2025 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge

In this challenge, the goal is to beat the backlist by reading any book published prior to the current year. There’s an additional option to read with prompts, 24 or 52. I’m choosing 24! Join the challenge and read the rules here!

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the prompts

1. title includes a type of flower
2. less than 100 pages: Edgar Allan Cozy by various
3. on your TBR for over a year: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
4. title starts with “v”: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
5. more than 30 chapters: A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen
6. standalone debut: The League of Lady Poisoners by Lisa Perrin
7. tiniest on the TBR: Catch Her in a Lie by Jess Lourey
8. celebrity book club pick: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
9. way back in 2020: The Awakening by Nora Roberts
10. as seen on social media: Grimoire Girl by Hilarie Burton Morgan
11. a chapter by any other name: Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson
12. prequel/sequel
13. between 275 – 325 pages: Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey
14. beyond your perspective
15. originally written in another language: Reykjavík by Ragnar Jónasson & Katrín Jakobsdótrir
16. oldie but a goodie: Storm Warning by Mercedes Lackey
17. extra, extra!: The White Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey
18. companion novel: Clause and Effect by Piper Rayne
19. silhouette on the cover: Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
20. not first, nor last: Cocoa Curses by Erin Johnson
21. more than 600 pages
22. not your typical genre: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
23. childhood favorite re-read: Arrow’s Fall by Mercedes Lackey
24. librarian rec

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1. The White Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey - ★★★★½
2. Cocoa Curses by Erin Johnson - ★★★★
3. Arrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey - ★★★★★
4. Storm Warning by Mercedes Lackey - ★★★★★
5. Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey - ★★★★★
6. Grimoire Girl: Creating an Inheritance of Magic and Mischief by Hilarie Burton Morgan - ★★★★★
7. A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen - ★★★★★
8. Edgar Allan Cozy by Sheila Connolly, Sherry Harris, Sadie Hartwell, Edith Maxwell, Barbara Ross - ★★★★½
9. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - ★★★★★
10. Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir - ★★★★½
11. The League of Lady Poisoners: Illustrated True Stories of Dangerous Women by Lisa Perrin - ★★★★★
12. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren - ★★★★
13. The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins - ★★★★
14. The Awakening by Nora Roberts - ★★★★★
15. Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson - ★★★★★
16. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto - ★★★★★
17. Catch Her in a Lie by Jess Lourey - ★★★★★
18. Clause and Effect by Piper Rayne - ★★★★
19. The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter - ★★★★★
20. Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women by Alexa Albert - ★★★★★