Tag: 2026

Online Reading Challenge – February

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Welcome Readers!

Our 2026 Online Reading Challenge is … KNOW YOUR HISTORY! Each month we will be reading about a different observance month and highlighting a main title about that month.

For February, we will be reading books that reflect on the legacy and contributions of African Americans. Our main title for February is Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

The astonishing debut novel from the acclaimed bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji, You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, and Pet, Freshwater tells the story of Ada, an unusual child who is a source of deep concern to her southern Nigerian family. Young Ada is troubled, prone to violent fits. Born “with one foot on the other side,” she begins to develop separate selves within her as she grows into adulthood. And when she travels to America for college, a traumatic event on campus crystallizes the selves into something powerful and potentially dangerous, making Ada fade into the background of her own mind as these alters—now protective, now hedonistic—move into control. Written with stylistic brilliance and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace. – Grove Atlantic

Looking for some other books that reflect on the legacy and contributions of African Americans or that are written by Black authors? Try any of the following.

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

Online Reading Challenge – January Wrap-Up

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How did your reading go this month? Did you read something to remember the Holocaust this month? In January, we focused on International Holocaust Remembrance Day which falls on January 27th. Are you finishing strong? Or do you still have some months to catch up on? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson. When exploring titles to read that relate to the Holocaust, I knew that I wanted to focus on a different country than Germany. When I discovered Our Darkest Night focuses on Italian Jews, I knew I had found the title I wanted to focus on.

Our Darkest Night tells the story of the Mazin family. It’s the autumn of 1943 and Antonina Mazin lives in Venice, Italy with her parents. Her father, a local doctor, was forced to stop treating patients, but he still finds way to help them in secret. Antonina has been helping her father, but with her mother’s illness, she instead spends time visiting her mother at her care home. With Nazi Germany’s invasion of Italy, Antonina works to convince her father that it is time to leave Venice and travel abroad to hopeful safety. Her father has other plans though as there is no way that he will leave his wife who is too sick to travel behind. His plan is to save Antonina alone.

She is to leave Venice and hide in the countryside with a man who is a friend of the family’s priest. She must change her name, her religion, leave her parents behind, and pretend to be this stranger’s loving wife. Will she and this man, this Nico Gerardi, be able to fool his family and friends? Will they be able to convince them of their love? Will Nina, a city girl, be able to survive farm life? A local Nazi official has taken interest in Nico and Nina’s relationship. His suspicions continue to grow during each unannounced visit. Amidst the chaos of farm life, Nico and Nina grow ever closer. Their feelings deepen changing their relationship to something more meaningful and lasting. The danger amps up, leaving the two to wonder what their future will be.

I found Our Darkest Night to be incredibly well-researched. Jennifer Robson has a beautiful writing style. Every single character was very well-written to the point that they felt real and not only in the author’s imagination. What I most appreciated about this novel was that the author put real emotional depth into her writing and characters. The characters in this novel suffered, but they refused to give up hope. This was one of the most healing pieces of World War II fiction that I have ever read.

Next month, we will be reading about Black History Month.

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 – January

- Stephanie Leave a comment

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!