This will be the 8th year for the Travel Reading List Challenge. I get excited for it every year, because I’m always looking for new books to read when I’m traveling.

The challenge was founded out of a love of reading and curiosity for the world, and as means of exploring new topics, writers and points of view.

The reading challenge is designed for those who love travel and who love to read. For people who have a curiosity about the world around them, those who are always looking for their next great read (whether picking it up in an airport bookstore or finding wi-fi to download to their Kindle), those who want more ideas about what to read, and those who want to explore the world in person and through a good book. We believe that a book is both a travel companion and a window to unexplored worlds.

The basic reading challenge has a pace of two books per month, for a yearly total of 24 books. The advanced portion of the reading challenge adds on another six books, bringing the yearly total to 30 books.

The challenge is self-paced. Read what you want, when you want. There’s no order you must follow. Feel free to interpret the list in any way you wish, choosing the type of books that you think you will enjoy. However, we also hope you’ll be encouraged to try some new authors, and genres, and will add new voices to your reading list – that’s part of the fun of the challenge, expanding your view of the world around you.

Your hosts for the 2025 reading challenge are:

Mary Jo Manzanares – Mary Jo is an avid traveler and reader. With a bag always packed, and a Kindle always full of books to read, she and her husband travel the world in search of value luxury destinations and experiences. She loves historical fiction, biographies, and debut authors. Mary Jo enjoys the reading challenge as a way to discover new authors and books that wouldn’t typically be on her to-read list. She likes finding books set in places she’s been, and places she’s going to and loves getting ideas from other book lovers in the Challenge Facebook group. Mary Jo is the author of Secret Seattle, and blogs at Traveling with MJ.

Carol Guttery – Carol is a first-class book nerd and a recovering bookseller. She helps avid readers and book clubbers find and discuss their next great read at Libro Maniacs. She believes that travel and reading are intrinsically connected and all her trips are paired with a reading list. She’s a big fan of fiction and she goes deep into sci-fi/fantasy, spec-fic, mysteries and stories about people on a journey. A few of her 5-star reads for 2024 were: James, Migrations, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and A Short Walk Through a Wide World. Carol’s goal for the reading challenge is to stretch into some new genres and get ideas for her ever-expanding TBR (to be read) list.

Like you, both of us are starting the challenge from scratch and we’ll be tackling the challenge right along with you. We will be updating our selections here throughout the year, and providing suggestions and recommendations in our Facebook group.

For suggestions of what to read, discussions about our favorite books, and recommendations of what to take along on your next trip, please join our Facebook Group here. We are directing all discussions, comments, and questions about the reading challenge to that group. And don’t worry, we keep the talk general to avoid spoilers. Please join us!

Now let’s get to the list!

Basic Challenge (an average of two books per month)

1. A book by an author from Sub-Saharan Africa
2. A book set in or about Antarctica
3. A book set in or about Turkiye
4. A book set in or about incarceration or written by an inmate
5. A book set in a country you’ve visited
6. A book about siblings
7. A book with a title that starts with the letter K
8. A book about a solo traveler
9. A book that makes you feel like you’ve traveled to the setting, even though you’ve never been there
10. A book that teaches you something about a new destination
11. A book that is a coming of age story
12. A book by a self-published author
13. A book that features dragons or mystical creatures
14. A book with a title that is a complete sentence
15. A book that is a character driven novel
16. A book told in non-chronological order
17. A book with a cover that doesn’t include people
18. A book with the word “secret” in the title
19. A book set in a cold climated
20. A book that is a modern spy novel
21. A book set in a country currently experiencing war
22. A book that is a multi-generation story
23. A book that is an urban fantasy
24. A book with a purple colored cover

Advanced Challenge (an additional six books)

1. A book that is a memoir
2. A book about something recently in the news
3. A book that is a translation
4. A book from the 2024 Booker award long list (find the list here)
5. A book featuring rich people problems
6. A book with an epistolary format

You can download a pdf of the list here.

Remember, the challenge is self-paced. Read what you want, when you want. There’s no order you must follow. Feel free to interpret the list in any way you wish, choosing the type of books that you think you will enjoy. However, we also hope you’ll be encouraged to try some new authors, and genres, and will add new voices to your reading list – that’s part of the fun of the challenge, expanding your view of the world around you.

May your new year be filled with lots of wonderful books!