As 2025 approaches, we’re facing renewed attempts to repress and suppress our freedom, and the need to be informed, resilient, and ready has never been clearer. This challenge features 97 powerful books selected to help us strengthen our understanding of history, develop radical knowledge, and empower our communities.

This StoryGraph challenge invites you to explore 11 essential categories that reflect interconnected struggles and paths toward liberation. The categories cover key topics such as American history, mutual aid, disability justice, climate crisis, reproductive justice, abolitionist futures, and more. Each category provides multiple options to choose from, so you’ll have flexibility while building a well-rounded base of knowledge.

Here’s how the challenge works:

The aim of this challenge is to support each other in becoming better informed, committed, and community-driven in the face of growing social and political oppression. The books included span new releases and timeless classics that dig into systemic issues, present pathways to justice, and offer inspiration for collective action. This challenge is a resource for building resilience, understanding our collective struggles, and growing into more informed allies and activists.

The challenge contains 11 categories, each dedicated to a different topic relevant to resistance and liberation:

Each participant must read one book from each category to complete the challenge. However, the “Developing a White Racial Identity” category is only required for white participants. White participants will read 11 books to finish, while BIPOC participants can complete the challenge with 10 books.

The challenge is live on StoryGraph, so you can start participating now or wait until January 2025 to begin. If you’re aiming to finish within a year, one book per month will keep you on track.

Due to StoryGraph’s platform design, each category lists one “required” book (which must be marked “Read” for the system to register the challenge as complete) while all other books in that category are labeled as “bonus.” This setup means you can choose any book from each category that speaks to you or fits your interests. Just remember to mark the required book as “Read” on StoryGraph, even if it’s not the book you actually read.

To honor the unique perspectives and priorities of BIPOC readers, the “Developing a White Racial Identity” category is entirely optional for non-white participants. All books in this category are marked as “optional,” so only white readers need to complete it to finish the challenge. This approach allows each participant to customize their reading while respecting different positionalities and needs.

The challenge is open until December 31, 2029, so you can join anytime and read at your own pace. Whether you’d like to complete it within a year or take it slowly over time, the extended timeframe ensures that this challenge can be a resource for continued learning and growth for years to come.

Feel free to reach out on Bookstagram or comment if you’d like to buddy read any of these titles - they're all from my TBR! Let’s build a future of solidarity and strength by engaging with these powerful works together. This challenge is all about fostering resilience, connection, and community care—so join in, and let’s prepare to resist and create a liberatory future, one book at a time.