Our Inaugural Readership Challenge in Review
We’d love your thoughts!
In the wake of this year’s elections, people across the country expressed an emotion that’s hard to conjure lately: hope. From Zohran Mamdani’s win in NYC, to Mary Sheffield’s in Detroit, to state offices and courts staying and even flipping blue (enabling the codification of reproductive rights, amongst other issues), to school board elections favoring progressives (even in Texas!), and folks showing up for public libraries and child support, the wins demonstrate the power of mass movement and organization.
“Hope is a discipline,” organizer and author Mariame Kaba reminds us. Behind the results of this year’s elections were organizers and everyday folks working to build coalitions, to spread awareness and engage people, and to actively build a better future. Hope requires action, not just well wishes. It’s because of this action that we saw good news this election cycle, and it’s because of our hope that we will continue to fight for a brighter future.
Reading when combined with sustained action can lead to societal change. Whether pushing books by Palestinian authors onto bestseller lists that help them grow in visibility, supporting publishing employees as they build unions, launching food drives out of indie bookstores to aid SNAP recipients, and so much else, readers continue to shape a more equitable world. And under a second Trump administration, especially as hope felt deflated in the wake of the 2024 election, many of us were looking for ways to take direct action in both familiar and unfamiliar ways. So last January, we launched the ad astra Readership Challenge with this idea in mind.
Now as we approach a new year, we’re curious: how did you find the challenge? Did it help you become more aware of what’s happening in your own community? Did it help you learn new ways to care for others, or get involved?
And we’re also reflecting—not just on our own participation in the challenge, but on the challenge itself. (For example, we launched a Broadcast Channel on Instagram to help keep folks motivated, but this ended up being difficult bandwidth wise for us…so it ended up being pretty silent/sporadic 😭 But we did find it much easier to share resources and tips in our newsletters.)
We’ve opened a brief survey, and we’d love your feedback here or in the comments. Feel free to share any thoughts, whether that be about your favorite prompts, or if anything was difficult—and what you learned along the way. Ultimately, we’d love to know if we should do another challenge next year!
Books we are reading (or hoping to read) this month
✅ This Is the Only Kingdom by Jaquira Díaz
✅ O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
✅🎧Julia Song Is Undateable by Susan Lee
✅🎧Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
🗓️ I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee, translated by Anton Hur
🗓️ Unmasking AI by Dr. Joy Buolamwini
🗓️🎧Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
Note: For books we have completed, we’ll only include here ones we recommend.
Books new to our TBR
The Pleasing Hour by Lily King
Holiday Ever After by Hannah Grace
My Train Leaves at Three by Natalie Guerrero
The 2025 ad astra Readership Challenge: Complete the form for your prize!
There are two prizes as part of this year’s reading challenge:
Folks who completed at least six prompts will receive an ad astra sticker sheet
Those who completed every challenge will be entered to win a $100 gift card to the indie of their choice
Unfortunately, these are available for U.S. residents and those 18 and older only. Sorry!
Haven’t finished the challenge yet, but are planning to do so? Just fill out the survey before the end of the year. We’ll send a reminder next month, too.
Looking for even more bookish merch, or for holiday gifts? We also have prints, and all the profits go to For the Gworls and We Need Diverse Books. Learn more and place an order here.
Other publishing updates
Barnes and Noble bought yet another indie bookstore chain without really making that clear.
It’s Native American Heritage Month, and there are some amazing Indigenous-owned bookish companies to support all year long!
Here’s a quick rundown on why readers should care about SNAP benefits being cut (other than the fact that we should all care because everyone deserves access to the same food, no strings attached).
Bookstores are protesting the Trump administration.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share with friends, and consider subscribing if you have not yet already.
We’ll be back in a few weeks with the latest publishing updates.
Xx,
ad astra