The 52 Book Club: 2025 / 2026 Challenge discussion

14 -- Includes A Character List

A character list is a catalogue of characters, usually found at the beginning of a book. It often includes character names and a short description of who they are or how they are connected to one another.

For this prompt, choose any book which includes a character list.

Some editions may contain character lists, while other editions of the same book may not. As long as at least one edition contains a character list, feel free to read that book using any edition or format.



Here is our Goodreads List for this prompt

Books I've read and recommend that have a character list or "cast of characters" (adding as I come across them on my shelf):
To the Last Breath: A Memoir of Going to Extremes by Francis Slakey

Plays and some Agatha Christie books come to mind. It's also present in some of the Star Wars Legends books like Rogue Squadron.

The Chronicles of St. Mary's and The Time Police books by Jodi Taylor.

The Names

In the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire, each book includes a family tree at the front — since the story follows multiple members of the same family and the narrator changes from book to book.

Here’s the current lineup (with another book due out next year):

1. Discount Armageddon
2. Midnight Blue-Light Special
3. Half-Off Ragnarok
4. Pocket Apocalypse
5. Chaos Choreography
6. Magic for Nothing
7. Tricks for Free
8. That Ain’t Witchcraft
9. Imaginary Numbers
10. Calculated Risks
11. Spelunking Through Hell
12. Backpacking Through Bedlam
13. Aftermarket Afterlife
14. Installment in Mortality
15. Butterfly Effect (upcoming, 2026)

It’s a clever, fast-paced urban fantasy series with a strong family focus — and the family tree detail makes it a perfect fit for this prompt!

Bonus: You can actually hit multiple prompts from the 2026 challenge with this series — it qualifies as “a series with at least eight books,” includes a title that starts with P (Pocket Apocalypse), one that’s coming out in 2026 (Butterfly Effect), and even a few with three syllables in a title and im sure others.