2024 Adult Reading Challenge! October

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

October’s theme is Once Upon a Crime – Mysteries, horror, thrillers, and crime. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

HORROR MOVIE by Paul Tremblay

“Balancing a terrifying cursed film with examinations of artistic creation, fandom, and truth, Tremblay’s latest is smart and well-paced and will have broad appeal.” ~ Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

FIRST LIE WINS by Asley Elston

“YA writer Elston’s adult debut announces itself as a savvy thriller with intrigue and momentum from the first twist of Lucca’s arrival right up until the final showdowns. Evie is a smart and engaging protagonist, and her time on the run is anything but predictable. A genuine page-turn.” ~ Kirkus

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE by Josh Malerman

“Malerman is extraordinarily skilled at bringing fear to the ordinary and building a sense of unease into terror. He can terrify readers even while writing from a believable child’s perspective and voice. For fans of novelists who deftly deploy unease and surreal takes on the routine like Neil Gaiman, Catriona Ward, or Paul Tremblay.” ~ Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore

“The God of the Woods is an exploration of the differences between the haves and the have-nots and the stifling roles for women of all ages mixed with a police procedural and a family drama. Moore manages it all smoothly, resulting in a compulsively readable novel that will appeal to fans of mysteries and historical fiction alike.” ~ Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

MURDER IN AN IRISH VILLAGE by Carlene O’Connor

“This entertaining combination of Maeve Binchy’s old-world Irish charm and Janet Evanovich’s roguish humor is a smart, fast-paced read.” ~ Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman

“British TV celebrity Osman mixes mirth and murder in his exceptional debut, a series launch featuring the four members of the Thursday Murder Club, residents of the Coopers Chase Retirement Village in Kent.” ~ Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

UNDER THE STORM by Christoffer Carlsson

“This slow burning, masterfully constructed literary thriller from the author of Blaze Me a Sun (2023) and one of Sweden’s leading crime experts lays bare the haunting effects of violent crime.” ~ Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE HUNTER by Tana French

“French’s characterizations are brilliant, as always, and surprising strengths and vulnerabilities make for an often amusing, yet ominous and somber tale. The atmosphere is rich as the reader is reminded that this is the “real” Ireland and not the one idealized by the “plastic Paddies.” Masterfully written.” ~ Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! September

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

September’s theme is Face Books – Biographies, memoirs, or any book with a face on the cover. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

DANCING ON THE EDGE by Russ Tamblyn

“This is one of those rare Hollywood memoirs whose appeal stretches far beyond its subject’s star power.” ~Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

ON GREAT FIELDS: THE LIFE AND UNLIKELY HEROISM OF JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN by Ronald C. White

“Biographer White provides an admiring portrait of Civil War hero and politician Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828–1914), whose actions defending Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg earned him widespread acclaim.” ~ Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

LAST TO EAT, LAST TO LEARN: MY LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN FIGHTING TO EDUCATE WOMEN by Pashtana Durrani and Tamara Bralo

“Durrani offers a persuasive road map for pursuing gender equality while honoring Afghanistan’s religious and cultural traditions. It’s an inspiring portrait of a change-maker in action.” ~ Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MEANINGS: A MEMOIR by RuPaul

“Touching also on belonging, love, and sobriety, this vibrant and multifaceted celebrity memoir will have readers rapt.” ~ Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

IAN FLEMING: THE COMPLETE MAN by Nicholas Shakespeare

“Novelist Shakespeare delivers an exemplary biography of British spy novelist Ian Fleming…This will stand as the definitive biography of the popular author.” ~ Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

CLOISTERED: MY YEARS AS A NUN by Catherine Coldstream

“Readers interested in spiritual memoirs and religious formation, abuse, and reform will welcome Coldstream’s intelligent, unflinching writing and perceptive account of years as a cloistered nun.” ~ Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

SOLDIER OF DESTINY: SLAVERY, SECESSION, AND THE REDEMPTION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT by John Reeves

“Grant’s contradictions and complexities are on full display in this candid and unusually critical biography.” ~ Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! August

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

August’s theme is Podcast Reads – Any book mentioned in FPL’s What are You Reading Podcast. You can find our podcasts here. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

THE GENERAL AND JULIA by Jon Clinch

“Clinch’s compelling study conveys the complicated legacy of Grant, who had no pretense for pageantry, deeply loved his wife and children, and treated everyone with decent human kindness. A remarkable novel, utterly gripping.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE FURY by Alex Michaelides

“Even veteran crime-fiction readers will fall prey to Michaelides’ craft, nudged into shifting, sympathetic allegiances to the damaged, unlikable characters in this pitch-perfect, classic crime set-up and modern psychological thriller.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

WEST WITH GIRAFFES by Lynda Rutledge

“Rutledge’s larger-than-life story about the power of both animal magnetism and human connection is based on true events. Fans of The Night Circus (2011) and How the Penguins Saved Veronica (2020) will adore the witty, charming, and heartwarming West with Giraffes.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

CROW MARY by Kathleen Grissom

“This moving story of one woman’s grit, survival, and resilience will keep readers turning the pages.” ~Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

LIGHTHOUSE OF STALINGRAD by Iain MacGregor

“Historian MacGregor (Checkpoint Charlie) delivers a brisk and dramatic account of a much mythologized episode in the Battle for Stalingrad during WWII…Meticulous yet action-packed, this will thrill WWII buffs.” ~Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! July

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

July’s theme is Beach, Please! – Anything sun, sand, or surf. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

THE LOST SUMMERS OF NEWPORT by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

“Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies from Williams, Willig, and White. ~Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

BEACH READ by Emily Henry

“Henry hits all the right notes with this clever, compassionate contemporary romance.” ~ PW

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE GIRL BENEATH THE SEA by Andre Mayne

“Edgar-nominated Mayne introduces a winning new series with a complicated female protagonist that combines police procedural with adventure story and mixes the styles of Lee Child and Clive Cussler.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper

“Harper again excels at creating atmosphere and depicting tense interpersonal relationships.” Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

SOMETHING IN THE WATER by Catherine Steadman

“This debut’s opening hook, which jumps ahead in the story to reveal a shocking outcome, teamed with Erin’s spunk and the threat of Russian mobsters, creates irresistible suspense—of both the what-will-happen and the how-did-that-happen varieties.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! June

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

June’s theme is The Great Outdoors – Think outside the house! Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

THE COMFORT OF CROWS : A BACKYARD YEAR by Margaret Renkl

“This gorgeous reflection on humanity’s symbiotic relationship with the outdoors will transform the way readers interact with their own backyards.” ~Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE TRACKERS by Charles Frazier

“Frazier is in top form for his fifth novel, which traverses America in its portrait of contrasting Depression-era lives.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE GUIDE by Peter Heller

“Masterful evocations of nature are not surprising, given Heller’s award-winning nonfiction about his own outdoor experiences, while his ability to inject shocking menace into a novel that might otherwise serve as a lyrical paean to nature is remarkable.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD by Eowyn Ivey

“In this splendid adventure novel, Ivey captures Alaska’s beauty and brutality, not just preserving history, but keeping it alive.” ~Publisher’s Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE BEAR by Andrew Krivak

“Poignant but not tragic, this end-of-civilization story shows that there’s no loneliness in this world when we are one with nature.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! May

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

May’s genre is Flower Power – focus on books about gardening or with garden themes. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

FLOWERS AND FOUL PLAY by Amanda Flower

“The well-constructed plot, seasoned with humor, builds slowly toward a surprising conclusion. Cozy fans will look forward to Fiona’s further adventures.” ~Publishers Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE CREATIVE VEGETABLE GARDENER : 60 WAYS TO CULTIVATE JOY, PLAYFULNESS, AND BEAUTY ALONG WITH A BOUNTY OF FOOD by Kelly Smith Trimble

“Experienced vegetable gardeners, as well as those considering growing a garden for the first time, will relish this informative, charming book, enhanced by the many lovely color photographs of gardens and plants. It simply brims with creative ideas for planning and growing a thriving vegetable garden.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

A BOTANIST’S GUIDE TO PARTIES AND POISONS by Kate Khavari

“An exciting debut with a determined protagonist whose future is sure to contain romance and mystery. ” ~Kirkus

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly

“A country house in rural Warwickshire is the scene for Kelly’s (Whispers of War, 2020) touching, immersive read with definite appeal for aficionados of Downton Abbey and Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008).” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! April

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

April’s genre is The Gilded Age – focus on books set in the late 1800’s. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

LAST DAYS OF NIGHT by Graham Moore

“A thought-provoking, suspenseful novel, surprising in its focus, like Matthew Pearl’s The Technologists (2012); illuminative of character, like Bernadette Pajer’s The Edison Effect (2014); and displaying the keen biographical insights of Vladimir Pištalo’s Tesla: A Portrait with Masks (2015).” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE SOCIAL GRACES by Renee Rosen

“After Park Avenue Summer (2019), a tale set in 1960s New York, Rosen presents an engaging novel of 1870s high-society foibles that will please book clubs and fans of glittering frock flicks.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

AMERICAN EVE : EVELYN NESBIT, STANFORD WHITE, THE BIRTH OF THE “IT” GIRL, AND THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY  by Paula Uruburu

“All the decadent details revealed at the trial were devoured by a public just as hungry to see young, beautiful, and successful women crash and burn as they are today. Uruburu draws some valid comparisons between then and now in this tell-all biography of one of the first in a long line of tarnished “It Girls.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

MURDER AT THE BREAKERS by Alyssa Maxwell

“Maxwell’s portrait of Gilded Age mores, with a little leeway for romantic attachments, provides an opportunity for readers to consider how wealth and status can be as restrictive as it is empowering. This is a promising start to an engaging mystery series filled with smart observations.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

ASTOR : THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN FORTUNE by Anderson Cooper

“*Starred Review* This history of the Astor family, one of America’s richest and most influential dynasties, serves as a worthy companion to superstar journalist Cooper and novelist Howe’s best-selling account of Cooper’s own family, Vanderbilt (2021).” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

 

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! March

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

March’s genre is College Town – focus on books that involve colleges, campuses, or college students. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

” Entertaining, evocative first novel; 12 weeks on PW ‘s bestseller list.” ~PW

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

MOO by Jane Smiley

“Effortlessly switching gears after the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Thousand Acres, Smiley delivers a surprising tour de force, a satire of university life that leaves no aspect of contemporary academia unscathed.” ~PW

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

ADMISSION by Jean Hanff Korelitz

“Korelitz’s fourth novel (after The White Rose) vividly brings to life the incredible stress borne by admissions workers. Readers will experience the challenge of the admissions process at an Ivy League school, where every applicant tends toward the extraordinary. This engaging and surprisingly suspenseful novel is highly recommended” ~LJ

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE INCENDIARIES by R.O. Kwon

“Written in dazzling, spare prose, Kwon’s debut tells the fractured story of three young people looking for something to believe in while attending the prestigious Edwards University.” ~PW

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

2024 Adult Reading Challenge! February

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

February’s genre is Authentic Voices – focus on Indigenous and BIPOC authors and topics. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones

“…Jones’ skillfully constructed narrative feels all too timely. It’s at once a powerful portrayal of marriage and a shrewd exploration of America’s justice system. ” ~BookPage Reviews

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE NIGHT WATCHMAN by Louise Erdrich

“National Book Award winner Erdrich once again calls upon her considerable storytelling skills to elucidate the struggles of generations of Native people to retain their cultural identity and their connection to the land.”~ Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

CASTE: THE ORIGINS OF OUR DISCONTENTS by Isabel Wilkerson

“Similar to her previous book, the latest by Wilkerson is destined to become a classic, and is urgent, essential reading for all.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

RUN ME TO EARTH by Paul Yoon

“Essential reading as Americans continue to grapple with its Asian adventure and for anyone interested in top-drawer literature.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

 

New Year, New Challenge! Adult Reading Genre Book Challenge 2024

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Adults! Welcome to year 3 of our year-long reading challenge. Explore different genres, discover new authors and be entered to win prizes. To complete the challenge, read just one book in each category by midnight on December 31st, 2024. Earn bigger prizes by reading more!

To register, or to sign in, please click here.

Let’s start the year with Award Winners – If it won an award somewhere, it counts! Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

THE HOUSEKEEPERS by Alex Hay

“This wonderfully inventive story paints an authentic portrait of London society in the early 1900s and is full of shocking secrets, suspense, hidden identities, flamboyant characters, and subtle humor; there’s even an unexpectedly satisfying ending. Fans of historical fiction, strong female characters, and twisty, pacy thrillers will love it.” ~Booklist

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

MAAME by Jessica George

“In this pitch-perfect debut, George captures the uncertainty, freedom, and anxiety of a London woman’s mid-20s.” Publisher’s Weekly

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

HUNGRY GHOSTS by Kevin Jared Hosein

“A highly recommended story of family and class divides that will break readers’ hearts.” ~ Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.

THE GOLDEN SPOON by Jessa Maxwell

“A delectable tour de force of baking and mayhem, Maxwell’s debut mystery is one to savor…With meticulous plotting and the grand backdrop of a country home, this is a thoroughly entertaining, well-crafted read.” ~Library Journal

For more information, or to place a hold, please click here.