The 52 Book Club: 2025 / 2026 Challenge discussion

Clicking the available links will take you to the Listopia for each category. Feel free to add what book you're reading and/or any other suggestions you may have for that prompt to each list! We also have discussion folders for each prompt, so please make your questions & comments there.


1. Set In An Ancient Civilization

2. Kangaroo Word On The Cover

3. Written Without Quotation Marks

4. Has A Dust Jacket

5. Featuring A Conspiracy

6. Title Starts With The Letter "O"

7. Title Starts With The Letter "P"

8. A Three-Syllable Word In The Title

9. Featuring A Natural Disaster

10. Spans A Decade Or More

11. Requires Suspension Of Disbelief

12. A Genre-Defining Read

13. Bookface

14. Includes A Character List

15. Subtitle With A Comma

16. Deus Ex Machina

17. Author's Bio Mentions Their Dog

18. Provokes Strong Emotions

19. A Nosy Neighbour Character

20. Day Of The Week In The Title

21. Written In The 1800's

22. Spotted In A TV Series Or Movie

23. Grumpy Sunshine Trope

24. Uneven Number Of Characters

25. Includes A Red Herring

26. Title In A Serif Font

27. Two Or More Authors, One Pseudonym

28. From A Series At Least Eight Books Long

29. Set In The Arctic Or Antarctic

30. Author Related To Another Author

31. Author Related To Author In Prompt #30

32. Publisher Starting With The Letter "B"

33. A Standalone Fantasy Novel

34. Inspired By The Top-Grossing Movie The Year You Were Born
There is no Goodreads list for this prompt

35. Character With A Secret Identity

36. Award-Winning Book From Last Year

37. Started On The 26th Of The Month
There is no Goodreads list for this prompt

38. Domestic Fiction

39. A Book That Cost You Nothing
There is no Goodreads list for this prompt

40. Authors First And Last Name Start With The Same Letter

41. A Guide To...

42. Includes A Handwritten Interior Font

43. A Goodreads Recommendation For You
There is no Goodreads list for this prompt

44. Literary Device: Personification

45. Biographical Fiction

46. Non-Fiction About Character In Prompt #45

47. A Diacritical Mark On The Cover

48. Related To The Word "Nemesis"

49. In The 800's Of The Dewey Decimal System

50. Set In A Castle

51. Includes A Map

52. Published in 2026

The InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire not only slaps, it’s basically a Swiss Army knife for challenge prompts. Every book opens with a family tree because the POV character changes from one member of the Price family to another — and that alone makes it perfect for “includes a character list.”

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 Imortality
15. Butterfly Effect (upcoming, 2026)

Prompts this single series can cover:
✅ Book that includes a character list (each one has a family tree)
✅ Series with at least eight books (any)
✅ Starts with the letter P (Pocket Apocalypse)
✅ Coming out in 2026 (Butterfly Effect)
✅ Three syllables in a word in the title (1 armageddon, 3 ragnarok, 4 apocalypse, 5 choreography, 9 imaginary, 10 calculated, 11 spelunking, 12 backpacking, 13 aftermarket afterlife, 14 installment immortality, 15 butterfly)
✅ Features a god/deus ex machina element (spoilers but for sure #5)
✅ Grumpy/Sunshine trope (1, 2, 5)
✅ Spans more than a decade (depends on viewpoint but should be all)
✅ Features a conspiracy (all, the Price family is fleeing a secret organization)
✅ Evoke strong emotion (two separate books made me cry 4 and 13)
✅ Includes a nemesis (all, but especially 6, 7, 8)
✅ Contains a kangaroo word (13 & 14 sfterlife → life and mortality → mortal)

Basically, if you want a series that can tick off several challenge prompts without breaking a sweat and give you a smart, funny urban fantasy with heart, InCryptid is your MVP.