Reading Challenges

2025 Popsugar Reading Challenge

Dini @ dinipandareads30 Comments

Happy Thursday, friends! I’m back with another reading challenge I hope to complete in 2025 and it’s the very popular Popsugar Reading Challenge. The first and last time I attempted this was in 2020 and I didn’t consider how difficult being a mood reader would make completing this challenge. To be fair, it was also a helluva year so it wasn’t surprising how miserably I “failed”. But now I’m back and attempting PS once again! Who knows how I’ll do this year but right now I’m feeling oddly hopeful about my participation in this challenge.

[EH, SKIP THE INTRO. TAKE ME TO THE GOOD STUFF!]

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the Popsugar Reading Challenge happens every year and it’s “a different kind of book club where we introduce 50 new prompts to inspire your next read”. 50 prompts, you say? Yep, but that includes the “Advanced” list that I won’t be getting into as I won’t even think about being that ambitious. I’ll be taking part in the “regular” challenge and that’s still a whopping 40 books!

Now, usually, I list several options per prompt but this post would be endless as there are so many and I also just don’t have energy for that! 🤣 Instead, I’ll be highlighting one book possibility that has a high chance of getting read by me (at this moment). I’m picking from my extensive TBR so this works to help me cull that list further too, yay! And on that note, let’s just get straight to the list, shall we?

POPSUGAR POSSIBILITIES:

↠ 1 A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma: A Pho Love Story
↠ 2 A book you want to read based on the last sentence: The Anthropocene Reviewed
↠ 3 A book about space tourism: The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet
↠ 4 A book with two or more books on the cover or “book” in the title: Beach Read
↠ 5 A book with a snake on the cover or in the title: Serpent & Dove

↠ 6 A book that fills your favourite prompt from the 2015 PS Reading Challenge — A popular author’s first book: The Ten Thousand Doors of January
↠ 7 A book about a cult: I Who Have Never Known Men
↠ 8 A book under 250 pages: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
↠ 9 A book that features a character going through menopause: Gray Hair Don’t Care
↠ 10 A book you got for free: This is How You Lose the Time War

↠ 11 A book mentioned in another book: Rebecca
↠ 12 A book about a road trip: You, With A View
↠ 13 A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads: The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass
↠ 14 A book about a nontraditional education: Educated
↠ 15 A book that an AI chatbot friend recommends based on your favourite book—Recommended by Leslie @Books Are the New Black: A Man Called Ove

↠ 16 A book set in or around a body of water: The Mermaid of Jeju
↠ 17 A book about a run club: Run, Rebel
↠ 18 A book containing magical creatures that aren’t dragons: The Bone Shard Daughter
↠ 19 A highly anticipated read of 2025: I Am Not Jessica Chen
↠ 20 A book that fills a 2024 prompt you’d like to do over (or try out) — A book that features dragons: A Language of Dragons

↠ 21 A book where the main character is a politician: The Boyfriend Candidate
↠ 22 A book about soccer: If Only You
↠ 23 A book that is considered healing fiction: Water Moon
↠ 24 A book with a happily single woman protagonist: Lessons in Chemistry
↠ 25 A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee: The Map of Salt and Stars

↠ 26 A book where an adult character changes careers: Project Hail Mary
↠ 27 A book set at a luxury resort: The Paradise Problem
↠ 28 A book that features an unlikely friendship: The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
↠ 29 A book about a food truck: Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop
↠ 30 A book that reminds you of your childhood: The House on Mango Street

↠ 31 A book where music plays an integral part of the storyline: The Songbook of Benny Lament
↠ 32 A book about an overlooked woman in history: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
↠ 33 A book featuring an activity on your bucket list: Wild at Heart
↠ 34 A book written by an author who is neurodivergent: The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (Talia Hibbert)
↠ 35 A book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn’t about coming out: The Great Believers

↠ 36 A book with silver on the cover or in the title: Quicksilver
↠ 37 Two books with the same title (1): It Had to Be You
↠ 38 Two books with the same title (1): It Had to Be You
↠ 39 A classic you’ve never read: Frankenstein
↠ 40 A book about chosen family: The Gilded Wolves

That’s it for some of my Popsugar Reading Challenge possibilities! Are you also joining this year? Are you looking to complete all 40/50 prompts? What prompt are you most + least looking forward to? (Ngl, I’m not too keen on the prompts about the running club + below 3-star ratings!)

30 thoughts on “2025 Popsugar Reading Challenge”

  2. I did the PopSugar challenge a couple of years ago and had a lot of fun with it. I didn’t quite finish it, but I came close. You have a great list of books here! I hope you enjoy filling out the challenge. Good luck! 🙂

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  3. I managed it by the skin of my teeth last year, so I probably wasn’t going to try this time anyway, but the fact they included a prompt to use AI just really rubbed me the wrong way. 😦

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  4. We got this!! This list is incredible… give me a moment.. I’m scrolling up and down. Many of these are on my PopSugar list too. Want to BR??

    We already decided on The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet, A Pho Love Story (a while ago, I think), & Quicksilver

    I also want to read: Serpent & Dove, You With A View, & Water Moon!

    Let me know!! ❤ Best of Luck, I think this looks doable! A lot of great books on here.

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    • All the yes to buddy reading those three titles in addition to the ones we’ve already decided on 😍 I have no idea how to decide which one we’re gonna tackle first. Is there one that you want to read immediately or do you want to do like a random generator like I did for Owlcrate? I love your optimism and YES we totally can do this! Let’s goooo! 💜

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      • Since it’s on a year long challenge.. I have no hurry so let’s do a random generator. Let’s take it out of our hands. Haha!! ❤ I am making a checklist in Canva for our Buddy Reads at the moment. I don't even know how to remember what all we wanted to BR lol

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  6. I do the PS reading challenge every year, but I’ve only actually completed it a couple of times. Sometimes, the prompts are ridiculously hard or just weird. This year’s prompts seem easier than other years. I’m impressed by how organized you are with your planning. Good luck with the challenge!

    Susan

    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

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    • Only a couple of times is amazing! I hope to complete it just once and I think that’d be enough for me hehe 🤭 And thank you, I think I’m always very good at figuring out what books I could read for the challenge/a specific prompt but then actually reading it is where I run into trouble (thanks, mood reading)! 🤣 I hope you enjoy this year’s challenge and all the books you will read!

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  7. This is a tough challenge, so good for you for even taking it on. You have some great books on your list there too. I hope you enjoy doing this challenge and all the books you picked out. Have some tissues ready for Ove (it’s touching).

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  12. Good Luck, Dini. It looks like you have a good handle on what you want to read for this challenge. I’m doing the 52 Book challenge instead, but might switch to this one next year.

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