2025 Reading Challenges

It's that time for some new challenges and I am SO excited! Did I go overboard with the number of challenges I'm participating in this coming year? Of course I did 😆

2025 Reading Challenge

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In 2024 I significantly brought my reading goal down and, honestly, I loved it! It was very low pressure and at no point in the year was I scrambling to catch up. So I'm going to put my goal at 52 books again for 2025! I will most likely surpass this by quite a bit, but just in case, I set it at 52 because that's just one book a week so that should be easy to achieve.
January:

1. Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series by Jennifer Estep
2. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
3. Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
4. Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1) by Beth Revis
5. A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 1) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando

February:

6. Shadows of Truth (The League of Liars #2) by Astrid Scholte
7. A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 2) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
8. A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 3) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
9. Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
10. A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 4) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando

March:

11. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 3) by Yuto Suzuki
12. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 4) by Yuto Suzuki
13. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 5) by Yuto Suzuki
14. Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades #1) by Mai Corland
15. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 6) by Yuto Suzuki

April:

16. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
17. The Deep by Nick Cutter
18. The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni
19. Overgrowth by Mira Grant
20. All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

May:

21. Spy x Family (Vol. 13) by Tatsuya Endo
22. The Prom Queen (Fear Street #15) by R.L. Stine
23. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

June:

24. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 7) by Yuto Suzuki
25. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 8) by Yuto Suzuki
26. Sakamoto Days (Vol. 9) by Yuto Suzuki
27. If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay

July:

28. The Dead Lifeguard (Fear Street Super Chiller #6) by R.L. Stine
29. Party Summer (Fear Street Super Chiller #1) by R.L. Stine
30.

52 books in 52 weeks Reading Challenge

The challenge: Read one book a week, 52 books in 52 weeks.
I love this challenge because it keeps me accountable 😆 And I also like that this particular 52 in 52 challenge doesn't have specific prompts! You just read one book a week, and it can be whatever you want! As a mood reader, I appreciate that. Lol.

1. [01/01/25] Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series by Jennifer Estep
2. [01/05/25] Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
3. [01/12/25] Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
4. [01/19/25] Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1) by Beth Revis
5. [01/26/25] A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 1) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
6. [02/02/25] Shadows of Truth (The League of Liars #2) by Astrid Scholte
7. [02/09/25] A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 2) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
8. [02/16/25] Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
9. [02/23/25] A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 4) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
10. [03/02/25] Sakamoto Days (Vol. 3) by Yuto Suzuki
11. [03/09/25] Sakamoto Days (Vol. 4) by Yuto Suzuki
12. [03/16/25] Sakamoto Days (Vol. 5) by Yuto Suzuki
13. [03/23/25] Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades #1) by Mai Corland
14. [03/30/25] Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
15. [04/06/25] The Deep by Nick Cutter
16. [04/13/25] The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni
17. [04/20/25] Overgrowth by Mira Grant
18. [04/27/25] All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
19. [05/04/25] ---
20. [05/11/25] Spy x Family (Vol. 13) by Tatsuya Endo
21. [05/18/25] The Prom Queen (Fear Street #15) by R.L. Stine
22. [05/25/25] We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
23. [06/01/25] ---
24. [06/08/25] Sakamoto Days (Vol. 7) by Yuto Suzuki
25. [06/15/25] Sakamoto Days (Vol. 8) by Yuto Suzuki
26. [06/22/25] Sakamoto Days (Vol. 9) by Yuto Suzuki
27. [06/29/25] If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay
28. [07/06/25] The Dead Lifeguard (Fear Street Super Chiller #6) by R.L. Stine
29. [07/13/25] Party Summer (Fear Street Super Chiller #1) by R.L. Stine
30. [07/20/25]
31. [07/27/25]
32. [08/03/25]
33. [08/10/25]

The challenge: To read one book that has a title starting with every letter of the alphabet. You can drop the A’s and The’s from the book titles—The First Main Word Needs To Be The Letter You Are Counting, except for that pesky Q, X, and Z titles, then the word that starts with the challenge letter can be anywhere in the title. Book titles starting with EX for the X prompt are also allowed.
I love this challenge! It is SO fun! I don't think I've ever completed this challenge, but I've gotten really close. Maybe this year? Lol.
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
B
Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
E
Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1) by Beth Revis
Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation, A (Vol. 1) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
H
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay
J
K
L
M
N
Overgrowth by Mira Grant
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Q
Romara Confrontation, The (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni
Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
The Prom Queen (Fear Street #15) by R.L. Stine
U
V
Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series by Jennifer Estep
X
Y
Z

The challenge: To read one book that has an author whose first name, middle, or last name starts with every letter of the alphabet.
And this one is similar to the previous one, except this one is for author names!
Astrid Scholte [Shadows of Truth (The League of Liars #2)]
Barnes, S.A [Cold Eternity]
Caitlin Rozakis [Dreadful]
D
Estep, Jennifer [Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series]
Finlay, Alex [If Something Happens to Me]
Grant, Mira [Overgrowth]
Huni, Julia [The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5)]
I
J
Kliewer, Marcus [We Used to Live Here]
R. L. Stine [(The Dead Lifeguard (Fear Street Super Chiller #6)]
Misaki [A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 1)]
Nick Cutter [The Deep]
O
P
Q
Revis, Beth [Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1)]
Stine, R.L. [The Prom Queen (Fear Street #15)]
Tatsuya Endo [Spy x Family (Vol. 13)]
U
V
Wallace, Kali [Salvation Day]
X
Yuto Suzuki [Sakamoto Days (Vol. 3)]
Z

The challenge: To read books you have owned before January 1, 2025.
I haven't reached Mt. Vancouver in a couple of years... but maybe this will be the year! Lol. I got close-ish in 2024, so I'm gonna stick with 36 books again and hope for the best 😅
Level chosen: Mt. Vancouver — Read 36 books from your TBR pile.

1. Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series by Jennifer Estep
2. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
3. Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
4. Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
5. All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
6. The Prom Queen (Fear Street #15) by R.L. Stine
7. The Dead Lifeguard (Fear Street Super Chiller #6) by R.L. Stine
8. Party Summer (Fear Street Super Chiller #1) by R.L. Stine

The challenge: Read your Netgalley/Edelweiss books.
I did not do great in this challenge in 2024... I got close, but not close enough 😅 So I'm gonna stick with the same level and hopefully I'll be able to actually complete this challenge in 2025!
Level chosen: Bronze — 10 Netgalley/Edelweiss books.

1. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
2. Overgrowth by Mira Grant

The challenge: Finish/catch up on series. The series can already be completed and is still ongoing. The ongoing series aims to catch up to the most recent book published by the end of 2025.
I always do a challenge to help me finish series because let's face it, I need the help 😅 Last year I did pretty good and finished 10 series, so I'm gonna aim for around the same goal. And this challenge in particular includes series that are still ongoing and you need to catch up on, so that will be nice!
Level chosen: First Class — Complete 9+ series.

1. Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series by Jennifer Estep [Caught up]
2. Shadows of Truth (The League of Liars #2) by Astrid Scholte [Finished]
3. The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni [Caught up]

The challenge: Each badge represents a certain type of book or element in a story. It’s up to you how you take on the challenge. A book doesn’t have to be pure fantasy or Sci-fi; horror and historical fiction count too if you can make them fit! The only rule: one book can only earn you one badge, so choose wisely and complete your collection!
I found this challenge very last minute but I loved the idea so much that I had to join! It's basically a bingo card and it involves a lot of sci-fi/fantasy tropes and genres and there are badges that you can collect as you complete books. I have my little badge card hidden below only because I do not need this post to be longer than it already is 😂 But I'll be updating it as the year goes on with the badges I earn.

1. ✅The Animal Companion Badge: Read a book featuring a character that is buddies with an animal: The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni
2. ✅The Sea Setting Badge: Read a book set at sea, or in which most of the story takes place on the water: The Deep by Nick Cutter
3. The 2025 Badge: Read a book published in 2025.
4. The Spooky Badge: Read anything scary.
5. The Epic Fantasy Badge: Epic fantasy usually involves a quest to solve a problem affecting the whole world or universe, making it particularly epic in scale. Epic fantasy usually has multiple main characters and a grand story.
6. ✅The Dragon Badge: Read a book that has a dragon: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 2) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
7. ✅The Space Opera Badge: Read a book set in space or on other planets: Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
8. The Historical Fantasy Badge: Read a fantasy set within a real period of history.
9. ✅ The Uncovered Diamond Badge: Read a book with <100 total rating on Goodreads at the time of starting: Shadows of Truth (The League of Liars #2) by Astrid Scholte
10. ✅The Asian Inspiration Badge: Read a book inspired by the culture, history, or identity of Asia: Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades #1) by Mai Corland
11. The Big Battle Badge: Read a book that features a big battle.
12. The SPFBO Badge: Read a book that made it to a SPFBO final, past or present.
13. The Collector Badge: Earn ALL other badges in the challenge first!
14. The Monster Badge: Read a book featuring a monster or otherworldly creature.
15. ✅The First Contact Badge: Read a book where humanity has met extraterrestrial life for the first time: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
16. ✅The Non-Human Badge: Read a book in which the protagonist or one of the MCs isn't a human being: Overgrowth by Mira Grant
17. The African Inspiration Badge: A book inspired by Africa, its culture, history, or people.
18. The Big'un Badge: Read a book that is over 600 pages.
19. The Mythology & Folklore Badge: Read a book based on mythology or folklore.
20. ✅The Debut Badge: Read an author's debut novel to unlock this badge: Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
21. The Post-Apocalyptic Badge: Read a book with a post-apocalyptic or dystopian setting - the world is on the decline, life isn't good. Those that remain are just trying to survive.
22. ✅The Big Screen Badge: Read a book that has been adapted for TV or film (or is in the works): A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 1) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
23. ✅ The Lightweight Badge: Read a book under 200 pages: Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1) by Beth Revis
24. ✅The Graphic Novel Badge: Read a graphic novel or comic: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 3) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
25. ✅ The Standalone Badge: Read a book that has its story wrapped up in one book. It is not part of a wider series, trilogy or duology: Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

The challenge: To read 25 different books that fit each of the 25 prompts on the book bingo.
This challenge is also a book bingo! I really liked this one because the prompts don't feel as constricting as other challenges that have prompts. And as a mood reader, I need my prompts to be a little more open. Lol.

1. ✅ 2025 Release - A book published in 2025: Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
2. One Word Title - “A”, “An”, and “The” DO count as a word: 
3. ✅ Involves Travel - This can be open to interpretation, and the travel doesn’t have to be the MAIN part of the story. It can be a road trip, traveling to another country, or maybe even time travel: Shadows of Truth (The League of Liars #2) by Astrid Scholte
4. ✅Number in the title - For an additional challenge, don’t use “Volume X” as your number with a graphic novel or manga. (but not required): Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades #1) by Mai Corland
5. Cover buy - A book that you picked up because you liked the cover, without knowing much about it. This can be either a book you actually bought or one that you just added to your TBR or picked up from a library.
6. ✅Seasonal Book - Read a book that takes place in the current season. For example, read a summer camp thriller in the summer, read a witchy book around Halloween, or read a Christmas romance in December: The Dead Lifeguard (Fear Street Super Chiller #6) by R.L. Stine
7. ✅LGBTQ+ Representation - Read a book with main characters that are LGBTQ+ or written by an LGBTQ+ author: Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
8. ✅Favorite author’s newest release: Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series by Jennifer Estep
9. ✅Hyped Book - Read a book you have been seeing EVERYWHERE: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
10. ✅Color of the Year - Pick one of the "colors of the year" and find a book that has a substantial amount of it on the cover (e.g. Mocha Mousse): A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 3) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
11. ✅POC Author - Read a book by an author of color: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 2) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
12. ✅Novella - Novellas are customarily under 200 pages, but use your best judgment here: Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1) by Beth Revis
13. ✅5-Star Prediction - Read a book that you think will be 5 stars: Sakamoto Days (Vol. 5) by Yuto Suzuki
14. “Comped” - A trend in publishing is to compare books to other popular books. You can complete this one of two ways: a) read a book that uses that language in its marketing or promotion, or b) find a book that is comped to a favorite or a 5-star book you read in 2024.
15. ✅Friend Recommendation - This can come from an IRL friend, a booktuber that you watch, etc: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 1) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando
16. ✅Over 400 pages - Read a big(ish) book: Overgrowth by Mira Grant
17. Special Edition - Read a book that has something special or extra to it. (i.e. different cover, sprayed edges, B&N exclusive editions, etc.)
18. ✅Chapter Titles - Read a book that has something other than “chapter 1, chapter 2”, etc: We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
19. ✅Debut Author - This prompt was designed to read a book from an author that only has one book published. However, if you want to go to an author’s backlist and read their debut, that would work too: Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
20. ✅Mental Health Representation - Read a book that features some type of mental health representation. (i.e. anxiety, ADHD, Depression, PTSD, OCD, etc. This is not an exhaustive list. Use your best judgment): Party Summer (Fear Street Super Chiller #1) by R.L. Stine
21. Snake on the Cover - 2025 is the Chinese Year of the Snake. Read a book with a snake on the cover.
22. ✅Self-Published - Read a book that was not published traditionally or from an indie publishing house: The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni
23. ✅New-to-you Author - Read a book from an author you haven’t read before: The Deep by Nick Cutter
24. TBR Vet - This can be either the oldest (or one of the oldest) books on your TBR, or could be a book you’ve just had on your TBR for a long time.
25. ✅From another challenge - Read a book that you have to read for another reading challenge or readathon in 2025: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 4) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando

The challenge: To read 12 different books (1 per month) that fit each of the 12 prompts.
One of my favorite types of challenges that I found in recent years is one where it's this sort of flow chart where the book you pick to read next is affected by the book you last read. And I am so happy that I found this one for 2025!

1. ✅January- Choose a book with your favorite color on the cover: Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1) by Beth Revis
2. ✅February- A book from an author whose last name starts with the same letter as January’s author's last name: Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
3. ✅March- Choose a book with a title that has half the number of letters from your February book: The Deep by Nick Cutter
4. ✅April- Turn to page 100 of March’s book and find a word on the page. Your April book must have that word in the title: The Romara Confrontation (Colonial Explorer Corps #5) by Julia Huni
5. ✅May- Choose a book set in a time period different from your April book: Overgrowth by Mira Grant
6. June- Choose a book that has the same number of pages as May’s book within 25 pages.
7. July- A book with the same color spine as June’s book.
8. August- A book from a different genre than your July book.
9. September- Choose a book that has a word in the title that was also in August’s book title.
10. October- A book with an author of the opposite gender as the author of September's book.
11. November- A title with the same number of words in it as October’s title.
12. December- Read a book in a format different from November's book.

The challenge: Enter and complete reading challenges.
And this one is always fun! With all the challenges I'm doing, I need another challenge to help me actually complete those challenges 😂
Level chosen: On the Roof — 6-10 Challenges (Entered & Completed)

1. Goodreads Reading Challenge
   
2. 52 Book in 52 Weeks Reading Challenge
3. Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
4. Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge: Author Edition
5. Mount TBR Reading Challenge
6. Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
7. Finishing the Series Reading Challenge
8. Spells & Spaceships Reading Challenge
9. 25 in 25 Reading Challenge
10. Go with the Flow Reading Challenge

I love discussion posts so I always look forward to this challenge!
Level chosen: Gift of the Gab – 41+ discussion posts

1. My Year in Books: 2024
2. 2024 Reading Stats
3. 2024 Reading Challenges Update
4. End of the Year TBR Update
5. Most Read Authors of 2024
6. Looking Back at Books I Wish I’d read in 2023 & Anticipated Books of 2024
7. Finish the Series #36: Series I finished in 2024
8. Did I Read the Books I Bought in 2024?
9. Finish the Series #37: First Series of 2025 Finished!
10. 2025 Bookish Prediction Tag
11. 2025 Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag
12. 2025 Summer Library Program

I think that's it (for now lol). Let me know what reading challenges you'll be joining in 2025!