Book-Lovers, Don't Miss Out! Take the 2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Updated on 7/1/2020 at 9:50 PM

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We're not even going to try to play it cool. The sixth annual POPSUGAR Reading Challenge is about to up your 2020 reading game in a big way. In addition to the 40 standard book challenge prompts, we're bringing back the 10 "advanced" prompts for those bibliophiles out there looking for something extra. Are you ready for a plot twist? This year, the advanced section is all 2020-themed, from "a book set in the 1920s" to "a book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision)."

Another way the 2020 reading challenge is better than ever is that we now have an exclusive POPSUGAR Book Club on Facebook! Join this well-read community of POPSUGAR editors and fellow readers from around the world to swap reading recs for the challenge, reach out when you're stumped on a prompt, share bullet-journaling ideas, or just chat about the latest page-turner you're obsessed with. In fact, one of the prompts is "a book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club," and our members have been actively sharing their reading recs in the group. (Join the group to see the recs!)

We hope this year's challenge broadens your horizons and reboots your love of reading in 2020, maybe even pushing you to read something you never would have picked up before purely based on the "a book you picked up because the title caught your attention" or "a book with a great first line" prompts. Who knows, you may uncover a new favorite genre like bildungsroman, get a fresh perspective from "a book by a trans or nonbinary author," learn something about "a subject you know nothing about," or be transported to "a country beginning with 'C'" that you've always wanted to visit.

Whatever path you take in 2020, we've said it before, and we'll say it again: the point of the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge is to have fun! So who's ready to get started?

Download our printable list here, checking off the books as you go, and pin the handy graphic ahead for reference. Share your progress on Instagram with #popsugarreadingchallenge.

If you're looking for an easy way to digitally track and rate the books you've read for the challenge, we'd suggest also joining this Goodreads group made up of readers who participate in the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge every year.

To help you get started, we're also sharing hand-picked suggestions from our editors and Facebook book club members for what to read for all 50 prompts that make up the 2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge!

— Additional reporting by Lilli Boice

2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

A book that's published in 2020
A book by a trans or nonbinary author
A book with a great first line
A book about a book club
A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics
A bildungsroman
The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed
A book with an upside-down image on the cover
A book with a map
A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club
An anthology
A book that passes the Bechdel test
A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it
A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name
A book about or involving social media
A book that has a book on the cover
A medical thriller
A book with a made-up language
A book set in a country beginning with "C"
A book you picked because the title caught your attention
A book published the month of your birthday
A book about or by a woman in STEM
A book that won an award in 2019
A book on a subject you know nothing about
A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics
A book with a pun in the title
A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins
A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character
A book with a bird on the cover
A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader
A book with "gold," "silver," or "bronze" in the title
A book by a WOC
A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads
A book you meant to read in 2019
A book with a three-word title
A book with a pink cover
A Western
A book by or about a journalist
Read a banned book during Banned Books Week
Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Advanced

A book written by an author in their 20s
A book with "20" or "twenty" in the title
A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision)
A book set in the 1920s
A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics
A book by an author who has written more than 20 books
A book with more than 20 letters in its title
A book published in the 20th century
A book from a series with more than 20 books
A book with a main character in their 20s

A book that's published in 2020

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

A book by a trans or nonbinary author

Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

A book with a great first line

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

First line: "Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that Summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down."

A book about a book club

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

A bildungsroman

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

A book with an upside-down image on the cover

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

A book with a map

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

"The Great Believers recommended by The Girly BookClub! I follow most of the book clubs out there but always seem to like their picks and Reese Witherspoon's! Especially this one!!" — Kristine

An anthology

Smitten edited by Candice L. Daquin and Hallelujah R. Huston

A book that passes the Bechdel test

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it

Euphoria by Lily King

A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name

Say You're Sorry by Karen Rose

A book about or involving social media

So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

A book that has a book on the cover

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

A medical thriller

The Price of Time by Tim Tigner

A book with a made-up language

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

A book set in a country beginning with "C"

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Setting: Colombia

A book you picked because the title caught your attention

Run Away by Harlan Coben

A book about or by a woman in STEM

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

A book that won an award in 2019

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

Winner of the 2019 International Booker Prize

A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics

Room by Emma Donoghue

A book with a pun in the title

Some Like It Hawk by Donna Andrews

A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins: greed

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character

Neuromancer by William Gibson

A book with a bird on the cover

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

A book with "gold," "silver," or "bronze" in the title

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

A book by a woman of color

Fumbled by Alexa Martin

A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

A book you meant to read in 2019

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

A book with a three-word title

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

A book with a pink cover

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

A western

Inland by Téa Obreht

A book by or about a journalist

A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan

Read a banned book during Banned Books Week

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

"Reading a childhood classic you've never read. I can't believe how many I haven't read." — Katrina

A book written by an author in their 20s

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

A book written by an author in their 20s

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

A book with "20" or "twenty" in the title

Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton

A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A book set in the 1920s

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

A book by an author who has written more than 20 books

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

A book with more than 20 letters in its title

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher

A book published in the 20th century

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

A book from a series with more than 20 books

Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce

A book with a main character in their 20s

Lullabies For Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill