Tag: Genres

Online Reading Challenge – April Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a coming of age, or bildungsroman, novel? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Topeka School by Ben Lerner. I went into this book not knowing much about it, other than it was a coming of age book, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and one of the New York Times 10 best books of the year. When I was selecting books for the Online Reading Challenge, I wanted to pick books that were outside the norm of what I would normally read and this sure fit that mold. The Topeka School won many accolades and awards, but I can honestly say that I would not have picked this book up on my own had it not been for the Online Reading Challenge.

Set in the American Midwest, this family drama begins in the 1990s with Adam Gordon, a senior at Topeka High School, the class of 1997. His parents both work at a psychiatric clinic in Topeka, Kansas that attracts patients from all over the world. His mother Jane is a famous author, while his father Jonathan is known for his ability to get lost young boys to open up. Jane’s book angers some members of the public who take out their outrage on Jane and her family by harassing them. Outside of school, Adam is a debater, who people expect to win a national championship. Despite his status on the debate team, Adam is one of the cool kids. He and his friends are told by their parents to be friendly to Darren Eberheart, a loner who also happens to be a patient of Adam’s father. Darren is awkward and his entrance into their social circle ends in a catastrophe.

While the summary I laid out above seems pretty straight-forward, the formatting of this book is anything but. The Topeka School shifts between time periods, perspectives, and narrators, which turned confusing. While I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, the jump in timelines made it difficult to know just where we were at in the story. The plot did end up making sense towards the end, but honestly I was so turned around in the middle that at parts I contemplated giving up. This book covers heavy topics: toxic masculinity, marital transgressions, abuse, public speech, and struggle for identity. Lerner isn’t afraid to pile on more and more topics within the changing timelines, but honestly the writing was so dense that I had trouble picking through to find the bones of the story. The characters are complex, somewhat dysfunctional, and written with an introspective feel. To me, this book was a complex web of stories, characters, and topics presented with dense language that I had trouble paying attention to for long periods of time. My main tip for reading this book: read small pieces at a time. Doing so made this book easier for me, even though it took me much longer to read it! All in all, I’m glad I read it, but it’s a 3 of 5 stars.

Next month, we will be reading a graphic novel!

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 – April

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on coming of age, also known as bildungsroman. Our main title for April is The Topeka School by Ben Lerner. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Adam Gordon is a senior at Topeka High School, class of ’97. His mother, Jane, is a famous feminist author; his father, Jonathan, is an expert at getting “lost boys” to open up. They both work at a psychiatric clinic that has attracted staff and patients from around the world. Adam is a renowned debater, expected to win a national championship before he heads to college. He is one of the cool kids, ready to fight or, better, freestyle about fighting if it keeps his peers from thinking of him as weak. Adam is also one of the seniors who bring the loner Darren Eberheart—who is, unbeknownst to Adam, his father’s patient—into the social scene, to disastrous effect.

Deftly shifting perspectives and time periods, The Topeka School is the story of a family, its struggles and its strengths: Jane’s reckoning with the legacy of an abusive father, Jonathan’s marital transgressions, the challenge of raising a good son in a culture of toxic masculinity. It is also a riveting prehistory of the present: the collapse of public speech, the trolls and tyrants of the New Right, and the ongoing crisis of identity among white men. – Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Looking for some other coming of age or bildungsroman? Try any of the following.

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

Online Reading Challenge – March Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a biographical fiction novel? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. This book has been on my to-read list since its publication in 2018.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on interviews that were conducted with Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov, a Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist. Lale’s voice is present throughout this book, something that I felt added to the depth, despair, and hope. Based on the true story of Lale and Gita, Heather Morris weaves the stories of two Slovokian Jews who survived the Holocaust with great care. As someone who has read dozens of Holocaust stories, both fiction and nonfiction, this book stands out to me. The emotions radiated through the pages, pulling me into their lives as they struggled to survive. Readers follow Lale as he is forced to Auschwitz-Birkenau in April 1942. His ability to speak multiple languages lands him a job as the tattooist, forced to permanently mark his fellow prisoners. Lale witnesses horrors for almost three years in the camps, but those horrors are also accompanied by acts of bravery and compassion. He uses his unique position to help his fellow prisoners, risking his life to secure food and medicine. While tattooing new prisoners in July 1942, Lale helps a young woman named Gita, a woman who Lale vows to marry once they survive the camp. The Tattooist of Auschwitz was a devastating, yet hopeful, read. This piece of biographical fiction is a good stepping stone to learn more about Lale and Gita Sokolov.

In addition to being the March Online Reading Challenge pick, this title was also made into a Peacock Original Series starring Harvey Keitel and Melanie Lynskey. I have plans to watch this series in the future to see how well it relates.

Next month, we will be reading a coming of age, or bildungsroman, novel!

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 – March

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on biographical fiction. Biographical fiction tells the story of a real person while using fictional elements. Our main title for March is The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions. – Harper

This title is also available in large print and CD audiobook.

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

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

Online Reading Challenge – February Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a mystery that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex. I started reading a print copy of this book, but life got in the way, so I quickly turned to listening to the audiobook. Inspired by the true story of three lighthouse keepers disappearing from a remote tower in 1972, The Lamplighters dives into the lives of the keepers and those they left behind. The premise was fascinating and hooked me from the start. Flipping back and forth between 1972 and 1992, readers learn about what happened before the keepers disappeared and then 20 years later to present day. The circumstances surrounding their disappearances are never known, but theories abound. When a writer decides to interview the family members of the men in 1992, he hopes to find a united front, but instead discovers that the three main women have separated.

This narrative is tense, dark and unsettling. Saying that I enjoyed it sounds a bit wrong, but the exploration of the psychological impacts that lighthouse keeping, the tower, and grief have on everyone involved was intriguing. Multiple different points of view are shared, secrets are uncovered, and lives are woven together into a messy normal life. Seeing how the relationships change over time is typical of normal life with some changes. While this is a mystery, supernatural theories are explored. The ending wasn’t what I expected and I would LOVE to know your thoughts on it! While I know that we truly will never know what happened both to the real life men that disappeared and to the men in this book, the ending was challenging for me (I’m trying so hard not to spoil anything). Let me know your thoughts and concerns in the comments!

Next month, we will be reading biographical 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 – January Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a literary fiction title that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. This book had been on my radar for awhile, but I knew it would not be one that I would pick up on my own, hence its selection for the Online Reading Challenge!

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is Ocean Vuong’s debut novel. The speaker, Little Dog, is writing a letter to his mother who cannot read English. When the letter starts, Little Dog is in his late twenties and is laying out his family’s history from long before he was born all the way through present day. He spans from Vietnam all the way to the United States and details the lives of many different members of his family and his friends. In his letter, Little Dog also shares parts of his life that his mother was previously not aware of, and with her inability to read, will probably always not know about. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a twisted love letter of sorts, talking about the tense love between Little Dog and his mother, a single mother trying to do her best by her son and her own mother. He talks about how trauma, violence, and addiction have impacted them all and how masculinity, class, and race shape their relationships with others and with themselves. This isn’t a linear story, but is instead the story of people caught between worlds, struggling to find where they truly belong.

This book was gorgeous. It was incredibly well-written and left me reeling when I finished. The author is brutal in their honesty when it came to discussing class, masculinity, race and how those factors affect people of all ages. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous spans decades, ripping into sections of life that may be tender, but need to be discussed. While I reveled in the writing, I did find myself needing to take breaks. Ocean Vuong is clearly a masterful storyteller and poet, but their ability to write poetry made this debut novel a bit much for me. They are an exquisite writer, but instead of pulling me in, their beautiful writing instead didn’t allow me to fully connect with the book. I loved the style of the book, but felt like it was lacking substance, that it was lacking the meat of the story for me to hold on to. However, I’m still glad I picked it up to read!

Next month, we will be reading a mystery!

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!

Coming Soon! Online Reading Challenge 2025

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome to the 2025 Online Reading Challenge!

Get ready for our tenth 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 2025 is Genres!

Each month we will read a different genre and highlight a main title that takes place in that genre. Besides the main title, we’ll have suggestions for books from the same genre 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 2025 Online Reading Challenge begins on Thursday, January 2nd. Be sure to follow the Info Café reference blog or Beanstack for more information and updates!