| A book with an important tree | A Western | A book about a journey made with a non-car form of transportation (train, bus, boat, plane, walking, horse, etc.): Fragments of a Paradise by Jean Giono | A book with a one-word title: Hav by Jan Morris | A book by an author you’ve never read before with at least 10 published books |
| Pick and read a book off of a friend’s shelf without their input: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie | A book about or inspired by a real crime | A book first translated into English in the last five years: Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto | A book with a queer protagonist: Milk Fed by Melissa Broder | A science fiction/speculative fiction book: Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie |
| A book by an author you’ve disliked/been underwhelmed by before but want to give another chance | A book on the NYT’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut | FREE SPACE (Any book): Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie | A book about a specific/niche subculture: Escape from Incel Island by Margaret Killjoy | Read a book with a book club (or make a one-off book club and read a book with a friend): The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman |
| A book with no chapter breaks: The King’s Warrior by Huahua Zhu | A book with a time of day in the title (day, night, morning, dawn, dusk, etc.): All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami | A book a friend wants you to read | A book on Time’s The 100 Must Read Books of 2024 list: Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa | A non-fiction book published in 2025 |
| A book translated from a language spoken by your ancestors | A book about books: Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire | A book with a ghost in it | A book with a movie or tv adaptation that you’ve already seen: The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A. S. Byatt | A novel by a poet: Death Valley by Melissa Broder |