Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge
2024 Reading Challenge
By: Shelf Reflection
Hello 2024!
I used to do Popsugar’s Reading Challenge for several years, but since I started my own book review blog I find it’s fun to come up with my own prompts!
I will admit, I’ve chosen these prompts strategically to help myself out with my ever-growing TBR stack, but I think you’ll find they’re fun for you too!
This year’s challenge has 45 prompts.
I’ve listed the books I plan to read for each one and will link my book reviews as I read them. Part of the fun is searching around to see what books will fit for each one.
Feel free to share your ideas in the comments. If you get stuck on a prompt you can message me for some suggestions as well.
I would love if you joined me in this challenge and shared it with your friends!
How to Track:
Below you’ll find links to a checklist or worksheet printable if you prefer paper copies.
I’ve added it to Storygraph where you can add books to each prompt and as you mark the books as finished, your reading challenge goal will update. The cool feature about this Storygraph option is that you can see what books others have added for each prompt that may give you some reading ideas.
I also created this Canva template where you can upload and add book cover images for each book you’ve read or plan to read. I don’t believe you need CanvaPro for this to work. Another reader created this Instagram Canva template for tracking on there.
Feel free to share the template link with others!
I’m also going to be posting another Goodreads Choice Awards Challenge based on the nominees/winners of 2023. If you would like to do that challenge too I’ll add a link here after winners have been announced. I usually just pick one book from each category (and sometimes skip some of the categories…)
Whether you do reading challenges or not, the goal is to encourage reading and broaden your horizons by reading books you maybe wouldn’t normally read.
My goal in my website is to help other readers find books and remind people how fun and rewarding reading can be.
Also, check out my reading challenges from previous years if you want to mix and match prompts, pick a few prompts, do them all, tweak them… there’s no rules!
And don’t forget to browse my Most Anticipated Books of 2024 list.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope your new year of books gets off to a great start!
Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge:
A book with time travel:
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Lost in Time by A.G. Riddle
A book with a title containing an element from the periodic table: (Iron, Gold, Silver, Neon, Oxygen, Copper, Silicon, etc)
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
A book about a kid (or young adult) with powers:
Duplex by Orson Scott Card
A nonfiction book about technology:
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
A book with a king or queen:
Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor by Andrew LownieThrone of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
A book with a knife on the cover:
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
A book written from the villain’s point of view: (even if it’s only some of the chapters)
Fairest of All by Serena Valentino
A book with an obscured face on the cover:
A Forgotten Kill (Daniela Vega #2) by Isabella Maldonado
A book by an author who has written over 20 books:
The Last Green Valley by Mark T. Sullivan
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Simply Lies by David Baldacci
A book with a musician:
Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, in Music Lessons by Jeremy Denk
A book with a housekeeper as a main character:
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
A book about an escape:
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer
A book about art:
The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
A book set in the woods or the mountains:
What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
An #OwnVoices book: (book told about a marginalized group from the point of view of a member of that group giving the perspective authenticity)
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner
A book with a heist:
Artemis by Andy Weir
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay
Camino Island by John Grisham
A book with a title containing a series of three:
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Color, Communism, and Common Sense by Manning Johnson
A book set in a different culture than your own:
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa SeeI Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
A book with a character named Sofia or Nora: (spelling variants accepted)
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
Homecoming by Kate Morton
A book you’d recommend to your grandma:
A book with the name of a flower in the title:
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Two books with similar titles (in word or meaning):
The Guest by B.A. Paris
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
A book set in the Pacific Northwest:
The Clinic by Cate Quinn
A book that was a winner in one of the categories of the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards: (will add link to the list once winners are announced)
A book that I’ve reviewed on my website (www.shelfreflection.com):
This one is a freebie for me, but I’ve reviewed hundreds of books on my sites from all genres so it shouldn’t be hard for you to find something!A book with a title that has a possessive noun (‘s):
The Pastor’s Kid by Barnabas Piper
One Woman’s War by Christine Wells
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
A book where the main character is male:
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
A book by an author from a different country than you:
Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea (Canada)My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
A Christian fiction book: (don’t let this one scare you off if you feel opposed to Christian books. There are a lot of options that are not overtly Christian in their writing. Some good authors to consider if you’re not sure where to start looking: Ted Dekker (thrillers/fantasy), Francine Rivers (romance), Randy Singer (legal thrillers), Steven James (thrillers), Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga (fantasy), Terri Blackstock (thrillers), C.S. Lewis has a sci-fi trilogy, Dee Henderson (thrillers), and I’m sure there’s some newer authors I haven’t read yet!)
The Garden Girls by Jessica R. Patch
A book by an author with a color somewhere in their name:
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
A book with a one-word, plural title
Tactics by Gregory Koukl
Exiles by Jane Harper
A book of poetry or a novella:
A rom-com:
Happy Place by Emily Henry
A book with trees on the cover:
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
A book with a house with secrets:
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie Holmberg
A book without a death or a murder:
A book with twins:
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
A book with a character with red hair:
Red by Belinda Bessen
A book with a library or bookshop:
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
A book with a title that begins ‘How to’:
How to Be Champion by Sarah Millican
A parenting book (or if you’re not a parent, a nonfiction book about relationships):
Raising Worry-Free Girls by Sissy Goff
Love-Centered Parenting by Crystal Paine
A book that might make you cry (if you did that kind of thing):
The Half-Life of Love by Brianna Bourne
A book with a brother and sister relationship:
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
A funny memoir:
Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn by Melanie ShankleHave I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham
Nothing Like I Imagine (Except Sometimes) by Mindy Kaling
A book with a purple cover:
All This Twisted Glory (This Woven Kingdom #3) by Tahereh Mafi
Bonus: (I always add this for the previous challenges I never finished… unfortunately it keeps adding up!)
A book you never got to from the last reading challenge:
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
The Underground River by Martha Conway
Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell
