2025 Uncorked Reading Challenge: Judge A Book By Its Cover

Escape into a good book with our Uncorked 2025 Reading Challenge. Join any time with quarterly bingo cards filled with themes related to travel, history, professions, and more. Plus, judge that book by its cover.

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With suggestions from our Uncorked Readers, re-read a childhood favorite, travel across a country whose landscape is its own character, and think about putting a book sleeve over that embarrassing cover (for me it was Fifty Shades of Grey). Explore the Mediterranean, and judge award-winning and popular books. Was it really worth the hype?

I hope you find new authors, read diversely, share with our fellow bookworms, and challenge your reading comfort zone. So, grab a bevie, snap a photo with a furbaby, and get ready for another great year of Uncorked Reading Bingo. Our book community is incredibly chill, and I cannot wait to see how creative you get with these themes. Let’s uncork the reading challenge.

2025 Reading Challenge Directions

Read as much or as little as you like. This is an entirely customizable bingo reading challenge with no strict schedule. Some of our readers swap books for movies, TV shows, or drinks. The “rules” are simple:

• Bingo cards span three months; do 1 or all 4; join in or leave at any time. We offer surprise bonus cards throughout the year too.
• Score a “bingo” in any direction – horizontal, vertical, or diagonal (3 spaces total). For fun, complete the entire card or as much as you can; many of our avid readers go for blackout bingo.
• Take the free space as a free choice or count it as already done.
• If the topic is “Smaller Country,” read a fiction or nonfiction book from, about, or set in a smaller country. Audiobooks, of course, count.
• Grab bingo cards by clicking on and saving them, taking a screenshot, signing up for our newsletter, and/or joining our Facebook group.
• Share what you are reading in our Facebook group, Uncorked Readers. We do not currently use The StoryGraph (sorry!). However, you can follow each other and me on Goodreads.
• Use the hashtag #UncorkedReading and tag us @ theuncorkedlibrarian when talking about the challenge on social media.
• Invite your bookish friends.
• Rules are meant to be broken. Have fun!

Uncorked Reading Challenge Prompts

Find four bingo cards with unique prompts spanning three months (over the course of the year) paired with reading lists and specific titles. Please check back each season as we update with even more great book lists and recommendations.

January, February, and March

January through March topics include:

• Royalty
• Sports Romance
• NYT Best Seller – Take a peek at the NYT Best Sellers List.
• Pink or Red Cover
• Embarrassed To Read In Public/Embarrassing Cover
• Party – Think New Year’s Eve/Day or Mardi Gras. Or, read a book with a celebration, holidays and weddings included. These are my favorite destination wedding books.
• Librarian(s) – Librarians are important now more than ever. Peruse our favorite books about librarians.
• Inspiring – This theme might include inspiring people in fiction (kick-butt women in historical fiction), nonfiction from someone you admire, books that make you think differently, life changing stories, and more.

April, May, and June

April through June topics include:

• Smaller Country
• Floral Cover
• Where The Landscape Is Its Own Character – Read about something where people have harsh winters – books like Burial Rites come to mind – or travel to the English countryside.
• Book Recommended By A Friend
• Under 200 Pages – This is a great time to read a classic or find shorter translated literature.
• Teacher(s)
• Childhood Favorite
• Turning The Page/New Beginnings – Find a book about starting over/fresh, moving on, changing your life or career, switching paths, second chances, moving abroad, ending a relationship, or even a self-help/improvement book.

July, August, and September

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July through September topics include:

• Mediterranean – Read about places that border the Mediterranean Sea, including counties and island nations. Here are a few book lists to get you started: Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Egypt, and Greece. It’s a great time to learn more about Israel and Palestine too.
• Water – Read about swamps, oceans, rivers, beaches, or even snow. Travel via book to the coast or an island. Read a book set on a ship, raft, or boat (or read about a shipwreck). Take a luxury cruise. Meet a sea creature or a mermaid.
• Terrible Book Cover
• 4 Stars On Goodreads
• Literary Award Winner – Find a book that’s won an award like the Pura Belpré Award, Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, Booker Prize, National Book Award, Lambda Literary Awards, John Newbery Medal Award, Pulitzer Prize, Hugo Award, The Nebula Awards, and so much more.
• Over 400 pages
• Transportation – Books set on trains, planes, cars, subways, horses, donkeys, bikes, and more. Or, read about road trips or hiking.
• Animal In Title/On Cover

October, November, and December

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October through December topics include:

• Country You Want To Learn About
• Detective(s)
• Book That Scares You – This could be page length, bad reviews, too much hype, politics, or literally a horror story with ghosts, haunted houses etc.
• Magic – Whether you love magical realism, people with magical powers, or witches, find a book that leaves you spellbound.
• Book with a hobby – Read about baking, knitting, or reading. Grab a book about a hobby you love or one you want to take up.
• Blue Or Purple Cover
• Mental Health
• I Read It For The Cover

Free Printable Reading Challenge Trackers

In addition to our reading challenge bingo cards, grab these free PDF trackers to record what you have read. There is even a sheet to make this a one theme a month challenge.

Let’s Get The Conversation Started

What theme are you most excited about? Do you have any questions? You can always email me, Christine, ([email protected]) or comment below. Happy uncorked reading!