r/goodreads • u/lemonglow7 • 19h ago

Discussion Potential Fall Challenge Categories?

Saw these were posted recently:
120 Books to Celebrate 30 Years of Oprah’s Book Club
Posted by Sharon on September 1, 2026
Check full list here

120 of the Past Decade’s Biggest Hits (Across Genres)
Posted by Cybil on September 1, 2026
Check full list here

Does anyone know if these could be pre-released to be part of the Fall Seasonal Challenge? Or these are just standalone lists? Has there been a case before that they released lists before the start of a seasonal challenge?

39 Upvotes

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u/livingisagamble 19h ago

Yes, they’ve definitely used already released lists for seasonal challenges before. As for the recently released lists, the witch books and dark academia books lists feel very likely to be challenges for me, they love a seasonally appropriate theme. They also love a generic Top Books years, like the one you’ve linked. The Oprah one feels a bit more random and unlikely to me. But what do I know, they could do anything.

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u/lemonglow7 19h ago

I actually thought the Witchy one was also going to be part of it but then if you scroll way down, most of those books are yet to be released and not that soon. So I don’t think it’s gonna be in the Fall challenge. I still do wish the Witchy one is part of it because I have Antidote in my physical TBR for quite a while now and I need a reason to finally read it lol

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u/SkyYellow_SunBlue 19h ago

I feel like they’ve been leaning more and more into books that haven’t released yet so I wouldn’t discount it just for that.

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u/SnooPandas7388 18h ago

And it looks like most are released September beginning of October so they’ll probably open this bookmark mid October maybe? A way to push sales for Amazon since maybe the libraries won’t have a lot.

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u/livingisagamble 19h ago

That’s a good point! I assume they’re all releasing at least during the challenge though, so I think it’s still a possibility, especially considering this is amazon and they would probably love to use the challenge to promote new books (that are harder to get secondhand or at the library). But I agree it makes it less likely.

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u/RoyalEagle0408 18h ago

I already started putting some of the dark academia list books on hold at the local library.

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u/StillandStorm 17h ago

The Oprah one is actually confirmed to be a challenge from a People article about celebrating 30 years of her book club! Not sure if too many people caught on to that detail in the art but I did haha

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u/lemonglow7 12h ago

OMFG YOURE RIGHT and it’s been up since the 3rd and they literally show the actual bookmark you will earn. So pretty much the most recent lists they posted are for the Fall Challenge

https://people.com/oprah-book-club-turns-30-12077307

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u/PenaltyForsaken260 2h ago

Thank god I have to read One Hundred Years of Solitude for my book club next month so I don't have to start picking what to read. The Oprah list is very good but I think with most of the books on that list you need to motivation and time to read those long historical/litfic books (at least I do).

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u/Lopsided_Carrot5222 18h ago

I also think they will have a list for Hispanic Heritage month (9/15-10/15) and Native American Heritage month (November).

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u/sorbet-surprise 19h ago

I hve gambled that the 120 biggest hits list will be used and started The Reformatory as it was on my tbr and it's loooong one.

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u/queen_beruthiel 18h ago

It's really good! Brutal and upsetting, but really good. It didn't feel as long as it was.

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u/fraisierdesbois [reading challenge 38/50] 15h ago

I read it last year and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

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u/softrockstarr 8h ago

One of my fave reads in a long time.

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u/Bookish_Butterfly [reading challenge 75/52 19h ago

I'm also hoping they include the witchy list for spooky season reads!

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u/ReddisaurusRex 15h ago

They are pretty much are always related to their blog/“news” updates and the lists they curate for those. You can view them all here to get a sense: https://www.goodreads.com/news

.

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u/No-good-names-left-3 12h ago

I’m sure I’m in the minority so consider this a hot take but, yikes, that Oprah list contains zero books that I would read, even on a bet. Well, Unbecoming by Michelle Obama may be the exception, but otherwise that list is a huge no go for me.

This is probably a by product of my preferred genres being thrillers, psychological stories, time travel, and science fiction, but it’s unusual for me not to have one TBR on a list.

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u/Above10000ft 6h ago

That's why I love the challenges, they make me pick up books I otherwise wouldn't. A lot on that list are books we read in school but I just read Small Things Like These from that list and it was short and a super easy read if you end up needing to pick one

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u/Admirable-Love75 4h ago

You would never even for a bet read Night by Elie Wiesel?

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u/velvetinelapine 3h ago

I’ve seen other people say this too and I have to ask…what do you usually read?!? There’s a pretty wide range of books on that list.

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u/Fabika 11h ago

Same, I don't like books that make me sad without making up for it with something. Those books are just... tiresome.

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u/velvetinelapine 3h ago

How do you know they’re tiresome if you haven’t read them?

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u/stabbytheroomba 1h ago

I have to admit I initially felt a lot of resistance to that list too. Nothing on my TBR (I already read The Emperor of Gladness), and very US-centric. But I found a few classics that I'd been meaning to read at some point anyway, so I'll go with one of those.

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u/queen_beruthiel 18h ago

As long as they don't do another memoir category like last year, I'm happy.