The 52 Book Club: 2025 Challenge discussion

Clicking the available links will take you to the listopia for each category. Feel free to add what book you're reading and/or any other suggestions you may have for that prompt!


1. Locked-Room Mystery

2. Bibliosmia: A Smelly Book

3. More Than 40 Chapters

4. Lowercase Letters On The Spine

5. Magical Realism

6. Women In STEM

7. At Least Four Different POV

8. Features The Ocean

9. A Character-Driven Novel

10. Told In Non-Chronological Order

11. Starting With The Letter "K"

12. Starting With The Letter "L"

13. An Academic Thriller

14. A Grieving Character

15. Part Of A Duology

16. An Omniscient Narrator

17. Nominated For The Booker Prize

18. An Apostrophe In The Title

19. A Buddy Read
(there will be no list for this prompt)

20. A Revenge Story

21. Written By A Ghostwriter

22. A Plot Similar To Another Book

23. The Other Book With The Similar Plot

24. A Cover Without People On It

25. An Author "Everyone" Has Read Except You

26. Hybrid Genre

27. By A Neurodivergent Author

28. A Yellow Spine

29. Published In A Year Of The Dragon

30. Picked Without Reading The Blurb
(there will be no list for this prompt)

31. Includes A Personal Phobia

32. Time Frame Spans A Week Or Less

33. An Abrupt Ending

34. Set In A Landlocked Country

35. Title Matches Lyrics From A Song

36. Has Futuristic Technology

37. Palindrome On The Cover

38. Published By Hachette

39. Non-Fiction Recommended By A Friend
(there will be no list for this prompt)

40. Set During A Holiday You Don't Celebrate

41. A Sticker On The Cover
(there will be no list for this prompt)

42. Author Debut In Second Half Of 2024

43. About Finding Identity

44. Includes A Wedding

45. Chapter Headings Have Dates

46. Featuring Indigenous Culture

47. Self-Insert By An Author

48. The Word "Secret" In The Title

49. Set In A City Starting With The Letter "M"

50. A Musical Instrument On The Cover

51. Related To The Word "Wild"

52. Published In 2024


Mini Challenges

February
By A Black Author In Your Favorite Genre
Be Mine, Valentine
By An Author Born In A Leap Year

April
(Never Gonna) Give You Up
(Never Gonna) Let You Down
(Never Gonna Run Around And) Desert You

May
Author's Last Name Starts With The Letter "M"
A Is For Alpha
Interrogative Word In The Title

Summer
Opening Ceremonies: Set In Paris
Opening Ceremonies: Flame On The Cover
Opening Ceremonies: Going For Gold
100m Spring: A Short Story Collection
Long Jump: Audiobook Is 15+ Hours Long
Steeplechase: Character Is A Spiritual Leader
Boxing: A Strong Opening Hook
Wrestling: A Heavy Read
Fencing: Dialogue With Witty Banter
Balance Beam: About Finding Balance In Life
Uneven Bars: Series With An Uneven Number Of Books
Rings: Jewelry On The Cover
Synchronized Diving: A Sports Romance Novel
Water Polo: A Book That Made A Splash
Butterfly: Plot Featuring The Butterfly Effect
Road Cycling: Time Period Without Modern Transportation
Team Pursuit: Featuring A Group Of Friends
Cross Country: Related To The Word Endurance
Handball: Author Shares Same Last Name As An Olympian
Football/Soccer: Double Letter Word In The Title
Closing Ceremonies: At Least Four Olympic Ring Colors On Cover
Closing Ceremonies: Author Who Hasn't Released A Book In The Past Four Years
Closing Ceremonies: Memoir?Biography About An Olympian



**more in comments below**

Also, please remember that each Prompt has its own discussion thread for comments, suggestions, and what book you've read for it.

I just realized, last year, there were prompts for the letters G, H, and I, and this year there are prompts for K and L. What happened to J? Not complaining, just curious.

Michele wrote: "I just realized, last year, there were prompts for the letters G, H, and I, and this year there are prompts for K and L. What happened to J? Not complaining, just curious."

It's mentioned in the discussion thread for K that we did "starts with the letter J" in 2019 and chose not to repeat it. You're of course welcome to add it to your personal challenge or blend it with another prompt

Lindsey wrote: "Michele wrote: "I just realized, last year, there were prompts for the letters G, H, and I, and this year there are prompts for K and L. What happened to J? Not complaining, just curious."

It's me..."

Ah, got it. I guess I missed that part, and didn't start doing the challenges until 2022.

Hi, my third year doing this one! Question: what do I do as a Kindle-reader with prompts that are skewed physical (yellow spine, sticker on the cover and so forth)? :)

Nina ( picturetalk321 ) wrote: "Hi, my third year doing this one! Question: what do I do as a Kindle-reader with prompts that are skewed physical (yellow spine, sticker on the cover and so forth)? :)"

Please check the designated discussion thread for each of those prompts, they give great suggestions for how to interpret them!

Also here on our Challenge Guide: https://www.the52book.club/2024-chall...

Nina ( picturetalk321 ) wrote: "Hi, my third year doing this one! Question: what do I do as a Kindle-reader with prompts that are skewed physical (yellow spine, sticker on the cover and so forth)? :)"

look up the book on amazon and see what it looks like or look it up on google

for the "sticker on the cover prompt" my library has the barcode sticker on the front of most books!

Ideas for a prompt that fits Gallant by V.E Schwab? A bit backwards but it’s on my list to read!

has anyone created a pdf or google sheet document with each prompt into square I could use? That would be great. Thank you

Flo wrote: "has anyone created a pdf or google sheet document with each prompt into square I could use? That would be great. Thank you"

Hi Flo!
I made a copy of my challenge spreadsheet to share. Enjoy! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

KC wrote

Hi Flo!
I made a copy of my challenge spreadsheet to share. ..."

KC, this is incredible! It even links to the GR listopia, WOW. I have no skills to create something like this. Thank you so much for sharing!!

KC wrote: "Flo wrote: "has anyone created a pdf or google sheet document with each prompt into square I could use? That would be great. Thank you"

Hi Flo!
I made a copy of my challenge spreadsheet to share. ..."

KC, you are incredible!!! This is beyond perfection. This is what I was looking for and it is even better than what I even envisioned! Thank you Thank you Thank you. Next, I will hire you to teach me how you manage to do that :)

KC wrote: "Flo wrote: "has anyone created a pdf or google sheet document with each prompt into square I could use? That would be great. Thank you"

Hi Flo!
I made a copy of my challenge spreadsheet to share. ..."

This is PERFECT!!!
Thank you very much

for this Mini Challenge, can we doble up the prompts with the yearly one?

ALJAVI wrote: "for this Mini Challenge, can we doble up the prompts with the yearly one?"

Entirely your choice! I choose to read separate books for them but many people overlap them with the other 52 prompts.

Thank you for the sheet KC! This is my first time doing all of this, is there a trick to be able to edit it to input my books? Thanks!

Thank you KC. You did a great job making this foolproof!

This is awesome

where can I find the comments for the "plot similar to another book" prompt so I can see what the paired book is?

MsCrankyPants wrote: "where can I find the comments for the "plot similar to another book" prompt so I can see what the paired book is?"

You have to be using the Goodreads website, not the app, then you can click on where it says "3 people voted" etc beside a title and if a comment was entered it will be there.

September
Professor Plum
In The Kitchen
With A Revolver

October
A Beverage On The Cover
Book Pairs With A Favorite Sweater (there will be no list for this prompt)
A Cozy Read

November
Related To The Word "InterGalactic"
Set In A Country Bordering At Least 5 Other Countries
Set In 2000-2010
800-900 Pages

December
December Captured On The Cover
Holiday Harmonies
Features Festive Flavors