Home · Reading challenge 2027

The 2027 Reading Challenge

52 prompts, one a week · free printable · Leer en español

Fifty-two prompts for 2027, one for every week of the year. None of them tells you what to read: each one just nudges you toward a book you might not have picked up otherwise — a classic you pretended to have read, a book with a map inside, the one you've been saving.

Preview of the 2027 Reading Challenge printable: 52 prompts and a yearly log

The whole list is below. If you'd like it as a printable PDF (the 52 prompts with lines for the titles, plus a page to log the year month by month), leave your email and we'll send it straight away.

The 52 prompts

  1. Published the year you were born
  2. A classic you pretended to have read
  3. Set in a country you've never visited
  4. Under 200 pages
  5. Over 500 pages
  6. Translated from another language
  7. A debut novel
  8. Recommended by a friend
  9. Has a map inside
  10. Written by someone over 70
  11. Set in winter
  12. A book you own but never opened
  13. Chosen only by its cover
  14. A short-story collection
  15. Poetry
  16. Nonfiction about a place
  17. A mystery
  18. Set in a library or bookshop
  19. A book that became a film — read it first
  20. Written in letters or diaries
  21. Banned somewhere, once
  22. From the year 1927
  23. By an author who shares your initials
  24. Set on a train, a ship or a plane
  25. Its title is a question
  26. A book about food
  27. Set in summer
  28. Recommended on BookTok or Bookstagram
  29. A reread of a childhood favourite
  30. Published this year
  31. By a Nobel laureate
  32. A graphic novel
  33. A fairy tale retold
  34. Set in the city where you live
  35. A memoir
  36. A book a stranger was reading
  37. A colour in its title
  38. Fewer than 1,000 ratings online
  39. Science, explained
  40. A play
  41. The first in a series
  42. Set more than 200 years ago
  43. Set in the future
  44. From a used bookshop
  45. Gifted to you
  46. Its author died before you were born
  47. A book about books
  48. Has an animal on the cover
  49. Read in a single day
  50. Picked from the library at random
  51. A book you'll gift to someone afterwards
  52. The one you've been saving

How to use the 2027 reading challenge

  1. Choose your pace. Try 52 books for a weekly challenge, 26 for roughly one every two weeks, or 12 for one a month. Select that many prompts from the list; you can leave the others for another year.
  2. Pick your next three prompts. Start with books you already own, library finds or recommendations. Read the prompts in any order. If a book fits several, choose one box for it so each completed prompt represents a different book.
  3. Record each finish, then choose again. Write down the title and finishing date beside its prompt. Pick the next book when you are ready rather than planning all 52 in advance.

For example, start with “A book you own but never opened,” then try “Translated from another language.” When choosing “Has a map inside,” check the edition you will actually read. The prompt is a starting point; the book is your choice.

A simple way to track your reading

Use a notebook, a spreadsheet or the printable. Keep four details for each finished book: the prompt, title, author and finishing date. A short note about what stayed with you makes the list useful when you look back.

The printable has lines for titles alongside the 52 prompts, plus a second page for your monthly totals. Add each book to the month you finished it. If you keep author names or notes, record those in your own journal.

At the end of each month, count your finishes and choose a few possibilities for the next one. Adjust your goal if your time changes; there is no need to rush a long book to keep up with a weekly schedule.

Reading challenge questions

Do I have to read 52 books?

No. Fifty-two is the full list, not a requirement for taking part. A 12-book or 26-book version works too: choose the prompts you want to follow and keep one book per completed prompt.

Can I start after January?

Yes. Start with your next book and set a goal for the months you have left. You can use books already finished in 2027 if they fit a prompt; write down their original finishing dates.

Do ebooks and audiobooks count?

Yes. Choose the format that suits you: a printed book, ebook or audiobook. Library books and books you already own count too.

Do I need to sign up or buy something?

You can read all 52 prompts on this page without registering or buying anything. If you want the printable, request the free PDF by email. That also signs you up for our reading letters, at most once a month; you can unsubscribe with one click.

Keeping track

The printable is enough to do the challenge. If you want something nicer to write in, these are what we sell for it:

For the “Science, explained” prompt, our gifts for math lovers page has short notes on six famous equations. And if you are giving the challenge to someone, there are more ideas in our gift guide for book lovers and the under $25 list.