8 Books That Complete Buzzwordathon and Read Harder 2025 Tasks
If there’s one thing I know about Read Harder Challengers (that’s what I call us), it’s that you all are Serious Readers. According to the 2024 survey, almost half of you read more than 100 books in a year, which is a staggering number. And many of you complete (or at least attempt) multiple reading challenges in a year: the Read Harder Challenge is just one of them. That’s why today, I have some recommendations that will allow you to knock out two different reading challenges’ tasks at once: Read Harder 2025 and Buzzwordathon 2025.
Buzzwordathon is a year-long reading challenge started by Kayla of BooksAndLala—one of my favorite BookTubers. Every year, she assigns a task for each month of the year that applies to book titles. For example, in 2025, January is “‘truth’ and ‘lies,'” which means you can read any book with the “truth” or “lies” in the title. This year, she also has the Buzzwordathon cover challenge. In that challenge, tasks have to do with book cover elements. For example, January’s is “pattern,” so any cover with a pattern is fair game.
You can learn more about the Buzzwordathon in the announcement video or by checking out the Storygraph pages for the Buzzword Reading Challenge 2025 and the Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025. Each task already has hundreds of eligible books listed there! The announcement video also has downloadable templates you can fill out.
While I know many of you could easily knock out the Read Harder Challenge and both Buzzwordathon challenges without any overlap, I’ve decided to recommend books that double up, simultaneously checking off Read Harder and Buzzwordathon tasks. Let’s get into the recommendations!
Isaac’s Song by Daniel Black (January 14, 2025)
Read Harder 2025, Task #1: Read a 2025 release by a BIPOC author.
Buzzword Reading Challenge 2025, July: Punctuation
You can tackle the first Read Harder task early in the year with this January release about a queer Black man growing up in 1980s Chicago whose hard-earned acceptance of himself is hit by two simultaneous crises: the AIDS epidemic and Rodney King’s attack.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Read Harder 2025, Task #2: Reread a childhood favorite book.
Buzzword Reading Challenge 2025, December: Alliteration
Obviously, everyone has different childhood favorites, but this is one of mine, and I never regret rereading it. In fact, I wrote a whole post about why this is a feminist fairy tale about agency. I highly recommend listening to childhood favorites on audio: it’s a great way to experience the story a little differently!
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Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars (January 14, 2025)
Read Harder 2025, Task #3: Read a queer mystery.
Buzzword Reading Challenge 2025, October: Violent words
There are so many queer mysteries to choose between, whether you’re looking for quozies or something darker. I’m looking forward to this mystery, the first in a new series, about a drag queen turned detective when the police ignore the murder of her drag mother.
Chlorine by Jade Song
Read Harder 2025, Task #4: Read a book about obsession.
Buzzword Reading Challenge 2025, February: Water words
This is one of the Read Harder tasks I’m most excited for! I love getting sucked into a book about obsession. Chlorine is part literary coming-of-age story, part horror novel, and it’s about a young swimmer who is intensely invested in her sport, but more importantly, she’s obsessed with becoming a mermaid—no matter the cost.
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Read Harder 2025, Task #5: Read a book about immigration or refugees.
Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025, October: Weapons
This is a YA novel about refugees fleeing from Syria through Turkey to Greece. It’s written by an award-winning journalist (and refugee) who witnessed the crisis firsthand.
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
Read Harder 2025, Task #6: Read a standalone fantasy book.
Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025, November: Food and drink
This standalone YA fantasy is about Mona, a young baker with a sourdough familiar whose magic only works on bread. But then an assassin of magic users strikes at the bakery, and Mona realizes she’s the next target.
Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook by Joanna Farrow
Read Harder 2025, Task #7: Read a book about a piece of media you love (a TV show, a movie, a band, etc).
Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025, June: Celestial
I think a cookbook is such a fun option for task #7! This lets you experience a world you love in a whole new way, and there are so many fandom or media tie-in cookbooks to choose from.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Read Harder 2025, Task #8: Read literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled author.
Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025, December: Monochromatic
Martyr! was one of the biggest books of 2024. If you missed it, you can pick it up in 2025 and complete several 2025 reading challenge tasks while you’re at it.
Are you doing any other reading challenges in 2025? Let’s chat in the comments!
Check out all the previous Read Harder posts here.
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