October 2025 Mini-Challenge

October 2025 Mini-Challenge

Get ready for a spooktacular literary adventure! This October, we’re inviting you to “trick or treat” with us through a thrilling Halloween-inspired reading challenge. So, grab your pumpkin-spiced lattes, your favourite literary costume, and let’s get cozy with our best scary (or not-so-scary) reads this month.

I’m new here! What are mini-challenges?

Mini-challenges are smaller month-long reading challenges, usually comprised of three prompts 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 October mini-challenge work?

For this month’s mini, we’re inviting you to “trick or treat” with three new prompts. Choose your costume, your treats, and your scare level. Each prompt has three options to choose from. Pick one option from each prompt for a total of three books for this challenge.

Downloads & Printables:

Don’t forget to share your October Mini-Challenge on your socials and tag @the52bookclub or use #the52bookclub2025 — we love to see what you’re reading!

Prompt Walkthrough:

Need help with these October mini-challenge prompts? Let’s walk through them!

Prompt 1: Pick your costume — mythological, princess, or first responder
For this prompt, you’ll first need to choose between the three options: mythological, princess, or first responder. Once you decide on one of the options, pick a book that somehow fits that word. It may relate to the characters, theme, plot, title, cover design, etc.

• Mythological: Mythological books draw from ancient myths, legends, and folklore across various cultures. These narratives often feature gods, goddesses, heroes, mythical creatures, and epic quests, exploring themes of creation, morality, destiny, and the human condition. While this may be an opportunity to explore a classic epic like  “The Odyssey,” there are also a lot of popular modern interpretations and retellings.
  
  For this prompt, you could choose any mythologically based story or retelling (Greek, Norse, Roman, etc.) It could also feature any mythological creature, non-fiction about mythology, a character who studies mythology, etc.
  
  Goodreads List: Mythological

• Princess: For this prompt, choose any book that somehow relates to the word “Princess.” This may be fiction or non-fiction about royalty, a character who is a princess or who “acts like a princess,” the word “princess” in the title, etc. As a creative interpretation, you might choose a character named Sara (name means Princess), etc.
  
  Goodreads List: Princess

• First Responder: A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster, or terrorist attack. Common first responders include paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), police officers, and firefighters.
  
  For this prompt, choose a book that features one of these professions. This may be fiction or non-fiction, and may feature first responders as main characters, secondary characters, or simply within a specific key scene within the book. “First responder” could also relate to the title, cover design, author’s previous career, etc.
  
  Goodreads List: First Responder

Prompt 2: Pick your treat — A sugary sweet character or a mischievous character
For this second October prompt, we want you to choose between a “sugary sweet” character or a mischievous character. This may be a main or secondary character.

• Sugary Sweet: When someone is described as “sugary sweet,” it often means that they are excessively or insincerely kind or pleasant to the point where it feels inauthentic. Another interpretation could be a character who is genuinely a very sweet and kind person.
  
  Goodreads List: A sugary sweet character

• Mischievous: According to dictionary.com the definition is mischievous is, “causing or showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way.” The book may also feature a group causing mischief (can be defined as ranging from harmless pranks to more severe criminal offenses such as vandalism.)
  
  Examples of mischievous characters may include: Loki, Batman’s Joker, Tyrion Lannister (A Game of Thrones), Peter Rabbit, Max (Where the Wild Things Are), Puck (A Midsummer’s Night Dream).
  
  Goodreads List: A mischievous character

Prompt 3: Pick your scare level — Cozy, Mysterious, or Keep You Up All Night
Our third prompt of the month also has three options to choose from, and this time we’re looking for “scare-levels:” cozy, mysterious, or a book that’s going to keep you up all night. While this prompt is called “scare-level” there are numerous other ways to interpret each of these three options and you do not have to read a “scary” book.

• Cozy: A cozy book typically refers to a genre, often called “cozy mystery,” characterized by a gentle tone and minimal violence (usually off-screen). Oftentimes, these books feature amateur detectives and small community settings. While cozy is most often associated with mysteries, it can be found across multiple genres (cozy fantasy, cozy romance, cozy lit, etc.) For readers looking for a lighter, non-scarier option, this is the one for you!
  
  Looking for a creative twist? Pick this option and get cozy while you’re reading! Grab your coziest jammies, a warm blanket, and a soft place to read.
  
  Goodreads List: Cozy

• Mysterious: For this option, we’re looking at books that are mysterious and thrilling (but not the “scariest” book you’ve ever read.) Any mystery or true crime would fit this book.
  
  Looking for a creative twist? Try a “blind date with a book” or grab your next read without knowing anything about it.
  
  Goodreads List: Mysterious

• Keep You Up All Night: The scarier the better for this option! This is the sort of book that makes you sleep with the lights on after reading. This will vary for each of us but could lean towards genres like horror, true crime, mystery, etc.
  
  As a creative twist, this could also be a book that isn’t “scary” but keeps you up all night after you finish reading because you can’t stop thinking about it! It might be a five-star read that you’re obsessed with, a book that ends in a cliffhanger, the latest book in your favourite series, etc.
  
  Goodreads List: Keep you up all night

October Mini-Challenge Stickers:

October mini-challenge stickers are available now at PlanItWithStickers.com as a one-time purchase. This optional add-on includes two sticker sheets themed around this month’s mini (calling all spooky lovers!) 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 October?
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 (this mini-challenge makes 67 prompts for 2025), or you can double up and combine them with prompts still left on your 2025 list. Your challenge, your rules!