52 Books in 52 Weeks | Reading Challenge 2023

As your reading journey of 2022 comes to an end it’s time to plan your reading for 2023. If you’re up for a real challenge, this 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge is for you!

Bookworms love a reading challenge, since a good book challenge can help a book lover explore new genres, be able to expand the reading and have a lot of fun. 

This is a fun challenge to create an amazing reading experience in the new year! The challenge also comes with 52 reading prompts so that you can make reading plans and finally tackle your TBR  list!

Why are reading challenges so important? 

• Reading challenge can help you reach your reading goal

We all want to read as many books as possible. But sometimes we might not know the best way to reach our reading goals.

So reading challenges can help you navigate the path to reach your reading goal. For instance, if you want to read 52 books in 52 weeks of 2023 then this reading challenge will surely help you achieve your goal. 

• Reading challenges are a great way to explore new genres

It’s very common to stick with your favorite genre for a long time.

I have been a fan of romance novels for a long time. But being part of reading challenges have helped me expand my horizons.

I have been reading a lot of historical fiction, young adult fiction and even sci-fi novels. 

• A good challenge help you appreciate the book more 

This is my favorite part about doing a reading challenge. Not only do you get to read the book but also learn a lot more about it. If you’re doing the 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge that I am about to share, you get to explore the book covers, the number of pages, the background of the author etc. Overall, you will be delighted to have participated in a unique challenge.

How to do reading challenge on a budget

The 2023 reading challenge is obviously a fun challenge for book lovers AND you get to read a lot more books.

But that doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money to BUY the books.

Also I don’t recommend you do that either. Because there are many ways through which you can get FREE books/ books for a cheap price.

Here are the best ways to find the books for the 2024 reading challenge without spending too much money ! 

• Amazon

You might love shopping books on Amazon, but do you know, they have a whole selection of free books and low priced reading options.  -> click here to browse through their catalog of cheap reads for kindle! Kindle-unlimited is another great option if you’re into indie books! 

• Goodreads giveaway

You can enter to win free giveaways that are sponsored by authors and publishers.Enter here 

• Scribd

Scribd is an audiobook subscription service with millions of books. ALong with audiobooks you can get access to e-books and magazines. The Creative Muggle readers can get FREE two month subscriptions. Click here to get your free two months! 

• NetGalley ARC copies

NetGalley gives you access to FREE ARCs ( advanced reader copies). Start your free account to get started! Start here 

• Barnes and Noble Free ebooks 

The Barnes & Noble digital shop offers many free e-books for book lovers. But you might want to have their reading account ( NOOK) to avail the offer. Check here 

• BookBub free ebooks

BookBub is known as a promotional platform for authors. But it is also the best place to find free ebooks. The website  features  limited-time offers for the best free books in over twenty genres.  Click here to view the FREE ebooks

• Become a Reedsy reviewer 

Want exclusive access to hundreds of books and you’ll be notified about upcoming releases. Not only you get to read more books, you will be able to support indie books.  Click here to join 

• Lit2go 

This is a free collection of poems, stories and audiobooks. You can even download the mp3 version of the book to listen to.  Visit Lit2go

Now that you know the benefits of doing reading challenges, and finding the ways to find free books, let’s get started with these 52 books in 52 week challenge.

You can find 52 reading prompts along with book recommendations! 

Happy reading!

A book set around New Year’s day 

Book recommendations 

• This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimor
• A Year of New Adventures by Maddie Please
• A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier
• New Year’s Eve Murder by Leslie Meier

A book written by an Indian author

There are lots of amazing writers from India that you might have missed. Here are a few Indian author recommendations. 

Book recommendations 

• The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
• Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
• A Touch of Eternity by Durjoy Datta
• Sita by Amish Tripathi

A book with a floral cover

I am a huge fan of floral book covers. But often book covers don’t get the appreciation they deserve. So it’s time to explore and read a gorgeous book with a floral cover. 

Book recommendations 

• Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
• Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
• It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
• The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
• Peony in Love by Lisa See

A book from your TBR list

I obviously have no clue about what’s on your TBR. Here are some of the books in my TBR list that I hope to read in 2023! 

Book recommendations 

• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Legacy by Nora Roberts

A debut book from a British author 

Book recommendations 

• Saving Missy by Beth Morrey
• The Flatshare by beth o leary
• Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
• The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
• The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

A book set in your state

Book recommendations 

Alaska- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

California-  Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Kansas- Billy Summers by Stephen King 

Maryland- Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

New York- The City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

North Carolina- Where was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Ownes

Pennsylvania– The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

South Carolina- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Check this post for more book recommendations of this prompt-> Books Set in Every U.S State

A Jane Austen retelling 

Book recommendations 

• The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
• Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price 
• Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev
• The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
• Being Mary Bennet by J.C. Peterson

A popular translated book 

Book recommendations 

• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
• The Vegetarian by Han Kang
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

A book made into a movie in the 90s

Book recommendations 

• The Green Mile by Stephen King 
• Fight Club  by Chuck Palahniuk
• The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
• Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

A book set in Amsterdam

Book recommendations 

• The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• The Light of Amsterdam by David Park
• The House of Dolls by David Hewson

A book set in WWII 

Book recommendations 

• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton 
• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

Read a book and watch the Netflix adaptation ( TV Show)

Book recommendations 

• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
• From Scratch by Tembi Locke
• The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

A historical romance novel with steamy scenes

Book recommendations 

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 
• Suddenly You by by Lisa Kleypas 
• Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

Check this post for more book recommendations of this prompt-> 25 Best Steamy Historical Romance Novels To Read In 2023

A booktok recommendation 

Book recommendations 

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
• They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

A book under 100 pages

Book recommendations 

• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
• The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
• Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Check this post for more book recommendations of this prompt->Best Short Books Under 100 pages

A book about a bookshop

Book recommendations 

• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
• Christmas by the Book by Anne Marie Ryan
• The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

A book set in the Victorian Era

Book recommendations 

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
• Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
• The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

A book about your favorite sport( fiction/ nonfiction)

Book recommendations 

• Beartown by Fredrik Backman
• Him by Sarina Bowen
• The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

A classic children’s book

Book recommendations 

• Heidi by Johanna Spyri
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
• Winter on the Farm by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

A book with a month in the title

Book recommendations 

• March by John Lewis
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
• Seven Days in May by Kim Izzo 
• November 9 by Colleen Hoover 

Check this post for more book recommendations of this prompt->21 Phenomenal Books with “a Month” in The Title

A book of poetry

Book recommendations 

• The Spiritual Poems of Rumi by Rumi
• Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
• The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

A book with an illustrated cover

Book recommendations 

• Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
• Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
• The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
• Violeta by Isabel Allende

A cowboy romance novel 

Book recommendations 

• Long Hard Ride by Lorelei James
• Buck Wild by Lauren Landish
• Cowboy Heat by Sable Hunter

Check this post for more book recommendations of this prompt->28 Hottest Cowboy Romance Novels

A book with an elderly protagonist 

Book recommendations 

• Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
• Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
• The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons
• The Lido by Libby Page

A YA romance set in NYC

Book recommendations 

• Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
• Together at Midnight by Jennifer Castle
• Here’s to Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

A book with a couple on the cover

Book recommendations 

• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
• Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
• The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

A book published in 2023

Book recommendations 

• Happy Place by Emily Henry
• Secretly Yours byTessa Bailey
• All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
• The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

A book set in space

Book recommendations 

• The Martian by Andy Weir 
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
• These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

A book with more than 1000 pages

Book recommendations 

• The Stand by Stephen King
• In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
• The Instructions by Adam Levin

A chick-lit book written by a man ( lad-lit) 

Book recommendations 

• Just Like You by Nick Hornby
• Half a World Away by Mike Gayle
• Olivia Holmes Has Inherited A Vineyard by Mark Daydy
• A Day at the Office by Matt Dunn

A book based on a true story 

Book recommendations 

• The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris 
• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
• The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
• Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

A book by an author of color

Book recommendations 

• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang 
• A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
• Honor by Thrity Umrigar

A book with less than 500 Goodreads ratings 

Book recommendations 

• The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Weird Tales by Mark Samuels 
• The Redundancy of Courage by Timothy Mo
• The Dubious Hills by Pamela Dean
• Wingmen by Ensan Case

A thriller novel 

Book recommendations 

• The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
• The Storyteller’s Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal
• Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

 A memoir of an actress

Book recommendations 

• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
• My Life So Far by Jane Fonda
• The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

A book set in the Middle East

Book recommendations 

• Salt Houses  by Hala Alyan 
• The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali 
• Song of a Captive Bird  by Jasmin Darznik 
• And the Mountains Echoed  by Khaled Hosseini 

A book with a four-word title

Book recommendations 

• Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
• All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers

A book with a vampire protagonist

Book recommendations 

• Court of Vampires by Megan Linski
• Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill
• Blood Song by Cat Adams

 A book with multiple points of view

Book recommendations 

• There There by Tommy Orange
• Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
• The Secrets of Summer House  by Rachel Burton
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley

A book with the title start with M

Book recommendations 

• The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
• My Kind of People by Lisa Duffy
• Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins
• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 

A book with food on the cover

Book recommendations 

• Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webber
• Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
• Slice of Murder by Rosie A. Point
• The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover

A fun and uplifting book 

Book recommendations 

• Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
• The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal
• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
• The Audacity of Sara Greyson by Joani Elliott

Check this post for more book recommendations of this prompt-> Fun, lighthearted books

A coming of age book 

Book recommendations 

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
• Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

A book set in the place you are traveling this year

Book recommendations 

• Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
• The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki  
• Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos

A road trip themed book 

Book recommendations 

• The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary
• The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
• Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon
• One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake

 A self help book 

Book recommendations 

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

 A romantic comedy featuring a dog 

Book recommendations 

• The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
• Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane
• The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler
• Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover

A book with magical realism

Book recommendations 

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
• Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle
• In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

A book featuring a singer/ band

Book recommendations 

• Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie
• Idol by Kristen Callihan
• White Tears by Hari Kunzru

A graphic novel about mental health 

Book recommendations 

• Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
• Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo, Lilian Klepakowsky
• Wired Up Wrong by Rachael Smith

A book recommended by your family member/ friend

Book recommendations 

• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

A book with a person of color as protagonist 

Book recommendations 

• The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 
• The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

There you have the reading prompts for 2023 reading challenge!

Happy reading !

Find more book recommendation for reading prompts

• Best Short Books Under 100 pages
• 21 Phenomenal Books with “a Month” in The Title
• 28 Hottest Cowboy Romance Novels
•  Fun, lighthearted books