It’s easy to get stuck in a reading rut. We find ourselves saying, “But I always read mysteries”, or worse, “I don’t like Westerns”. Choosing a genre that we know and love is safe and comforting, but it’s also predictable and a little boring. This year I challenge you to spread your reading wings and complete the 2024 Reading Challenge. Choose one book per month (more if you’re ambitious) and read from all sections of the library. You just might discover a new favorite!
Here are some titles to get you started:
A book about an athlete/sport
- “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” by Christopher McDougall (nonfiction)
- “Beartown” by Fredrik Backman (fiction and CD fiction)
A book with a map in it
- “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman (fantasy)
- “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson (nonfiction)
A book about a vacation
- “A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle (nonfiction)
- “The Villa” by Rachel Hawkins (fiction and large print fiction)
A book featuring pirates
- “Guardian Angel” by Julie Garwood (romance)
- “The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast” by Michael Scott Moore (nonfiction)
A book about science
- “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren (nonfiction)
- “Zero Sum Game” by S. L. Huang (science fiction)
A book with a tree on the cover
- “Overstory: by Richard Powers (fiction)
- “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World” by Peter Wohlleben (nonfiction)
A book set in winter
- “Glass Houses” by Louise Penny (mystery)
- “Cruel Winter of the Mountain Man” by William J. Johnstone (Western)
A book featuring an indigenous character
- “There There” by Tommy Orange (fiction)
- “Carry” by Toni Jensen (nonfiction)
A book told from a child’s point of view
- “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith (fiction)
- “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” by Maria Semple (fiction)
A book that makes you happy
- Read the genre or topic that makes YOU happy!
A book published in 2024
- Keep an eye on our New Books shelf for new fiction and nonfiction, all year round.
An SPL staff pick
- Look for our Staff Picks display for a wide variety of options. The display will be up from March-August.
Visit our website for more recommendations and enter to win prizes!
About The Author: Lori
Lori is the Information Services Outreach Librarian at Salina Public Library. A native of DeKalb, Ill., Lori spent only one summer detassling corn for DeKalb AgResearch and made an impressive $2.35 per hour. She stayed in her hometown and graduated from Northern Illinois University with a B.A. and M.A. in art history. Lori moved to Kansas in 1990 with plans to get a Ph.D. in art history from KU, but that quickly turned into attending Emporia State University and receiving a second master’s degree in library and information science. She met a fellow library student named Nick and they married over spring break just before graduating. Lori enjoys reading about, looking at, and researching anything having to do with art or art historical matters. Every spring she encourages her 30 fruit trees to bear well, and gardens on her three acres in Saline County. She appreciates the style of the 1920s-40s, and can often be found knitting, cooking (and eating) delicious Italian food, obsessively playing Words with Friends or working a crossword puzzle. Lori can be reached at infoservices.lori@salpublib.org.
More posts by Lori