Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye)

• A book with a constellation on the cover or in the title – The Light Between the Oceans by M.L. Stedman (The stars look like constellations, so I’m penciling this in here unless I find something that fits better.)
• A book you know nothing about – I’ll leave this blank for a book that comes in my Book HookUp subscription box.
• A book about gender identity – Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
• A book featuring a party – Bend Toward the Sun by Jen Devon (I’ve read the first few pages, and this one opens at a party!)
• An #ownvoices SFF book – A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

• Your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge (I like to challenge myself by choosing a prompt from each past challenge, and this year they’re almost all travel-themed!)

• 2015 – A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit (Alaska) – Running Wild by K.A. Tucker
• 2016 – A book that takes place on an island – One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
• 2016 Summer Challenge – A book that takes place somewhere you hope to go (Utah) – Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
• 2016 Fall Challenge – A book you’ve always wanted to read – The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
• 2017 – A book about travel – Meet Me in Paradise by Libby Hubscher
• 2018 – A book set at sea – Namesake by Adrienne Young
• 2019 – A book set on a college or university campus – Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy
• 2020 – A book with a three word title – Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
• 2020 Summer Challenge – A book set on vacation – The Suite Spot by Trish Doller
• 2020 Fall/Autumn Challenge (originally posted on Popsugar’s Facebook page) – A book that takes place somewhere you’ll probably never visit – From Thailand With Love by Camilla Isley
• 2021 – A book set mostly outdoors – Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

Advanced Prompts

• A book with a reflected image on the cover or “mirror” in the title – Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre
• A book that features two languages – Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
• A book with a palindromic title – Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
• A duology (1) – King Of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
• A duology (2) – Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

• A book about someone leading a double life – Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
• A book featuring a parallel reality – City of Orange by David Yoon (not sure if this fits yet)
• A book with two POVs – The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain
• Two books set in twin towns, aka “sister cities” (1) – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Paris)
• Two books set in twin towns, aka “sister cities” (2) – Moment in Time by Suzanne Redfearn (San Fransisco)

Congratulations for making it to the end! Are you participating in the Popsugar Reading Challenge? Did I include any of your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!