December 2025 Mini Bingo Challenge
Grab your hot cocoa and turn on the Hallmark Channel. This December Mini Bingo was inspired by those deliciously cheesy, holiday movies that we love (or love to hate). Predictable, sweet, and completely binge-worthy — we have nine new reading challenge prompts to cozy up with this December.
I’m new here! What are mini-challenges?
Mini-challenges are smaller, month-long reading challenges, typically comprised of three prompts and built around a specific theme. Mini-challenges are released sporadically throughout the year, and not every month has one. Match one book to each of the prompts and have fun reading!
To ensure you don’t miss any future 52 Book Club mini-challenges, don’t forget to sign up for e-mails!
How does this December Mini-Bingo challenge work?
This December Mini is a little different than our regular mini-challenges. This month, we’re playing a round of Mini Bingo! (Similar to regular BINGO, except smaller.) This December Mini has nine different prompts, laid out in a three-by-three grid. Choose any three prompts either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally on the December Bingo graphic to complete this challenge.
While this challenge was inspired by holiday romance movies, you do not need to read Christmas or holiday-themed books. (Unless you’d like to, of course!) Books that fit each prompt can be any genre and cover any topic, theme, or plot; fiction or non-fiction. Don’t be afraid to get creative!
As an optional add-on, some members may choose to get extra ambitious and complete two or three bingos (anywhere from three to nine prompts). And, for those feeling extra festive, feel free to try and complete your Bingo line twice: once with books, once with holiday movies.
You can find the challenge on Storygraph here.
You can see more details about our December Mini-Bingo on YouTube here:
The December Mini-Bingo Challenge
Downloads & Printables:
Don’t forget to share your December Mini-Challenge on your socials and tag @the52bookclub or use #the52bookclub2025 — we love to see what you’re reading!
Prompt Walkthrough:
While the prompts for this challenge were inspired by holiday romance movies, the books you choose do not have to be holiday-themed, Christmas-related, or romance-driven. (But they may be, if you’d like!)
1) Feels like home: For the first prompt on this mini-bingo, we’re looking for any book that somehow relates to the saying, “Feels like home.” This may be a book featuring a character who is “coming home” or a story set in a home. It may be a comforting or cozy read that “feels like home” for you personally.
Goodreads List: Feels like home
2) Character with a career change — A common trope in holiday movies is characters with career changes! For this prompt, choose any book in which a character (either a main or a secondary character) undergoes a career change. This may or may not be central to the plot.
Goodreads List: Character with a career change
3) “That’s so predictable” — For this prompt, choose any book somehow related to the phrase, “That’s so predictable.” This may be a book with a predictable ending, a plot twist that you saw coming, a book that follows a predictable trope, etc. Romance novels are often predictable (you know the two love interests are going to get together eventually), but that predictability can help build anticipation.
It also might be a book that’s a predictable read for you personally. (Your favourite genre, author, or a book that if someone close to you saw you reading, they’d say, “Oh, that’s such a predictable book choice for you!”)
Goodreads List: “That’s so predictable.”
4) Blizzard — Choose any book featuring a blizzard (snowstorm). The blizzard may feature a key role in the plot or overall story (for example, blizzards are a common device in locked-room mysteries, keeping characters trapped in a specific location while a murderer wanders loose) or it may play a minor role in a smaller scene or portion of the book.
Goodreads List: Blizzard
5) Set in a small town — Books matching this prompt must be set in a small town. They may be fully or partially set in any small town, fictional or not. Small towns are areas with smaller populations. They usually feature a slower-paced life or a strong sense of community, but the opposite may be true as well.
Goodreads List: Set in a small town
6) A seasonal romance — What’s a “holiday romance-inspired” mini-bingo without a seasonal romance prompt? For this prompt, choose any romance novel set around a specific holiday or season. It does not have to feature a December holiday.
Goodreads List: A seasonal romance
7) Features a contest — Another common trope within holiday movies is some sort of contest. For this prompt, choose a book that features a contest. It may or may not play a core part in the overall story. It can be any type of contest: a character competing to win a prize, be the next princess, stay alive in the Hunger Games, etc.
Goodreads List: Features a contest
8) Baked goods — It wouldn’t be a holiday movie if our main characters didn’t stop at a bakery for some coffee and baked goods, or if we didn’t get a baking scene somewhere! For this prompt, choose a book somehow related to baked goods. This may be a specific scene within the book, or it may play a larger role in the plot or story as a whole (for example: a character who is a baker, or a couple who first meet at a coffee shop while eating scones.
It may also be a book with any kind of baked goods on the cover or in the title.
Goodreads List: Baked Goods
9) Snow on the cover — Our final prompt in this mini bingo is for a book with snow on the cover. This may be part of the cover design, the word “snow” in the title, the author’s last name, etc. The snow may be prominent, or it may be a more subtle part of the background or cover design.
As a creative twist, you might decide to take any book outside while it’s snowing and let it catch a snowflake or two.
Goodreads List: Snow on the cover
December Mini-Bingo Challenge Stickers:
December Mini-Challenge stickers are available now at PlanItWithStickers.com as a one-time purchase. This optional add-on includes two sticker sheets featuring this month’s holiday romance-inspired mini and is perfect for those who enjoy journaling or using physical trackers to record their mini-challenge reads. You can find all the purchase details at www.planitwithstickers.com!
Mini-challenge tips:
1) Do I have to complete this challenge in December?
Nope! Feel free to complete this mini-challenge whenever you like. Some members prefer to focus on finishing the main 2025 challenge first, and then go back to complete all the minis afterward. Others enjoy the added challenge of completing mini-challenges in the month they’re released. Do whatever works for you!
2) Is this a part of the main 52 books in 52 weeks challenge?
Yes and no. Mini-challenges are related to our 52 books in 52 weeks challenge, but are also completely optional. Some members may decide to complete the full challenge and all the minis. Other members may choose to skip mini-challenges or to complete some of the minis but not all of them. Some challenge participants might only be joining in for the minis. It’s up to you how (or if) you’d like to participate.
3) Can I use the same books as my 52 book challenge?
It all depends on your personal reading goals! You can choose to read these books in addition to your regular 52 Book Club reads, or you can double up and combine them with prompts still left on your 2025 list. Your challenge, your rules!