Let’s celebrate the joys of literature together!
Ready to dive into a new reading goal in 2025? You've come to the right place!
Reading challenges have exploded in popularity with readers around the world who seek to broaden their horizons, discover new literary voices, and connect with like-minded book lovers. Whether you’re looking to reignite your passion for reading or push yourself beyond your genre comfort zone, reading challenges are just the trick — but where do you start? That’s where Celadon’s Reading Challenge comes in.
Our reading challenge has just one goal in mind: to help you read more intentionally in 2025. Instead of just picking up the next book you see, we encourage you to find a book that entertains you, challenges you, or opens your eyes to new perspectives – or as we like to put it, is time well spent. Below, you’ll find our full calendar of challenges followed by book recommendations for each month to get you started.
While we’re offering our personal reading recommendations, ultimately it’s up to you to pick the book that you want to dive into each month. So get creative and search out a title or author that excites you. Whether you choose fiction or nonfiction, new releases or literary classics, we’re just delighted to be reading together.
Be sure to bookmark this page or sign up for our monthly newsletter, where we will be sharing a reminder for the next month’s Reading Challenge topic. And if you’re sharing your reading journey on social media, let us know by using the hashtag #CeladonReadingChallenge. A world of literature awaits — happy reading!
The 2025 Reading Challenge Schedule
In January 2025… Read a book about family
We’re celebrating the joys and challenges of togetherness in the new year by reading a book about family. Whether you choose a book that explores the bonds of blood relatives or the saving grace of a chosen family, January is all about delving into the complexities of our relationships with those closest to us.
Our January recommendations:
What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange
From a master of the family drama, New York Times bestselling author Tracey Lange, the heartwarming novel What Happened to the McCrays? tells the story of Kyle McCray, who returns home to Potsdam, New York, after leaving his loved ones behind more than two years ago. As he strives to take care of his ailing father and reconcile with family members still reeling from his departure, Kyle begins to see the impact his abandonment has left on his home town — and decides to make up for lost time.
What We Carry by Maya Shanbhag Lang
Growing up, Maya Shanbhag Lang always looked to her mother for guidance. In later years, however, her mother’s mental acuity faded and Alzheimer’s took hold. An adult Maya stepped in as a caregiver, but she was soon forced to reconcile the family history she thought she knew with the secrets her mother divulged in her altered state. In her stunning memoir, the author fondly remembers the mother she grew up with — a brilliant doctor who immigrated from India in pursuit of a better life — and examines the shifting shape of their relationship as truths about the past complicate her understanding of the present.
In February 2025… Read a book told from multiple perspectives
This month, we’re seeking out complex narratives that unfold through the eyes of multiple narrators. Whether you choose a psychological thriller, a mystery, or a nonfiction oral history, go for a multifaceted book that offers depth, tension, and nuance through intersecting viewpoints.
Penitence by Kristen Koval
Kristen Koval’s compelling debut Penitence starts with a shocking murder and explores the complexities of grief, family, and forgiveness. Unfolding across decades and through the eyes of a cast of characters, it’s the perfect novel to explore the world from multiple points of view.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
In his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, Colson Whitehead takes the metaphor of the Underground Railroad and makes it literal: The path to freedom is an actual working railroad with secret tunnels, tracks, and engineers. The Underground Railroad interweaves the perspective of Cora, a 16-year-old enslaved girl who escapes from a farm in Georgia, and the various people and ghosts she encounters on her train journey north. Among them are her grandmother, an abolitionist’s wife, a slave-catcher, and Caesar, Cora’s partner in escape.
In March 2025… Read a memoir
The best memoirs offer captivating glimpses into extraordinary lives and open your eyes to fresh perspectives. This month, pick up a personal account by someone who fascinates you and whose insights may change your year for the better.
Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Cleavage is a tour-de-force by one of the leading voices on trans identity. In her newest memoir, Jennifer Finney Boylan explores self-image from the perspective of two genders, liminality, and how men and women might be more alike than we have traditionally been led to believe.
Educated by Tara Westover
Raised in a remote survivalist camp in Idaho, Tara Westover’s parents considered the public school system to be a waste of time. So when Westover ran away and started school at age 17, she had a lot to learn. And she did, eventually working her way into Harvard and Cambridge universities. After her incredible escape and global adventures, can she ever go home again?
The Manicurist's Daughter by Susan Lieu
After Susan Lieu’s family immigrated from Vietnam to California in the 1980s, they looked to Lieu’s mother for stability and direction. Charming and savvy, Lieu’s mother opened two successful nail salons to support her family. When Lieu was 11 years old, however, her mother died unexpectedly from complications after a botched cosmetic surgery. Lieu's memoir is a fiercely honest story about grief, beauty, the fragility of the American Dream, and an unbreakable mother–daughter bond.
In April 2025… Read a book recommended by a friend
After all, who knows you better? Whether it’s a lifelong pal with identical tastes or an opposites-attract bestie who loves a genre you’ve never explored, ask a friend to pick a book for you this month. Even better, trade recommendations and invite them into the challenge!
No New Things by Ashlee Piper
At the junction of spring cleaning season and Earth Day, lies the realization that you might just have too. much. stuff. Enter Ashlee Piper. The award-winning sustainability expert has distilled her extensive knowledge into No New Things: an accessible book that guides readers through a 30-day challenge to control consumerist impulses, acquire less things, and achieve a peaceful state of mind.
In May 2025… Read a riveting mystery or thriller
We’re easing into summer reading season by challenging you to crack open a riveting mystery or thriller. Give yourself over to the pulse-pounding fun of suspenseful plot twists and turns by choosing a book that you won’t be able to put down.
Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade
Check out this fast-moving crime novel by Kevin Wade, the veteran screenwriter and showrunner for the hit police procedural Blue Bloods. Johnny Careless centers on a police chief who returns to his hometown to solve the death of his childhood friend. Wade’s hard-hitting detective tale is both a thrilling read and a nuanced examination of class and grief.
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
The first in Attica Locke’s acclaimed Highway 59 series, Bluebird, Bluebird follows Darren Matthews, a Black Texas ranger, as he investigates two murders in the small town of Lark. This gripping rural noir has an especially compelling lead character, and the author’s brilliant handling of the novel’s central mystery will keep you locked in your reading chair.
In June 2025… Read a book that’s been adapted for the screen
As the summer-blockbuster season heats up, celebrate the art of the adaptation with a book that’s been turned into a film or TV show. Whether the movie is in theaters now or hit the screen decades ago, this is the perfect excuse to plan a book-and-watch-party event with your friends.
Check back here for our June recommendations!
In July 2025… Read a debut novel
We’re halfway through our reading challenge! Celebrate the milestone by reading a book by a first-time novelist. Debut novels invite you to revel in a fresh literary voice and find someone who just may become your new favorite author.
Check back here for our July recommendations!
In August 2025… Read a rom-com
With the peak days of summer comes one of our favorite beach read genres: the rom-com. Whether you choose a friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, or ex-lovers-to-lovers plot, plunge into a funny, sexy romance novel this August.
Check back here for our August recommendations!
In September 2025… Read a Banned Book
Every September, Banned Books Week seeks to challenge literary censorship across the country by sharing book-banning data and encouraging us to read suppressed or banned books. Get a jump-start on Banned Books Week and “Let Freedom Read Day” by choosing a book from the ALA’s most challenged books lists — and attend a Banned Books Week event, while you’re at it!
Check back here for our September recommendations!
In October 2025… Read a book that scares you
The horror genre isn’t for everyone, but you can still get into the Halloween spirit by choosing a book that’s frightening in some way. This could mean anything from true crime to existential horror to a book on climate change.
Check back here for our October recommendations!
In November 2025… Read a work of nonfiction
Nonfiction November was originally a UK initiative to encourage kids to get excited about reading narrative nonfiction outside the classroom, but it’s expanded to adults who are interested in new perspectives. Use this month to delve into a special interest you’ve been curious about or expand your knowledge on a subject that already fascinates you.
Check back here for our November recommendations!
In December 2025… Read a book inspired by a true story
Stories are everywhere you look. We conclude our reading challenge by encouraging you to delve into a work, be it fiction or nonfiction, that’s inspired by a true story.
Check back here for our December recommendations!
A Few Helpful Tips for Completing the Reading Challenge
Even with the clearcut structure of a yearlong reading challenge, we know how resolutions can fall by the wayside come March or April. It’s easy to declare your desire to read more in the new year, but much harder to stick with it once busy schedules and stress and life start to get in the way.
The best way to follow through on a reading challenge is to create accountability and support. Set reminders each month to choose and acquire your book for the month ahead. Invite others to join in on the fun by challenging your friends, family, or book club to read with you. If you’re reading on your own, keep a reading journal to reflect on each month’s choice. You might even start a blog or social media profile to document your 2025 reading journey and inspire others. If so, please let us know by using the hashtag #CeladonReadingChallenge in your posts!
As with every resolution or personal goal, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If you miss a month or two, that’s okay! You can jump back in the following month. Didn’t finish a book you started because it just wasn’t your thing? No worries! There are always more books to read!
Reading challenges are a fantastic way to discover new authors, delve into different genres, and enrich your love of literature. And however you decide to join Celadon’s 2025 Reading Challenge, we’re so excited to embark on this reading journey with you!
