I don't know about you, but we're feeling hopeful about what's to come in 2021. One yearly tradition we're excited to embark on? The seventh annual POPSUGAR Reading Challenge!
This list of 50 fun and unique book prompts will help you accomplish your 2021 reading goals, whether you simply want to read more books this year or you want to diversify your reading by diving into niche genres, discovering lesser-known authors, or branching out of your book comfort zones.
If 50 books sounds like a lot, we break it down for you with 40 standard book challenge prompts and 10 "advanced" prompts for the overachievers out there. For 2021, the advanced section has a new theme we're excited about: your own TBR list! For many of us, our "TBR" (to-be-read) pile is embarrassingly long. In fact, when we reached out to our POPSUGAR Book Club members about their TBR lists [2] (learn how to join the group here [3]!), more than 900 readers said their lists were longer than 20, with some in the thousands! At least this year you'll be able to check off 10 of the books you've been meaning to read, whether they're on your bookshelf, on hold at the library, or just saved in your "want to read" section on Goodreads [4].
Book-lovers, no matter if this is your first time taking the challenge or you've been a devotee since the beginning, we hope the 2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge reinvigorates your passion for reading in the new year and encourages you to learn something about yourself, others, and the world around you. Most importantly, have fun with it! At the end of the day, you make the rules, so feel free to break them.
Ready to get started?
- Download our printable list here [5], checking off the books as you go, and pin the handy graphic ahead for reference.
- Join the POPSUGAR Book Club on Facebook [6], a well-read community of enthusiastic POPSUGAR editors and fellow readers from around the world. Swap book picks 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.
- 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 [7] made up of readers who participate in the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge every year.
- Follow POPSUGAR Books on Twitter [8] and share your progress on social with the hashtag #popsugarreadingchallenge [9].
Now keep reading for the 2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, plus curated book suggestions from our editors and book club members for what to read for all the prompts!
— Additional reporting by Allison Ingrum
2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
- A book that's published in 2021
- An Afrofuturist book
- A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover
- A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign
- A dark academia book
- A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title
- A book where the main character works at your current or dream job
- A book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction
- A book with a family tree
- A bestseller from the 1990s
- A book about forgetting
- A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.)
- A locked-room mystery
- A book set in a restaurant
- A book with a black-and-white cover
- A book by an Indigenous author
- A book that has the same title as a song
- A book about a subject you are passionate about
- A book that discusses body positivity
- A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list
- A genre hybrid
- A book set mostly or entirely outdoors
- A book with something broken on the cover
- A book by a Muslim American author
- A book that was published anonymously
- A book with an oxymoron in the title
- A book about do-overs or fresh starts
- A magical realism book
- A book set in multiple countries
- A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021
- A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality
- A book whose title starts with "Q," "X," or "Z"
- A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child)
- A book about a social justice issue
- A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels)
- A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads
- A book you think your best friend would like
- A book about art or an artist
- A book everyone seems to have read but you
- Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Advanced
- The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
- The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list
- The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover
- The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover
- The book that's been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time
- A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn't
- A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing
- A book from your TBR list chosen at random
- A DNF book from your TBR list
- A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library)
A book that's published in 2021
Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C Ford [10] (out June 1)
Here are more of the best new books of 2021 [11].
An Afrofuturist book
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor [12]
Here are more afrofuturist books [13].
A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover
Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming [14]
A dark academia book
Dead Poets Society by N. H. Kleinbaum [15]
Here are more dark academia books [16].
A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title
The Obsidian Mirror by K. D. Keenan [17]
A book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie [18]
Here are more books that have won the Women's Prize For Fiction [19].
A book with a family tree
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler [20]
A bestseller from the 1990s
Paradise by Toni Morrison [21]
Here are more bestsellers from the 1990s [22].
A book about forgetting
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart [23]
A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.)
The Nix by Nathan Hill [24] (as seen on Anna Wintour's bookshelf [25])
Here are more books we've seen on celebrity bookshelves [26].
A locked-room mystery
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman [27]
A book set in a restaurant
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain [28]
A book with a black-and-white cover
A Promised Land by Barack Obama [29]
A book by an Indigenous author
Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot [30]
A book that has the same title as a song
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro [31]
A book about a subject you are passionate about
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg [32]
A book that discusses body positivity
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert [33]
A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo [34]
A genre hybrid
Get in Trouble: Stories by Kelly Link [35]
A book set mostly or entirely outdoors
The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben [36]
A book with something broken on the cover
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage [37]
A book by a Muslim American author
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed [38]
Here are more books by Muslim American authors [39].
A book that was published anonymously
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous [40]
A book with an oxymoron in the title
Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 by Jennifer Haupt [41]
A book about do-overs or fresh starts
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi [42]
Here are more books about starting over [43].
A magical realism book
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel [44]
A book set in multiple countries
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney [45]
A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed [46]
A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae [47]
A book whose title starts with "Q," "X," or "Z"
Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States by Joey Mogul, Andrea Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock [48]
A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child)
All Adults Here by Emma Straub [49]
A book about a social justice issue
Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall [50]
A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels)
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab [51] (hardcover)
A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads
22 Minutes of Unconditional Love by Daphne Merkin [52]
Here are more books with fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads [53].
A book you think your best friend would like
Swing Time by Zadie Smith [54]
A book you think your best friend would like
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan [55]
A book about art or an artist
Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon [56]
A book everyone seems to have read but you
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates [57]
Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi [58] (2018, A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place)
Here are the previous prompts, for reference: 2015 [59], 2016 [60], 2017 [61], 2018 [62], 2019 [63], 2020 [64]
