- Featured
- Reading Challenge Pick
Romance
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy misread each other for most of a novel that invented the modern love story.
ONGOING
Challenge Period: Now – December 31, 2027
TheBookBlurbs Reading Challenge
Read More. Discover More. Go Beyond Your Usual Shelf.
The current Reading Challenge is ongoing through December 2027.
2026
Challenge open
2027
Continues all year
Dec 31, 2027
Current challenge closes
The idea
What Is the TheBookBlurbs Reading Challenge?
The TheBookBlurbs Reading Challenge is a reader-focused invitation, not a competition. There is no quota to hit and no leaderboard to climb. It exists to help you discover more books, meet authors you have not read before, and build a reading habit that feels achievable and genuinely enjoyable.
Reading challenges work best when they encourage you to move a little beyond your normal habits. Ours is built around prompts rather than page counts, so you can follow your own curiosity — a genre you have avoided, a translated novel, a book somebody has been recommending to you for years.
Read one book or read thirty. Start in January or start today. The point is variety, consistency and enjoyment: a reading year that reflects your interests rather than someone else's list.
The programme
What Is the Reading Challenge?
An ongoing, prompt-based reading programme that runs alongside the TheBookBlurbs catalogue. Readers use it to widen what they read; authors use it as a route to editorial consideration for their book.
- Open continuously — there is no cohort to wait for and no closing date before December 31, 2027.
- Prompt-led rather than target-led: no quotas, no leaderboards, no minimum number of books.
- Every book in the challenge library is a real catalogue record with a real author entry.
- Participation is free for readers.
For readers and authors
Why Participate?
Readers and authors take part for different reasons, and the programme is built to serve both without pretending one is the other.
Taking part does not guarantee selection, coverage, reviews or sales.
- Readers get a structured way out of a reading rut, with prompts instead of obligations.
- Readers can keep a personal reading list in the browser and return to it at any time.
- Authors get their book read and assessed editorially by the challenge administrators.
- Authors receive an honest written response about how the book presented itself to readers.
Placement
Visibility and Promotion
Selected books can appear across the discovery surfaces of the site. These are placements, not performance promises.
Placement is editorial. We do not sell positions in lists and we do not rank books by payment.
- A dedicated book page with cover, description and author link.
- Inclusion in the challenge library that readers browse and filter.
- Possible appearance in curated book lists where the title genuinely fits.
- Possible author profile page in the author directory.
- Possible mention in blog or editorial pieces built around a relevant theme.
Feedback
Book Audit and Improvement Report
Participating authors can receive a written report on how their book reads from a discovery point of view.
The report is an editorial opinion. It is not a professional edit, a marketing plan or a sales forecast.
- How the title, cover and description present the book to a browsing reader.
- Whether the genre, mood and audience signals match the actual content.
- Where the book sits against comparable titles in the catalogue.
- Practical, specific suggestions the author is free to accept or ignore.
Recognition
Participation Certificate
Books accepted into the challenge receive a certificate of participation issued by the administrators.
A certificate confirms participation only. It is not an award, a rating or an endorsement of quality.
- Records the book title, the author or participant name and the challenge period.
- Carries a unique certificate number so it can be checked against our records.
- Issued as a document the author can keep, print or share.
- Certificates are issued by the administration team, never generated automatically on request.
Extras
Additional Promotional Benefits
Depending on the book and the moment in the editorial calendar, further placements may be offered.
These are offered case by case and are never guaranteed as part of participation.
- Author spotlight introducing the writer behind the book.
- New release placement around a confirmed publication date.
- A written author interview published on the blog.
- Inclusion in a themed reading list or seasonal feature.
Eligibility
Who Is It For?
The programme is deliberately open, with editorial judgement applied at selection.
- Readers of any pace, in any genre, anywhere.
- Independent and self-published authors with a finished, available book.
- Traditionally published authors and their publicists.
- Small presses submitting on behalf of their writers.
Process
How It Works
Four steps, all handled by the administration team.
There is no self-serve dashboard and no author login. Everything runs through the administration team.
- Get in touch with the challenge administration with your book details.
- The administrators review the book and confirm whether it can be included.
- The book is added to the catalogue and, where relevant, to the challenge library.
- Any report, certificate or additional placement is prepared and sent to you directly.
Meet the Founder
Hannah Monroe
Founder, TheBookBlurbs Reading Challenge
Hannah Monroe founded the TheBookBlurbs Reading Challenge to give readers a simple, flexible way to read more widely.
She oversees the challenge prompts and the book selections that appear across TheBookBlurbs.
“Read more. Discover more. Go beyond your usual shelf.”
- Role in the challenge
- Hannah leads the reading challenge: shaping the prompts, reviewing the selections and deciding how books are introduced to readers.
- Vision for readers
- A reading year built around curiosity rather than quotas — where every reader finds at least one book they would never have picked up otherwise.
Challenge selections
Books Selected for the Challenge
Each selection is matched to a challenge prompt, with a short note on why it earned its place.
A Book Published in a Previous Decade
Why we selected it: A reading challenge should include at least one book that has already outlasted every trend. This is that book.
- Featured
- Reading Challenge Pick
Science Fiction
1984
by George Orwell
Winston Smith rewrites the past for a living, until he decides to keep one honest thought of his own.
A Book That Makes You Think
Why we selected it: It reframes ordinary words — freedom, truth, memory — and readers rarely finish it thinking the same way they started.
- Featured
- Editor's Pick
- Reading Challenge Pick
Literary Fiction
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
A small-town Alabama childhood, a courtroom, and a father who tries to explain both to his daughter.
A Book With an Unforgettable Character
Why we selected it: Atticus and Scout have stayed in readers' heads for over sixty years.
- Reading Challenge Pick
Literary Fiction
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel García Márquez
Seven generations of the Buendía family rise and repeat themselves in the invented town of Macondo.
A Book Outside Your Usual Genre
Why we selected it: For readers who stay inside realism, this is the most rewarding way out of it.
- Reading Challenge Pick
Literary Fiction
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
Sethe escaped slavery years ago. The house she lives in has not let her leave it behind.
A Book With a Strong Female Lead
Why we selected it: Sethe is one of the most fully realised women in American fiction.
- Featured
- Reading Challenge Pick
Historical Fiction
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
Narrated by Death, the story of a girl in Nazi Germany who steals books and reads them aloud in a basement.
A Book You Can't Put Down
Why we selected it: Readers routinely report finishing it in two sittings, then handing it on.
- Reading Challenge Pick
Science Fiction
The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
In the Republic of Gilead, Offred records what she is not allowed to say out loud.
A Book With a Strong Female Lead
Why we selected it: A narrator whose survival is made of noticing, remembering and testifying.
- Reading Challenge Pick
Literary Fiction
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
An orphaned governess refuses, repeatedly, to be made smaller than she is.
A Book With a Strong Female Lead
Why we selected it: Jane's insistence on her own worth is the entire engine of the book.
- Featured
- Editor's Pick
- Reading Challenge Pick
Nonfiction
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari
A single-volume argument about how shared fictions let one human species run the planet.
A Book That Teaches You Something
Why we selected it: Few books change how many other books you understand afterwards.
- Featured
- Reading Challenge Pick
- TheBookBlurbs Selection
Biography & Memoir
Educated
by Tara Westover
A woman raised off-grid in Idaho, who first set foot in a classroom at seventeen and kept going to Cambridge.
A Book You Can't Put Down
Why we selected it: One of the most consistently finished-in-a-weekend memoirs we know.
- Reading Challenge Pick
Nonfiction
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Black holes, the Big Bang and the shape of time, explained for readers without equations.
A Book Outside Your Usual Genre
Why we selected it: The most approachable way for a fiction reader to try popular science.
- Reading Challenge Pick
Biography & Memoir
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King
Half memoir, half toolkit, from a writer with strong views about adverbs.
A Book That Teaches You Something
Why we selected it: Readers finish it with a practical method, not just admiration.
Challenge catalogue
Every Challenge Selection
0 books have taken part in the reading challenge.
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Prompts
Challenge Prompts
Take them in any order, skip freely, and repeat the ones you enjoy. Prompts are updated as the challenge continues.
- 01
A Book by an Author You Have Never Read
- 02
A Book Outside Your Usual Genre
- 03
A Book Recommended by Someone Else
- 04
A Book With an Unforgettable Character
- 05
A Book That Makes You Think
- 06
A Book Published in a Previous Decade
- 07
A Book With a Strong Female Lead
- 08
A Book You Can't Put Down
- 09
A Book With an Unexpected Ending
- 10
A Book That Teaches You Something
- 11
A Book You Would Recommend to a Friend
- 12
A Hidden Gem
- 13
A Book Club Favourite
- 14
A Book With a Beautiful Cover
- 15
A Book From a New or Emerging Author
Benefits
Why Join the Reading Challenge?
Ten reasons readers take part — and what taking part actually offers.
Discover More Books
Find books you might never have encountered through your normal reading habits.
Discover New Authors
Explore established writers as well as emerging voices.
Expand Your Reading Horizons
Move beyond familiar genres and discover different perspectives, themes and storytelling styles.
Build a Consistent Reading Habit
The challenge provides structure and motivation to make reading a regular part of your routine.
Increase Book Visibility
The challenge creates an additional discovery opportunity for selected books within TheBookBlurbs' curated environment.
Help Readers Find Their Next Favourite
Every selection gives readers another opportunity to discover a book they genuinely connect with.
Support Author Discovery
Introduce readers to authors they may not have encountered before.
Explore Beyond Your Comfort Zone
Try different genres, writing styles, cultures, perspectives and storytelling approaches.
Join a Shared Reading Experience
Reading becomes more engaging when there is a sense of participation alongside other readers.
Create a Personal Reading Journey
Build a reading experience that reflects your own interests, pace and goals.
For authors
Give Great Books More Room to Be Discovered
Books selected for the challenge can appear across the relevant areas of TheBookBlurbs, giving them additional room to be found by readers who are actively looking for something to read next.
This is curated discovery and additional visibility. We do not promise sales, reviews, rankings or specific audience numbers.
About book submissions- Reading Challenge selections
- Curated Book Lists
- Explore Books
- Genre pages
- Author Spotlights
- New Releases
- Editorial features
Editorial principles
How We Choose Books
Selections are made editorially by TheBookBlurbs. A book does not need to tick every box below — these are the factors we weigh when deciding whether a title fits the challenge.
Reader appeal
Would we genuinely recommend this to someone looking for their next read?
Story quality
Craft, structure and a clear sense of what the book is trying to do.
Genre variety
A balanced set of selections rather than ten versions of the same book.
Originality
A perspective, form or subject that adds something to the shelf.
Discussion potential
Books that give readers and book clubs something to talk about.
Author diversity
A range of voices, backgrounds and places.
Prompt relevance
A natural fit for one of the current challenge prompts.
New and established voices
Room for debut and emerging authors alongside familiar names.
FAQ
Challenge Questions, Answered
What is the TheBookBlurbs Reading Challenge?
It is an ongoing, prompt-based reading challenge designed to help readers discover more books, explore new genres and authors, and build a more intentional reading habit. It is not a competition and there is no required number of books.
When does the challenge end?
The current challenge remains ongoing through December 31, 2027.
Who can participate?
Any reader can take part. You can follow the prompts on your own, with a friend, or alongside a book club.
Do I have to read every selected book?
No. The selections are suggestions, not requirements. Read the ones that appeal to you and skip the rest.
Can I choose books from different genres?
Yes — that is the point. The prompts are deliberately written to work across fiction, nonfiction, memoir and everything in between.
How are books selected?
Selections consider reader appeal, story quality, genre variety, originality, discussion potential and fit with the current prompts. Our full approach is set out in How We Choose Books below.
Can authors submit books for consideration?
A submission page is in preparation. Details, terms and any requirements will be published there before submissions open.
How can I follow my reading progress?
For now, readers track their own progress against the prompts. Reader accounts with saved progress are planned for a future release.
Can I participate even if I start late?
Yes. The challenge is ongoing through December 31, 2027, and there is no starting date to miss.
Does participating cost anything?
Taking part in the reading challenge as a reader is free. Any other details will be published here once confirmed.
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