Category: Online Reading Challenge

Online Reading Challenge – January

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Welcome Readers!

New year means new reading challenge! I’m so excited to tell you that the theme for the 2026 Online Reading Challenge is … KNOW YOUR HISTORY! Each month we will be reading about a different observance month (think Black History Month, for example) and highlighting a main title about that month. I will pick a main title for us to read together if you would like, but feel free to read anything about that observance month! I can’t wait to start reading with you all.

For January, we will be reading books that commemorate the victims and honor the survivors of the Holocaust as January 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Our main title for January is Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

To survive the Holocaust, a young Jewish woman must pose as a Christian farmer’s wife in this unforgettable novel from USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Robson—a story of terror, hope, love, and sacrifice, inspired by true events, that vividly evokes the most perilous days of World War II.

It is the autumn of 1943, and life is becoming increasingly perilous for Italian Jews like the Mazin family. With Nazi Germany now occupying most of her beloved homeland, and the threat of imprisonment and deportation growing ever more certain, Antonina Mazin has but one hope to survive—to leave Venice and her beloved parents and hide in the countryside with a man she has only just met.

Nico Gerardi was studying for the priesthood until circumstances forced him to leave the seminary to run his family’s farm. A moral and just man, he could not stand by when the fascists and Nazis began taking innocent lives. Rather than risk a perilous escape across the mountains, Nina will pose as his new bride. And to keep her safe and protect secrets of his own, Nico and Nina must convince prying eyes they are happily married and in love.

But farm life is not easy for a cultured city girl who dreams of becoming a doctor like her father, and Nico’s provincial neighbors are wary of this soft and educated woman they do not know. Even worse, their distrust is shared by a local Nazi official with a vendetta against Nico. The more he learns of Nina, the more his suspicions grow—and with them his determination to exact revenge.

As Nina and Nico come to know each other, their feelings deepen, transforming their relationship into much more than a charade. Yet both fear that every passing day brings them closer to being torn apart . . . – William Morrow Paperbacks

Looking for some other books that commemorate the victims and honor the survivors of the Holocaust? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Coming soon! Online Reading Challenge 2026

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome to the 2026 Online Reading Challenge!

Get ready for our eleventh year of reading recommendations with our super-casual, low-stress reading club! For anyone who doesn’t know (or remember!), the Online Reading Challenge is run online through the Davenport Library’s reference blog Info Café and through the Beanstack app!

Each month we read books centered around a theme. Each year is a little different, but the unchanging main principle of this book club is: No Pressure! There is no sign-up, no meetings to attend (although you’re welcome to add any comments to the blog posts), no shame in not finishing a book, or skipping a month (or two). You can read one of the suggested titles or something different or none at all! Read at your own pace, read what interests you, try something out of your usual reading zone, or stick with what you like best. In other words, create a personalized book club with a bit of encouragement from the Reading Challenge!

Our theme for 2026 is Know Your History!

Each month we will read about a different observance month (think Black History Month, for example) and highlight a main title about that month. Besides the main title, we’ll have suggestions for additional books as well as many more on display at each of our buildings. You can choose to read the main book or alternate titles or even something else completely! As always, we’ll have an introductory blog post at the beginning of the month and a wrap-up blog post at the end. At the end of the month, I’ll write about the main title, pose some questions, and invite you to comment your observations about the title you read.

Of course, as always, you may do as you please – there are no Library Police! If you wish to skip a month or read more than one book in that month or read a book from a different month, go for it! No one will drag you off to Library Jail if you choose your own path!

The 2026 Online Reading Challenge begins on Friday, January 2nd. Be sure to follow the Info Café reference blog or Beanstack for more information and updates!

Online Reading Challenge – December Wrap-Up

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How did your reading go this month? Did you read any historical fiction in December? This is our last month of the 2025 Online Reading Challenge! Are you finishing strong or do you still have some months to catch up on? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. This novel was a gut-wrenching, but necessary, read that sent me down a rabbit hole of research into the events described within.

Told through alternating timelines, readers follow Civil Townsend in 1973 fresh out of nursing school and decades later after her career is established. In Montgomery, Alabama in 1973, Civil has a job at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, eager to help women make their own choices for their bodies and their lives. Her first patients out in the community are two young sisters, ages 11 and 13. Civil is shocked to learn that the clinic has decided that the girls need to be on birth control, given that they haven’t even kissed a boy and one hasn’t even started bleeding. Growing more concerned by the day, Civil discovers that something concerning is happening at the clinic and that those in power may be running an experiment similar to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study that ran from 1932 and 1972.

Her two patients are young, black, and poor, like many of the clinic’s patients. They may not understand the consequences of what they are agreeing to, given that many of them cannot read and are placing blind trust in the clinic staff and the government people. Civil wants to help so she spends time with her two young patients, growing closer with their family. One day she shows up at their house to discover that the unthinkable has happened. The consequences of what has happened will reverberate for decades through the community and through Civil’s relationships with family and friends.

Flash forward decades later and Civil has a grown daughter and an illustrious career. Called back to Alabama, she finds herself reliving her past on the cusp of retirement. She must not forget her past, even though it may make her uncomfortable.

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a historical fiction novel that I wish was required reading. Every part of this story had me yearning for justice: unregulated drugs were being given to women without proper knowledge, women and their families signed forms under duress, medical professionals decided amongst themselves who should or shouldn’t have children, and the government was using family planning clinics to sterilize people of color and minors without their consent. This isn’t even all the issues that Civil was fighting against in this story. While this story isn’t real, the events that happened within were actually happening to people in the past and still today. If you’re doubting whether reproductive injustice or medical racism exists, give Take My Hand a read.

Next month, we will be starting a brand new online reading challenge for 2026! I’m so excited to share the new challenge with you!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

Online Reading Challenge – December

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on historical fiction. Our main title for December is Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a searing and compassionate new novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible injustice done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench

Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she hopes to help women shape their destinies, to make their own choices for their lives and bodies.

But when her first week on the job takes her along a dusty country road to a worn-down one-room cabin, Civil is shocked to learn that her new patients, Erica and India, are children—just eleven and thirteen years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black, and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits, that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica, and their family into her heart. Until one day she arrives at their door to learn the unthinkable has happened, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.

Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace, and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten.

Because history repeats what we don’t remember.

Inspired by true events and brimming with hope, Take My Hand is a stirring exploration of accountability and redemption. – Berkley

Looking for some other historical fiction titles? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – November Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a detective or crime fiction title for November? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King.  Originally published in 1994, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (Or On the Segregation of the Queen) is the first book in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King. This title was also a nominee for the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 1995.

When searching for a book to read for this month, I knew I wanted to pay homage to the great Sherlock Holmes, but I didn’t want to read something written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which led me to exploring spinoffs. I eventually found Laurie R. King and her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. This series started in 1994 and has a total of 19 books so far. The latest book in the series, Knave of Diamonds, was published in 2025.

Let’s get into The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. It’s 1915 and Sherlock Holmes has been retired for quite a number of years. When a young Mary Russell stumbles upon an older gentleman on the Sussex Downs studying honeybees, she doesn’t realize that he is Sherlock Holmes at first. Russell is gawky, exceptionally smart, and recently orphaned, but her intellect is what attracts her to Holmes. Holmes decides to tutor Russell, which eventually leads them on a variety of cases throughout this first book. Eventually they are called to Scotland Yard to assist with finding the kidnapped daughter of an American senator. This case ends up being connected to Holmes’ past in a significant way and has deep repercussions for Holmes and Russell’s futures.

My thoughts: I quite enjoyed the fact that Sherlock Holmes was coming out of retirement a bit reluctantly in this book. Russell and Sherlock’s relationship was also intriguing. They become reluctant friends throughout this book with a relationship that changes the more they learn about each other. The disguises, danger, and problem solving was top-notch in this book. I also quite enjoyed that this book was told from young Mary Russell’s point of view which allowed me to take a step back and see Holmes through different eyes. All in all, a sold start to the series.

Next month, we will be reading historical fiction!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

Online Reading Challenge – November

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on detective/crime fiction. Our main title for November is The Beekeeper’s Apprentice or, On the Segregation of the Queen by Laurie R. King. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees in Sussex when a young woman literally stumbles onto him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern, twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. They are soon called to Wales to help Scotland Yard find the kidnapped daughter of an American senator, a case of international significance with clues that dip deep into Holmes’s past. Full of brilliant deduction, disguises, and danger, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the first book of the Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes mysteries, is “remarkably beguiling” (The Boston Globe). (Picador)

Looking for some other detective/crime fiction titles? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – October Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a fantasy title for October? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan. I honestly had no idea what I was expecting, but this was a pleasant read.

Growing up in a famine-stricken village in 1345 China, a girl and a boy are dealt two vastly different fates. The boy is destined for greatness, while the girl, nothingness. Under harsh Mongol rule, starving peasants dream of greatness through stories passed down through generations. When the boy is told that he is destined for greatness, those around him wonder how that will ever be true, but the girl’s fate of nothingness is to be expected in a time of great famine when girls are considered wasteful. The girl refuses to be nothing. When bandits attack her family leaving the boy and their father dead, the girl steps into her brother’s identity and enters a monastery as a young male novice. While there, the girl learns her limits and what she is willing to do to stay hidden from the heavens and her own fate. When the monastery is destroyed, the girl must find the courage to claim her brother’s fate and reach for greatness.

She Who Became the Sun was a wild ride. I chose this book because it was billed as a reimagining of the ride to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor. It also won a wide variety of awards and was the finalist for even more. If I hadn’t chosen this book for the Online Reading Challenge, I don’t think I would have picked it up on my own, but I’m glad I decided to give it a try. This is the first in the duology with the second called He Who Drowned the World.

Next month, we will be reading detective or crime fiction!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

Online Reading Challenge – October

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on fantasy. Our main title for October is She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness. – Tor Books

Looking for some other fantasy titles? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – September Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a young adult literature title for September? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Cousins by Karen McManus. McManus is known for her Bayview High series (One of Us is Lying, One of Us is Next, and One of Us is Back), but The Cousins is a standalone novel diving into one family’s sordid history. What caught my attention about this novel was the premise: three teenage cousins invited to spend the summer with their estranged grandmother at the resort she owns. Sounds intriguing and a bit familiar, right? I thought so, too.

The three Story cousins, Jonah, Millie, and Aubrey, are contacted by their estranged grandmother, inviting them to spend the summer in a resort beach town. Mildred Story, the estranged matriarch of the Story family, cut off her four children over twenty years ago, their only notice a cryptic letter stating, ‘You know what you did’. Despite her children professing to have no idea what they did to earn her displeasure, Mildred refused to see her children or correspond in any way. This new invitation to her grandchildren comes completely out of the blue, catching everyone off guard. The fact that Mildred is incredibly wealthy has her children hoping that the grandchildren will get access to her money if they land themselves in her good graces.

Millie, Aubrey, and Jonah have no desire to spend summer with their grandma. They are teenagers with their own summer plans! Despite their protests, the three soon find themselves in the crosshairs of the rich and reclusive woman who disinherited their parents all those years ago. After their initial meeting, the three realize that Mildred’s plans are different than what they thought. She becomes increasingly hard to get a hold of, disappearing for trips, and using her assistant to blow off the cousins’ requests to meet. The cousins spend their time on island working and looking for more information about their parents. This leads to discovering some of the dark secrets in the Story family’s past. What fractured the family structure years ago? Can the cousins find the truth and repair these destroyed relationships?

Told from the point of view of the three cousins, plus one of their parents, McManus has written a mystery full of twists and turns. Flashback chapters fill in background information and family secrets that the cousins would not have been able to discover on their own. (The flashback chapters are the ones that kept me hooked throughout the book to be honest.) What kept me from completely loving this book were the twists’ reveals. I had trouble suspending my disbelief during some of the reveals, as it seemed implausible that only a few people would realize what was happening. The ending also seemed very rushed, to the point where I had to reread the last three chapters and the epilogue to piece together the end, but I’m still confused… This was a three star read for me.

Next month, we will be reading fantasy!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

Online Reading Challenge – September

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on young adult literature. Our main title for September is The Cousins by Karen McManus. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they’ve never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they’re surprised . . . and curious.

Their parents are all clear on one point–not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother’s good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it’s immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious–and dark–their family’s past is.

The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn’t over–and this summer, the cousins will learn everything. – Delacorte Press

Looking for some other young adult literature? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!