Welcome to a new year! Every year here at Hidden Staircase I sign up for the annual POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. This challenge is a great way to broaden your reading, or help you pick a book if you’re not sure what to read next.

This is my fourth year participating, but I have not yet finished a POPSUGAR yearly challenge. Not even close. Each year I have good intentions, but I always forget to check back with the list before picking up my next read.

I finished 2017 slightly stronger than 2016, with 24/40 books and a decent 8/12 in the advanced category. This year I’ll try to be more intentional, and see if I can check a few more boxes than last year.

Shall we?

A book made into a movie you’ve already seen

True Crime

The next book in a series you started

A book involving a heist

Bronzed Betrayals by Ritter Ames

Nordic noir

A novel based on a real person

A book set in a country that fascinates you

A book with a time of day in the title

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

A book about a villain or antihero

A book about death or grief

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

A book with your favorite color in the title

A book with alliteration in the title

Double Dog Dare by Gretchen Archer

A book about time travel

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

A book with a weather element in the title

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

A book set at sea

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

A book with an animal in the title

A book set on a different planet

A book with song lyrics in the title

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (Also a song by Norah Jones)

A book about or set on Halloween

A book with characters who are twins

A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym

A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist

A book that is also a stage play or musical

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you

Warcross by Marie Lu

A book about feminism

What Happened by Hillary Clinton

A book about mental health

A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

A book by two authors

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

A book about or involving a sport

Descent by Tim Johnston (track)

A book by a local author

Midnight in the Bright Ideas Bookstore

A book mentioned in another book

Live From New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live by James Andrew Miller (mentioned in Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?)

A book from a celebrity book club

A childhood classic you’ve never read

A book that’s published in 2018

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner

A book set in the decade you were born

Venus Black is really close, (starts in 1980) but I need the 1970’s. rats.

A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to

Quicksand by Malin Perrson Giolito

A book with an ugly cover

A book that involves a bookstore or library

MAD Librarian by Michael Guillebeau

Your favorite promo from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges

Advanced

A bestseller from the year you graduated high school

A cyberpunk book

A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place

A book tied to your ancestry

A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title

An allegory

A book by an author with the same first or last name as you

A microhistory

A book about a problem facing society today

A book recommended by someone taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge