Hooked on Books discussion

THE RUNAWAY READER CHALLENGE
♦ Inspired by the Runaway Teen Challenge from The Sims 4 ♦

A FEW HOUSE RULES

→ Standard Challenge Rules apply.
→ Books may not be double-dipped between scrounging phases and room prompts.
→ Books may not count for more than one room.
→ Scrounging reads must be completed before the next room phase unlocks — no skipping ahead to Build Mode early.
→ You can complete books within Homes in any order, but you must finish one home type, before moving on to the next.
→ No time limit. This is your lot. Build at your own pace.

🏰 Mansion — 24 reads total
Tasks Found Here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

SCROUNGING

📍 Phase 1 — Survival Mode

You're new to this. You take what you can get. All three are required:

🎣 A book set near water or involving survival
Kaylie Smith, 07/04/26


🌱 A book about growth, nature, or starting over
Courting Envy, Nova Blake, 07/07/26


💎 A book you've owned unread for one year or more
Misery, Stephen King, 07/11/26

SCROUNGING

📍 Phase 2 and beyond — You Know the Ropes

You've learned how to work the land. Pick any 3 of the following 6:
🌲 A book set in nature or the outdoors

📖 A book under 300 pages
The Haunted, Cassie Alexander, 07/12/26


📦 A book you've owned unread for one year or more
🗣️ A book recommended by someone else

🔀 A book outside your most-read genre
Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren, 07/12/26


1️⃣ A book with a one-word title
Dormeo, Reece Barden, 07/12/26

BUILD MODE — ROOM BY ROOM

Rooms unlock in order. You cannot skip ahead. Each room has a reading prompt — complete the required reads to furnish the room and unlock the next.

🏠 STARTER HOME

Every Sim needs the basics before anything else.

🚿 Bathroom
Finally somewhere to wash off the road.
→ A book you've been putting off
The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, 07/17/26


🍳 Kitchen
Your first real meal under your own roof.
→ A book involving food, community, or hospitality.
What We Did to Survive, Megan Lally, 07/25/26


🛏️ Bedroom
Somewhere to sleep that isn't a park bench.
→ A book outside your most-read genre
Ma vie sans gravité, Thomas Pesquet, 07/31/26


🛋️ Living Room
You're not just surviving anymore. You're living.
→ A book with more than 400 pages
Entreat Me, Grace Draven, 08/12/26

SCROUNGING

📍 Phase 2 and beyond — You Know the Ropes

You've learned how to work the land. Pick any 3 of the following 6:

🌲 A book set in nature or the outdoors
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, Nathaniel Fick, 08/16/26


📖 A book under 300 pages
Kissed and Missed, Cleo White, 08/16/26


📦A book you've owned unread for one year or more

🗣️ A book recommended by someone else
Chilled and Thrilled, Cleo White, 08/16/26


🔀 A book outside your most-read genre
1️⃣ A book with a one-word title

🏡 FAMILY HOME

You've got the bones of a home. Now it's time to fill it out.

🍽️ Dining Room
There's room at the table now.
→ A book set in another country
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf, 08/20/26


📚 Home Office/Study
You've come far enough to invest in your mind.
→ A nonfiction book
Unbreakable, Ronnie O'Sullivan, 08/24/26

→ A book about books or reading

🧺 Laundry Room
Time to clean out the old.
→ A book you previously DNF'd, given another chance

🚗 Garage
You've got somewhere to go now.
→ A book in a series
Charmed and Alarmed, Cleo White, 08/16/26

→ A book with a form of transportation on the cover
Christine (French Edition), Stephen King, 08/23/26