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Our sincerest apologies to your 2022 plans, dear readers, because you're about to be booked: the eighth annual POPSUGAR Reading Challenge has officially dropped!
Check off these 50 book prompts throughout the year to broaden your reading horizons and shake things up in 2022 by uncovering new subgenres ("A social-horror book"); authors ("A book by a Pacific Islander author"); and under-the-radar titles based on a specific topic ("A book about gender identity"), setting ("A book set in the 1980s"), or character ("A book with a character on the ace spectrum"). There are also prompts around book covers and titles ("A book with a tiger on the cover or 'tiger' in the title" is a nod to 2022 being the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac), awards ("An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner"), and scavenger hunts ("A book with a recipe in it").
If reading 50 books in a single year feels intimidating, we've divided the list into 40 standard book challenge prompts and 10 "advanced" prompts for the avid readers out there (not that 40 books is anything to scoff at!). As an ode to 2022, this year's advanced section is themed around twins, doubles, and pairs. For instance, there's "A book with a palindromic title" (reads the same backward and forward), "A book about someone leading a double life", and "Two books set in twin towns, aka 'sister cities'", such as San Diego and Vancouver.
Whether this is your first time taking the challenge or you've been with us since the beginning, the goal for the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge is just to have fun, diversify your reading, and accomplish whatever goals you have set for yourself. There are no "rules"!
So, ready to get started?
- Download our printable list here, checking off the books as you go, and pin the handy graphic ahead for reference.
- Join the POPSUGAR Book Club on Facebook, 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 suggest also joining this Goodreads group made up of readers who participate in the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge every year.
- Follow POPSUGAR Books on Twitter and share your progress on social with the hashtag #popsugarreadingchallenge.
Now keep reading for the 2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, plus book suggestions for what to read for all the prompts!
— Additional reporting by Kalyn Womack