25 Reading Challenges for 2025: Fun and Creative Book Goals

Beginning a new year is always a great way to start fresh and accomplish those goals you’ve been dreaming of achieving. If you’re an avid reader, it is safe to assume one of your goals for 2025 is to read more, yet with so many books out there and so many books already on your TBR list, how do you decide what to read next? How about we help with 25 reading challenges for 2025?

Here’s the challenge: Read 25 books in 2025! This particular challenge offers specific requisites of 25 different types of books to help expand your library and get you reading books you have never read or never even thought to pick up and read.

You are highly encouraged to read books that you have not read before (with the exception of certain challenges that may ask you to reread a book), but we also encourage you to complete this challenge in a way you feel most comfortable. While certain challenges could be combined into one book, our only requirement is no double dipping!

Be sure to read a different book for each challenge, so by the end of the year, you will have read at least 25 books. But don’t stop there. If you wish to continue reading past the 25 books, keep going!

The 2025 Reading Challenge List

1. A book written by a child author
2. A book by an author with the same initials as your name
3. A book from a genre you usually avoid
4. A movie/TV show you love/enjoy that was adapted from a book
5. A book from the library (bonus points if you read in the library)
6. A book you bought solely for the cover
7. A book originally written in another language that has been translated to English
8. A book that is 500+ pages
9. A book with a ridiculously long title
10. A book published the year you were born
11. A Pulitzer Prize winning book
12. A book from the banned books list
13. A book about a subject you are passionate about
14. A book about a mythology you are unfamiliar with
15. A book published by an anonymous author
16. A book published in the 1810s
17. A book set somewhere you’d like to visit
18. A book with a title that starts with Q, X, or Z
19. A book everyone seems to have read but you
20. A book with an alliteration title
21. A book with an angel on the cover
22. A book by your favorite author you haven’t read yet
23. A book you found at a used book store
24. Reread a book you did not like before
25. Reread a chapter book you loved when you were in middle school (different perspective as an adult)

Bonus Challenges for the Ambitious Reader

For those of you who finish the original 25 reading challenges for 2025 and wish to push the limit and read even more, here are five extra challenges that will definitely add to your total page count read for the year:

1. Read one book from each of the following major genres (15 total):
   • History
   • Romance
   • Mystery
   • Western
   • Fantasy or Science Fiction
   • Poetry Collection
   • Suspense/Thriller or Horror
   • Classic
   • Folklore or Legend
   • Short Story Collection
   • Drama
   • Humor
   • Biography/Autobiography
   • Fairy Tale Collection or Fairy Tale Retelling
   • Graphic Novel
2. Read an entire series in a year (length of series can vary depending on choice)
3. Read a book that is 1,000+ pages long
4. Read a cookbook and make at least one recipe from it
5. Pick any year before the 1900s and read one book from each decade (10 books total)

Recommended Books to Help You Get Started

While this challenge is meant for you to decide what books you would like to read and what books catch your attention, here are some personal recommendations that you could use toward a number of the challenges (including the bonus challenges) if you are looking for something new or are stumped on a particular challenge:

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
• The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
• The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Beowulf by anonymous
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Keep Track of Your Reading Progress

I will be taking on this challenge, as well, and will even shoot to complete the bonus challenges. Totaling all of the books in the challenge as well as the bonus challenge up, we’re looking at a good 55+ books read in the new year (or 25 books if you decide to stick with the traditional challenge). While either number can seem daunting, we can do this!

Keep track of your progress and let us know how you did at the end of the year. But most importantly, have fun!