Hello Readers! This will be my seventh year to participate in the Popsugar Reading Challenge. 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. There’s an informative Goodreads group, as well as a Facebook group, and multiple groups on StoryGraph (but this one seems to be the most popular). All of which are great places to go to gather inspiration for the prompts. I like to create this post to refer back to as I read, creating update posts throughout the year, as well.

When choosing books for the prompts, 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 (advanced reader copies). 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 by choosing alternate books for some prompts.

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After browsing through 2024’s prompts, I’m mostly excited! While there are a few repeats, there are also several prompts that are new to me—and nothing that I absolutely dread. Much of the list has a “24” theme, which is fun, as well. I’ve been able to pull almost every book from my existing digital and physical shelves, with a few to borrow from Libby. (I’m also super excited to use my new reading challenge stickers from PlanItWithStickers, which I shared here.🥰)

Let’s see what books I’ve penciled in for my reading this year!

• prompt / 01 A book with the word “leap” in the title – Somewhere Close to Happy by Lia Louis
  Right off the bat, I have a hard prompt to fill. I have NO books with the word leap on my digital or physical shelves. Several people in the Goodreads group said they would resort to a book with the letters L-E-A-P in the title, so that may be what I do, as well.
• prompt / 02 A bildungsroman (a coming-of-age story) – My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
• prompt / 03 A book about a 24 year old – Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
  Another reader in the Goodreads group said this one contained a 24 year old, but I haven’t verified it myself yet.
• prompt / 04 A book about a writer/author – The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
  An ARC of this one just showed up in my email, and I’m super excited to get to it!
• prompt /05 A book about K-pop – I have no idea about this one. Recommend one to me!

• prompt / 06 A book about pirates – Namesake (The World of the Narrows, #2) by Adrienne Young
  It’s finally time to read the second book in the Fable series.
• prompt / 07 A book about women’s sports and/or by a woman athlete – What Is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachael Denhollander (alternate – Brace for Impact by Gabe Montesanti)
• prompt / 08 A book by a blind or visually impaired author – Misery by Stephen King
• prompt / 09 A book by a deaf or hard-of-hearing author – Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
• prompt / 10 A book by a self-published author – Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

• prompt / 11 A book from a genre you typically avoid – (Crime) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (alternate – Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer)
• prompt / 12 A book from an animal’s POV – Circe by Madeline Miller (alternate – Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt)
• prompt / 13 A book originally published under a pen name – Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
• prompt / 14 A book recommended by a bookseller – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• prompt / 15 A book recommended by a librarian – All American Boys by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely

• prompt / 16 A book set 24 years before you were born – Lie Down in Darkness by William Styron (alternate – Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee)
• prompt / 17 A book set in a travel destination on your bucket list – Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North
• prompt / 18 A book set in space – Honor’s Flight (Fallen Empire, #2) by Lindsay Buroker
  I used to be an avid reader of Buroker’s, but it’s been years since I picked up her books. I have many waiting on my kindle, so I’m hoping to rediscover her this year.
• prompt / 19 A book set in the future – Starseers (Fallen Empire, #3) by Lindsay Buroker
• prompt / 20 A book set in the snow – Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

• prompt / 21 A book that came out in a year that ends in “24” – The Getaway List by Emma Lord (currently reading)
• prompt / 22 A book that centers on video games – Role Playing by Cathy Yardley (alternate – Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin)
• prompt / 23 A book that features dragons – Raptor (Dragon Blood, #6) by Lindsay Buroker
• prompt / 24 A book that takes place over the course of 24 hours – Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne
• prompt / 25 A book that was published 24 years ago – Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (On Writing by Stephen King)

• prompt / 26 A book that was turned into a musical – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (alternate – Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, which would be a reread)
• prompt / 27 A book where someone dies in the first chapter – I’ll leave this one blank to fill in with the first book I read that fits the prompt.
• prompt / 28 A book with a main character who’s 42 years old – My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (alternate – Misery by Stephen King)
  I have not verified either of these are correct.
• prompt / 29 A book with a neurodivergent main character – The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
• prompt / 30 A book with a one-word title you had to look up in a dictionary – Recursion by Blake Crouch (alternate – Dominicana by Angie Cruz)

• prompt / 31 A book with a title that is a complete sentence – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• prompt / 32 A book with an enemies-to-lovers plot – Funny Story by Emily Henry
• prompt / 33 A book with an unreliable narrator – The Fury by Alex Michaelides (currently reading)
• prompt / 34 A book with at least three POVs – Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (Outlander, #8) by Diana Gabaldon
• prompt / 35 A book with magical realism – Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

• prompt / 36 A book written by an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated person – No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochami
• prompt / 37 A book written during NaNaWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) – Heartless by Marissa Meyer (alternate – Wool by Hugh Howey)
• ✅ prompt / 38 A cozy fantasy book – A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (My Review)
• prompt / 39 A fiction book by a trans or nonbinary author – The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (alternate – Now a Major Motion Picture by Cory McCarthy)
• prompt / 40 A horror book by a BIPOC author – She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
  I have a physical copy of this book that came in my book subscription box, but I see the rating on Goodreads has gone down. Let me know if you’ve read this one and what you thought!

• prompt / 41 A memoir that explores queerness – High School by Tegan & Sara Quin
• prompt / 42 A nonfiction book about Indigenous people – Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Journey to the Top of Everest by Jamling Tinzing Norgay
• prompt / 43 A second-chance romance – Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
• prompt / 44 An autobiography by a woman in rock ‘n’ roll – Face It by Debbie Harry (alternate – Just Kids by Patty Smith)
• prompt / 45 An LGBTQ+ romance novel – Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

Advanced Prompts

• advanced prompt / 01 A book in which a character sleeps for more than 24 hours – I’ll leave this one blank hoping to fill it as I read.
• advanced prompt / 02 A book with 24 letters in the title – The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel (alternate – The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms)
• advanced prompt / 03 A collection of at least 24 poems – I have several poetry book collections, so I’ll let this be a sort-of mood read choice.
• advanced prompt / 04 The 24th book of an author – The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
• advanced prompt / 05 A book that starts with the letter “X” – Xingu by Edith Wharton

Are you participating in the Popsugar Reading Challenge? Did I include any of your favorite books? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!