Choose your own adventure...

12 Reading Challenges for 2025.

Hello friends!

I had a marvelously bookish day,

Monday is my son’s 15th birthday. When asked what he would like to do, he said go book shopping at Barnes & Noble.

I’m not sure how I managed, but I’ve raised a reader that, so far, only wants to shops in-person and will not read e-books. Physical copies only for him.

Of course, I said “absolutely”.

Off we went yesterday with holiday gift card’s and money from grandparents.

Ten books and a new tote bag later, we wrapped up his shopping.

He bought 4 manga, 2 romance, 1 friendship fiction, and 3 choose your own adventure books. Not a bad book haul!

A couple of the books he bought…

While we were shopping, he was trying to convince me to buy some of the books I was eyeing up. I resisted because I have far too many at home to indulge in any new book purchases at the moment.

It did have me thinking about how I could find a little more play in reading some of the books that I own. And I thought, why not create some challenges?

I’ve never done a year long challenge before, but I thought 2025 might be the year to try it. I’ve put together a few ideas for you to try, if you like.

Do you enjoy a year long reading challenge?

In these challenges, you can pick one book a month, try one from each challenge, or just dip in and out as you please. I humbly share this with you, purely to inspire you to read. :)

• Genre Exploration Challenge

  • Read one book from a different genre each month (e.g., fantasy, romance, historical fiction, memoir, thriller).

• Around the World in Books

  • Read books set in 12 different countries or regions of your choice.

• Colorful Covers Challenge

  • Choose books with covers that feature a specific color or pattern each month (e.g., red, blue, floral).

• One Word Titles Challenge

  • Read books with titles that consist of just one word.

• Alphabet Reading Challenge

  • Read 12 books, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

• Seasonal Reading Challenge

  • Pick books that align with the seasons (e.g., cozy reads for winter, beach reads for summer).

• Author Discovery Challenge

  • Read a book by an author you've never read before each month.

• Page Count Challenge

  • Choose books of varying lengths throughout the year (e.g., under 200 pages, 400+ pages, etc.).

• Theme-Based Challenge

  • Select a monthly theme (e.g., friendship, travel, resilience) and pick books related to that theme.

• Books with Numbers Challenge

  • Read books with numbers in the title (e.g., One Day, The Four Winds, 1984).

• Recommendation Challenge

  • Read books recommended by friends, family, or from online book groups.

Favorite Trope Challenge

• Choose books featuring a favorite literary trope or element (e.g., enemies to lovers, found family, coming-of-age).

Do you see any challenges that resonate with you? I would love to hear about it!

What I’m currently reading.

In this charming rom-com filled with Chinese traditions and a family curse, an herbalist fake dates a star musician–perfect for fans of Helen Hoang and Jasmine Guillory.

Chinese herbalist Chryssy Hua Williams never actually believed in the Hua family curse. But after Break-Up #9, Chryssy stopped laughing. Now she and her aunties run a special healing retreat center for the broken-hearted. After all, there’s nothing a proper cup of herbal tea can’t fix...but Chryssy’s innocent run-in with celebrity cellist and bad boy Vin Chao has everyone brewing about a different kind of tea. So he offers her a deal: they’ll fake-date, he’ll “break” her heart (and increase ticket sales), and in return, he’ll promote her business.

It’s like Chryssy’s whole cursed love life has been leading up to this moment. But all it takes is one kiss—and a whole lot of unexpected chemistry—to land both of them in hot water . . .

Check it out HERE.

Are you also a fan of movies?

I bought my husband this little book of movie prompts and we are loving it! So far we have watch Oppenheimer and North by Northwest.

With this 52 Week Movie Challenge, everyone can be a movie critic!

Every 2-page spread in this book is a chance to challenge yourself to a new movie watching experience.

There are 52 challenges with such topics as "A Film That Won 'Best Picture'", "Low Budget, Big Box Office", and "Adapted From A Book." Pick a film that fits the challenge topic, watch it, rate it, and analyze it. Do them in order or jumble them up. It's really up to you.

Each challenge has space for you to record specifics about the movies you watch (title, year released, rating, stars, directors, producers, writers, awards, etc.). There are also questions to answer about the films and bits of film trivia scattered throughout.

Check it out HERE.

☕📖✨Grab a book and check out The Tea Shop for some of my favorite teas paired with Jane Austen novels.

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