2026 Reading Challenge Prompts - Chapters & Chai Book Club

If you want to get involved in the Chapters & Chai 2026 Reading Challenge but need a little more guidance with the prompts, I’ve put together this hopefully helpful guide which includes some explanations and some examples to use!

Read more about the challenge here.

You can join the challenge by following us on Instagram @chaptersandchai_bookclub_ and tagging us in any challenge-related posts, and you can use the hashtag #chaptersandchaireadingchallenge too! 

Let’s find out more about the prompts…

The first twelve prompts are for the ‘Easy’ challenge, or, you can take on the full 24 prompt challenge!

1. Read a non-fiction book
Explanation: The Non-Fiction genre encompasses a wide range of books - from History, Science, and Politics to True Crime, Journalism, Biographies, and more. 
Examples: One of my favourite non-fiction books of 2025 was ‘Everything is Tuberculosis’ by John Green. Some other suggestions include: ‘In Defence of Witches: Why Women are Still on Trial’ by Mona Chollet, ‘One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’ by Omar El Akkad, ‘All the Living and the Dead’ by Hayley Campbell, ‘Unmasked’ by Ellie Middleton, etc.

2. Read the book that has been on your shelf for the longest (or for more than a year)

3. Read a translated fiction novel
Explanation: Translated Fiction refers to any fictional story (novels, short stories) originally written in one language and then converted into another language. So, read a book that was not written in English, but has been translated to English.
Examples: ‘Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ by Olga Tokarczuk, ‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ by Jacqueline Harpman, ‘Lie With Me’ by Philippe Besson

4. Read an author’s debut novel (bonus point if it was published in 2026)
Examples: ‘The Lamb’ by Lucy Rose (2025), ‘Open Water’ by Caleb Azumah Nelson (2021), ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley (1818)

5. Read a classic or modern classic novel
Explanation: According to Pan Macmillan, “a classic novel is a book that has stood the test of time because it’s so good…a classic brilliantly articulates universal themes – like love, morality, death." A Modern Classic refers to a piece of literature that, although relatively recent in its publication (typically from the 20th century onward), has achieved lasting significance and recognition in the literary world.
Examples: ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ by George Orwell, ‘Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury, ‘The Handmaid's Tale’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini, ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F Scott Fitzgerald

6. Read a book by a Black author
Examples: ‘The Vanishing Half’ by Brit Bennett, ‘An American Marriage’ by Tayari Jones, ‘Model Home’ by Rivers Solomon, ‘Seven Days in June’ by Tia Williams

7. Read a book recommended to you by a bookseller
Explanation: The Waterstones booksellers are such a good source of incredible book recommendations! I’ve found so many incredible books because of them. So don’t be shy! Ask away.

8. Read a book by an indigenous author
Explanation: There are more than 5,000 different Indigenous Peoples around the world comprising 476 million people - such as (but not limited to), First Nations (of Canada), Inuit peoples, Native Americans, Australian Aboriginal peoples, Māori, etc.
Examples: ‘The Only Good Indians’ by Stephen Graham Jones, ‘The Berry Pickers’ by Amanda Peters, ‘Big Chief’ by Jon Hickey

9. Read a Feminist Fiction or Non-Fiction book
Examples: ‘Women, Race and Class’ by Angela Y Davis, ‘Everyday Sexism’ by Laura Bates, ‘Hood Feminism’ by Mikki Kendall, ‘Yellowface’ by R.F. Kuang, ‘Salt Slow’ by Julia Armfield, ‘The Women Could Fly’ by Megan Giddings

10. Read a book written by an LGBTQIA+ author
Examples: 'Our Wives Under the Sea’ by Julia Armfield, ‘Her Majesty’s Royal Coven’ by Juno Dawson, ‘You Weren’t Meant to Be Human’ by Andrew Joseph White, ‘Hazelthorn’ by C G Drews

11. Read a novella / a book under 200 pages
Explanation: A novella is a short novel or long short story, typically between 17,500 to 40,000 words.
Examples: ‘Come Closer’ by Sara Gran, ‘Small Worlds’ by Caleb Azumah Nelson, ‘It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over’ by Anne de Marcken

12. Read a book recommended to you by someone at book club

 

Chapters & Chai Reading Prompts (Challenge Mode - 2 prompts a month)
All of the above prompts plus…

13. Read a collection or anthology of short stories or essays (fiction or non-fiction)
Examples: ‘Never Whistle at Night’ edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., ‘Someone Like Me: An Anthology of Non-Fiction by Autistic Writers’ edited by Clem Bastow and Jo Case, ‘Out There Screaming’ edited by Jordan Peele,

14. Read an LGBTQIA+ Romance
Examples: ‘Sunburn’ by Chloe Michelle Howarth, ‘Late Bloomer’ by Mazey Eddings, ‘Last Night at the Telegraph Club’ by Malinda Lo, ‘A Botanical Daughter’ by Noah Medlock, ‘Bloom’ by Delilah S Dawson

15. Read a book with Disability Rep
Examples: ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ by John Green, ‘Out on a Limb’ by Hannah Bonam-Young, ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes, ‘The Empusium’ by Olga Tokarczuk

16. Read a Sci-Fi or Fantasy
Examples: ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by M.L. Wang, ‘Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries' by Heather Fawcett, ‘This Is How You Lose the Time War’ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, ‘Project Hail Mary’ by Andy Weir

17. Read a book written by a Palestinian author
Examples: ‘Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal’ by Mohammed el-Kurd, ‘Minor Detail’ by Adania Shibli, ‘You Exist Too Much’ by Zaina Arafat, ‘The Coin’ by Yasmin Zaher

18. Read a Horror or Thriller
Examples: ‘Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng’ by Kylie Lee Baker, ‘The Possession of Alba Díaz’ by Isabel Cañas, ‘The God of the Woods’ Liz Moore, ‘Broken Country’ by Clare Leslie Hall

19. Read a banned book
Explanation: Banned books are books removed from libraries, schools, or bookstores, or whose publication/distribution is prevented.
Examples: ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou, ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J. R. R. Tolkien, ‘The Hate U Give’ by Angie Thomas

20. Read a Gothic or Historical Fiction
Explanation: The Gothic genre originated in the 18th Century, and came of age in the early Victorian period. Encompassing a sense of the unfathomable: death and impending mortality; time and its passage; destruction and chaos; the awesome power of nature; supernatural forces; and, indeed, the shadowy depths of our own minds (source: Penguin). Though there is not one singular definition of Historical Fiction, Margaret Atwood, who has written several historical novels, defines it as “fiction set in a time before the writer came to consciousness.”
Examples: ‘Anatomy: A Love Story’ by Dana Schwartz, ‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ by Stephen Graham Jones, ‘Mexican Gothic’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, ‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah

21. Read a book written by a Latinx author
Explanation: Latinx is a gender-neutral term for people of Latin American descent. Encompassing Mexico, Central America, South America, and parts of the Caribbean, defined by shared colonial history and cultural identity rather than strict geography
Examples: ‘The Hacienda’ by Isabel Cañas, ‘Tender Is the Flesh’ by Agustina Bazterrica, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Márquez, 

22. Read a dystopian book
Explanation: Dystopian Fiction is defined as ‘a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control’
Examples: ‘Chain Gang All Stars’ by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, ‘The Memory Police’ by Yoko Ogawa, ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro, ‘1984’ by George Orwell

23. Read a book written by a South or South East Asian author
Explanation: Southeast Asia includes Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. South Asia generally refers to countries on the Indian subcontinent including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Afghanistan is often considered part of both Central Asia and South Asia, depending on context. 
Examples: ‘Crying in H Mart’ Michelle Zauner, ‘Everything I Never Told You’ by Celeste Ng, ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseini, ‘On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous’ by Ocean Vuong

24. Read a Poetry book or a Play
Examples: ‘Love Looks Pretty On You’ by Lang Leav, ‘In the Event This Doesn’t Fall Apart’ by Shannon Lee Barry, ‘The Orange’ by Wendy Cope, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams, ‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russel, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare

 

That’s it! I hope that has given you plenty of clarity, but if you’re stuck on any prompts, please feel free to DM me with any questions. Again, you can join the challenge by following us on Instagram @chaptersandchai_bookclub_ and tagging us in any challenge-related posts, and you can use the hashtag #chaptersandchaireadingchallenge too!

For full challenge details, read the blog post.

Happy reading - good luck!
Keeley