Since I got back into reading, I wanted to challenge myself as a reader. Not only did I want to read more books in 2020, but I wanted to read books I might not otherwise choose to read on my own. I discovered reading challenges throughout the year and loved the idea of picking a book to read based on a prompt. I was primarily following the PopSugar Reading Challenge for 2020, but I did participate in other challenges, including the PopSugar Summer Reading Challenge.

Here are the books I read for the PopSugar Reading Challenge 2020:

1. A book published in 2020: Dear Edward (Ana Napolitano)
2. A book by a trans or non-binary author: Over the Top (Johnathan Van Ness)
3. A book with a great first line: My Best Friend’s Exorcism (Grady Hendrix)
4. A book about a book club: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (Grady Hendrix)
5. A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics: The Mime Order (Samantha Shannon) [London]
6. A bildungsroman: The Scent Keeper (Erica Bauermeister)
7. The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed: Haunts of Mackinac (Todd Clements)
8. A book with an upside-down image on the cover: Love & Gelato (Jenna Evans Welch)
9. A book with a map: The Ninth House (Leigh Bardugo)
10. A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast or online book club: Such a Fun Age (Kiley Reid) [recommended by Reese’s Book Club]
11. An anthology: The Tales of Beadle the Bard (J.K. Rowling)
12. A book that passes the Bechdel test: The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)
13. A book with the same title as a TV show or a movie but is unrelated to it: The Institute (Stephen King)
14. A book by an author with fauna or flora in their name: The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Heather Morris)
15. A book about or involving social media: Follow Me (Kathleen Barber)
16. A book that has a book on the cover: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (Abbi Waxman)
17. A medical thriller: The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides)
18. A book with a made-up language: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
19. A book set in a country beginning with the letter “C”: Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel) [Canada]
20. A book you picked because the title caught your attention: Help for the Haunted (John Searles)
21. A book published the month of your birthday: Batman the Killing Joke (Alan Moore, Tim Sale, Brian Bolland) [December]
22. A book by or about a woman in STEM: Recursion (Blake Crouch)
23. A book that won an award in 2019: Pumpkinheads (Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks)
24. A book on a subject you know nothing about: Hair Love (Matthew A. Cherry & Vashti Harrison)
25. A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics: Know My Name (Chanel Miller)
26. A book with a pun in the title: I Love You So Mochi (Sarah Kuhn)
27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins: Verity (Colleen Hoover)
28. A book with a robot, AI, or cyborg character: Illuminae (Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff)
29. A book with a bird on the cover: The Raven King (Maggie Stiefvater)
30. A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader: Notorious RBG (Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik)
31. A book with “gold”, “bronze”, or “silver” in the title: Strands of Bronze and Gold (Jane Nickerson)
32. A book written by a WOC: Love from A to Z (S.K. Ali)
33. A book with at least four stars on Goodreads: Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Maggie Stiefvater)
34. A book you meant to read in 2019: Things You Save in a Fire (Katherine Center)
35. A book with a three-word title: The Whisper Man (Alex North)
36. A book with a pink cover: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird (Josie Silver)
37. A western: Vengeance Road (Erin Bowman)
38. A book by or about a journalist: The Broken Girls (Simone St. James)
39. Read a banned book during Banned Books Week: Eleanor and Park (Rainbow Rowell)
40. Your favorite prompt from a past PopSugar Reading Challenge: The Song Rising (Samantha Shannon) – 2018 – The Next Book in a Series You Started
41. A book written by an author in their 20s: The Bone Season (Samantha Shannon)
42. A book with “20” or “twenty: in the title: 25 Ways to Work From Home (Jen Ruiz)
43. A book with a vision impairment or enhancement [a nod to 20/20 vision]: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
44. A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Summer Olympics: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Marie Kondo)
45. A book set in the 1920s: Gods of Jade and Shadow (Silvia Moreno Garcia)
46. A book by an author who has written more than 20 books: ‘Salem’s Lot (Stephen King)
47. A book with more than 20 letters in the title: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
48. A book published in the 20th century: Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson)
49. A book from a series with more than 20 books: Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie)
50. A book with a main character in their 20s: The Turn of the Key (Ruth Ware)