| 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.): Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad | A book with a one-word title: Underworld by Don Delillo | A book by an author you’ve never read before with at least 10 published books: Shah of Shahs by Ryszard Kapuściński |
| Pick and read a book off of a friend’s shelf without their input | A book about or inspired by a real crime: The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick | A book first translated into English in the last five years | A book with a queer protagonist | A science fiction/speculative fiction book: Orbital by Samantha Harvey |
| 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: The Return by Hisham Matar | FREE SPACE (Any book) | A book about a specific/niche subculture: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | Read a book with a book club (or make a one-off book club and read a book with a friend) |
| A book with no chapter breaks | A book with a time of day in the title (day, night, morning, dawn, dusk, etc.) | A book a friend wants you to read: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison | A book on Time’s The 100 Must Read Books of 2024 list: Absolution by Jeff Vandermeer | A non-fiction book published in 2025 |
| A book translated from a language spoken by your ancestors: Fabian: The Story of a Moralist by Erich Kästner | A book about books | A book with a ghost in it | A book with a movie or tv adaptation that you’ve already seen | A novel by a poet |