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Thu Dec 18 2025

Clare Mulroy | Books Reporter

Happy Thursday, booklovers!

How are you spending your holiday season? Maybe you're stocking up on bookish gifts for the well-read people in your life. Or maybe you're making a list and checking it twice, hoping the biggest titles of the year will be wrapped under the tree. As someone who reads mostly newly released books for work, I'm looking forward to catching up on some backlist suggestions from friends, family and readers like you (thank you!).

Between the stressful flurry of penny pinching and gift gathering, preparing and hustling for year-end deadlines, you deserve to treat yourself, too. Carving out reading time for yourself is a small act of self-care during a busy season. And how about a little cash incentive?

Gift yourself some time spent reading this holiday season.

SolThanya, Getty Images

That's why I wanted to plug our fall book challenge , which is open just a bit longer. One lucky reader will win a $100 Bookshop.org gift card. Simply fill out our bingo card with books you read from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 and send it in through this online entry to be entered in our giveaway. It features a variety of categories – a suggestion from a local librarian, a holiday-themed book, a celebrity memoir – so every type of reader can participate. Who could pass up a chance to win money for books?

And if you haven't read quite that much this year, don't fret – we have a list of short books under 200 pages to cram in before 2025 reading comes to a close.

Which books are you recommending to friends and family? Tell me at cmulroy@usatoday.com or by reaching out on Instagram. Thanks for checking out USA TODAY Books this week!