| A book by an author you read (or were supposed to read) in school: Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin | A book about an artist | An alternate history book | A book from a used book store: The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo | A non-fiction book on a topic that interested you had as a child: 1776 by David McCullough |
| Have a friend choose a genre for you; read a book in that genre | A book with the name of a city in the title (must be referring to the city) | A book by a Nobel Prize winner | A book adapted into a stage production (play, musical, opera) | A book on Time’s The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 list: Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson |
| A book featuring a lighthouse | A book you learned about from a stranger on the Internet | FREE SPACE (any book): The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett | A book about a vacation: The Expendable Man by Dorothy B Hughes | A book with a drink on the cover or in the title |
| A book centered on one or more sibling relationships: A Slowly Dying Cause by Elizabeth George | A Hugo Award or Nebula Award winning book | A book translated from Chinese, Japanese, or Korean | A book by an author you’ve never read before, blurbed by an author you love | A book a friend wants you to read : The God of the Woods by Liz Moore |
| A debut novel published this year | A book that’s in the public domain | A book set in the last place you traveled to | A book with “murder” or “death” in the title | A book about an off-putting woman: Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner |