Now that January is here, we've officially kicked off our Brrrrwicks Adult Winter Reading Challenge with North and South Berwick! This reading challenge is open to teens and adults and runs from January 1st to March 31st. The adult and young adult books you read (or listen to) over the next three months will help you earn tickets you can enter for a chance to win a prize, as well as points for your town's library to win a silly trophy. You can read all the details about the Winter Reading Challenge HERE.
There are two ways to participate (and you are welcome to do both!). The first is the "Chilling at the Base" version of the challenge - this challenge allows you read any 5 adult or young adult books of your choosing and you will earn 1 ticket plus 1 point for your town. You can complete this challenge as many times as you like. For a harder challenge, we invite you to "Race to the Peak". In this version of the challenge, you must choose 5 books that match the reading prompts we've provided. Once you've completed a set of 5 prompts, you'll earn 3 tickets and 3 points for your town. There are 3 sets of 5 reading prompts available. Our staff members will be joining you in the Winter Reading Challenge in order to earn town points and win the silly trophy for our library. In this video, Alaina talks about the first set of reading prompts for the "Race to the Peak" challenge, shares the books she plans to read, and recommends other titles that will fit the prompts. See below for links to the library catalog for all the books discussed.
Reading prompt #1: Read a book set in wintertime Alaina is reading: The Shining by Stephen King or Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys Other options: Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw, One by One and In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware, An Uninvited Guest by Shari Lapena, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Reading prompt #2: Read a book by an author you have never hear of before Alaina is reading: A Universe of Wishes - a We Need Diverse Books Anthology
This is a great opportunity to explore a genre you don't normally read, or to pick up a debut novel and discover a potential new favorite author!
Reading prompt #3: Read a graphic novel (any age level) Alaina is reading: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen Other options: New Kid and Class Act by Jerry Craft * You can see a separate blog post about graphic novel recommendations HERE
Reading prompt #4: Pick a book with a friend to read together and talk about during the winter Alaina is reading: Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Reading prompt #5: Read an award-winning book
Alaina is reading: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
There are many, many awards out there - here are just a few awards lists to give you some ideas: National Book Award, Stonewall Book Awards, William C. Morris YA Debut Award, Nobel Prize for Literature, Pulitzer Prize, Women's Prize for Fiction, The Hugo Awards, The Booker Prize, Coretta Scott King Awards