Hooked on Books discussion

🕷️ The Black Widow Reading Challenge

Marry well. Outlive them. Repeat.

The Black Widow is a reading challenge about accumulation, charm, ambition, and suspiciously good luck. Build your fortune one spouse at a time, survive whatever fate the game throws at you, and see whether you can accumulate §1,000,000 before you finally retire.

There are no time limits. Read at your own pace. Use any format. And remember: in this challenge, sometimes love is real... and sometimes the inheritance is better.

Links:
🤑 THE SIMOLEON SYSTEM
💋 SPOUSES (beginning)
☠️ DEATH ROULETTE
🎲 RANDOM EVENTS

Throughout the challenge, books earn you Simoleons in two ways:
1. Task Simoleons — completing a Spouse's specific reading requirement (Find a Spouse, Secure the Bag, etc.)
2. Bonus Simoleons — extra criteria your book also happens to meet (new author, TBR, page count, etc.)
⚠️ Important — one book, one task: Each requirement within a Spouse round must be a different book. You cannot use the same book to complete both "Find a Spouse" and "Secure the Bag," for example — every task in the cycle needs its own book.

💡 However, Bonus Simoleons DO stack. The single book you read for a task can earn multiple bonus categories at the same time. A book you read for "Find a Spouse" can also be a new-to-you author, from your TBR, and 400+ pages — all three bonuses apply to that one book, on top of its task reward.

💡 A note on strategy: Completing your 36 required books alone won't get you to §1,000,000. You'll need to stack 2-3 bonus categories onto most of your books as you go, not just bank on a few huge reads at the very end.

(view spoiler)[
💰 How to Earn §

Every book read: +§5,000

If your book also meets one of these criteria, add the following Bonus Simoleons — these stack, so one book can earn several at once:

New-to-you author: +§5,000
From your TBR: +§5,000
Book you've been putting off: +§5,000
Recommended by another player: +§5,000
Buddy read with another player: +§5,000
Library book / borrowed: +§5,000
Backlist title (not new release): +§5,000
Classic: +§7,500
Outside your usual genre: +§7,500
Reread: +§7,500
Published before you were born: +§7,500
Translated work: +§7,500
Debut novel: +§7,500
5-star read: +§10,000
Owned for 5+ years: +§10,000
Previously DNF'd: +§10,000
Final book in a series: +§10,000
Award-winning title: +§10,000
400+ pages: +§7,500
600+ pages: +§10,000
800+ pages: +§12,500
1000+ pages: +§15,000


Example: You read an 850-page book you've been putting off, for Spouse 1's "Secure the Bag" task:

Base §5,000
+ Book you've been putting off: +§5,000
+ 400+ pages: +§7,500
+ 600+ pages: +§10,000
+ 800+ pages: +§12,500
+ Completed Task: +§1,000
= §41,000 total, from one book
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💍 SPOUSE #1 — THE GOLD DIGGER
Start with nothing. Find someone worth marrying. Your first spouse gets you started.

💋 Find a Spouse
Read a book with the word GOLD in the title, subtitle, or text.
✅One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, Nathaniel Fick, 08/16/26
(74%: "Legal authority is worn on the collar — the gold and silver rank insignia that garner salutes and the title “sir".")
→ +§1,000
Base : +§5,000
Bonus:
New-to-you author: +§5,000
From your TBR: +§5,000
Debut novel: +§7,500
5-star read: +§10,000
Award-winning title: +§10,000
Total: : +§48,500

💰 Secure the Bag
Read a book with a color, number, or currency word in the title
✅Little Red and Her Creatures of Chaos, Ames Mills, 08/22/26
→ +§1,000
Base : +§5,000
Bonus:
New-to-you author: +§5,000
From your TBR: +§5,000
Total: : +§16,000

☠️ Death Roulette
Spin for your spouse's fate.
💔 Death by Broken Heart | Read a book involving betrayal, heartbreak, divorce, or the end of a relationship.
✅Christine (French Edition), Stephen King, 08/23/26
→ +§1,000
Base : +§5,000
Bonus:
From your TBR: +§5,000
Backlist title (not new release): +§5,000
Published before you were born: +§7,500
Translated work: +§7,500
5-star read: +§10,000
Owned for 5+ years: +§10,000
400+ pages: +§7,500
Total: : +§58,500

🪦 Become a Widow
Once the Death Roulette book is complete, your first spouse is officially dead.

🎲 Random Event
Roll for a Random Event and complete its reading requirement
👶 Unexpected Heir
Read a book featuring a child, pregnancy, or unexpected family responsibility.

✅Treasure of the Abyss, Tiffany Roberts, 08/24/26
Bonus: +§15,000
Base : +§5,000
Bonus:
New-to-you author: +§5,000
From your TBR: +§5,000
Backlist title (not new release): +§5,000
5-star read: +§10,000
Total: : +§45,000

🔓 Move On
Begin accumulating your fortune and move on to Spouse #2.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My fortune: §168,000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

💎SPOUSE #2 — THE SOCIAL CLIMBER
One upgrade deserves another. Your second spouse represents an improvement in wealth, status, influence, and social position.

💋 Find a Spouse
Read a book with the word CLIMB or CLIMBING in the text.
→ +§2,000
→ +§5,000
✅Unbreakable, Ronnie O'Sullivan, 08/24/26
Bonus:
New-to-you author: +§5,000
From your TBR: +§5,000
Total: +§17,000

💍 Get Married
Read a book published in the last 5 years
→ +§2,000
→ +§5,000
✅Electricity, Cassie Alexander, 08/28/26
Bonus:
From your TBR: +§5,000
Backlist title (not new release): +§5,000
Outside your usual genre: +§7,500
400+ pages: +§7,500
Total: +§32,000

☠️ Death Roulette
Spin for your spouse's fate.
🌱 Death by Overgrowth | Read a book featuring a plant on the cover.
→ +§2,000
→ +§5,000
✅Save Me, Ashley N. Rostek, 08/28/26
Bonus:
Backlist title (not new release): +§5,000
Reread: +§7,500
5-star read: +§10,000
Total: +§29,500

🪦 Become a Widow
Your second spouse is officially dead.

🎲 Random Event
Roll for a Random Event and complete its reading requirement
🔥 Accidental Fire
Your house burned down.
Lose §5,000
Then read a book featuring fire on the cover.
→ +§5,000
→ -§5,000
✅I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend, Jessica Cage, 09/27/26⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bonus:
New-to-you author: +§5,000
From your TBR: +§5,000
Backlist title (not new release): +§5,000
Total: +§15,000

🔓 Move On
Move on to Spouse #3.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My fortune: §261,500
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🖤 SPOUSE #3 — THE SERIAL WIDOW
Once is tragic. Twice is suspicious. Three times is a pattern. By now, this is beginning to look less like bad luck and more like a lifestyle choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My fortune: §261,500
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

💋 Find a Spouse
Read a book with the word WIDOW or WIDOWED in the text.
→ +§4,000

💰 Secure the Bag
Read an MPG Mystery, Thriller, or Suspense novel
→ +§4,000

☠️ Death Roulette
Spin for your spouse's fate.
Read a book matching the death you roll
→ +§4,000

🪦 Become a Widow
Your third spouse is officially dead.

🎲 Random Event
Roll for a Random Event and complete its reading requirement
→ (value varies — see Random Events)

⭐ Bonus Simoleons
If all three spouses have died by different methods
→ +§10,000 (no extra book needed)

🔓 Move On
Move on to Spouse #4.