Tag: online reading challenge

Online Reading Challenge – February

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on mystery. Our main title for February is The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Inspired by a haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the Cornish coast–and about the wives who were left behind.

What strange fate befell these doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1972, when a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the keepers. But no one greets them. When the entrance door, locked from the inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a storm raging round the tower, but the skies have been clear. And the clocks have all stopped at 8:45.

Two decades later, the keepers’ wives are visited by a writer determined to find the truth about the men’s disappearance. Moving between the women’s stories and the men’s last weeks together in the lighthouse, long-held secrets surface and truths twist into lies as we piece together what happened, why, and who to believe.

In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story of isolation and obsession, of reality and illusion, and of what it takes to keep the light burning when all else is swallowed by dark. – Penguin Books

Looking for some other books that are mysteries? 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

- 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!

January 2025 Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast Wrap!

- Brittany Leave a comment

In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our January 2025 episode! If you have not listened to this episode yet, you can listen to Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast online or wherever you get your podcasts!

Online Reading Challenge

Stephanie has a new amazing theme this year for our annual Online Reading Challenge (ORC). For those new to ORC, this is a low stakes, high fun reading challenge that allows members to participate from the comfort of their own home and consume whatever they would like just as long as it fits the monthly prompt. This challenge originated in this blog and has since grown to also be available through beanstack!

This year, the theme is GENRES. Below are the themes for each month as well as a reading suggestion! Make sure to tell us what you are reading each month! We want to know!

January: Literary fiction – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
February:  Mystery – The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
March: Biographical Fiction – The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
April: Coming of Age/Bildungsroman – The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
May: Graphic Novel – Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
June:  Queer Fiction – Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
July: Domestic Fiction – All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg
August: Classic – Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
September: Young Adult Literature – The Cousins by Karen McManus
October:  Fantasy – She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan
November: Detective/Crime Fiction – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R King
December: Historical Fiction – Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez 

Cold Weather Reads

As we cozy up inside and outside begins (allegedly) to cool down, we compiled a list of titles that will chill you to the bone! 

Beth’s Books:
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Blankets by Craig Thompson

Brittany’s Books: 
Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
Wilfred by Ryan T. Higgins
Snow Falls by Kate Gardner

Stephanie’s Books:
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke
Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
The Prospectors by Ariel Djanikian

2025 Rock Island Arsenal Series

Join us for a monthly lecture series commemorating the 250th anniversary of the creation of the United States Army in 1775. All talks in this series are presented by a member of Army Sustainment Command’s Office of the Historian, based on the Arsenal

This program is jointly hosted by the Davenport Public Library and the Rock Island Public Library. If you are unable to attend the Davenport Public Library’s session, another session will be offered earlier in the day at 2:00 PM at Rock Island Public Library.

Below are the themes and dates for this year!

January 8th, 2025: Foundations of the Nation and the Revolutionary War
February 12th, 2025: 1784 – 1860: A New Nation, A New Army
March 12th, 2025: 1861 – 1865: The Army and the Civil War
April 9th, 2025: 1866 – 1917: The Army as an Expeditionary Force
May 14th, 2025: The Army and a World at War
June 11th, 2025: The Interwar: Downsizing & Celebration of the Army
August 13th, 2025: World War II, Reorganization, and the Dawn of the Atomic Age
September 10th, 2025: 1949 – 1975: The Army in East Asia
October 8th, 2025: DESERT SHIELD & DESERT STORM
November 12th, 2025: Building the Army of the Future

2025 New Releases and Favorite Reads from 2024!

A new year brings new books to get excited about! Brittany, Beth, and Stephanie discussed titles that they are excited for that are publishing this year and reminisced over some of their favorite reads of the past year!

Beth’s Favorite Read from 2024:
Last Entry Point: Stories of Danger and Death in the Boundary Waters by Joe Friedriches

Brittany’s Favorite Reads from 2024:
The Long Game by Elena Armas
Summertime Punchline by Betty Corello
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot

Brittany’s 2025 Excitement:
Ride with Me by Simone Saltani (second book in the Lights Out Series)
32 Days in May by Betty Corrello
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Stephanie’s Favorite Reads from 2024:
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Heartstopper (all volumes) by Alice Osman
Assistant to the Villain Series by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (5 star nonfiction read! If you follow our discussions, this is a big deal!)

Stephanie’s 2025 Excitement:
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano (fifth book in the Finlay Donovan Series)
Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (third book in the Assistant to the Villain Series)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (.5 in The Hunger Games Series)

Board Game and Puzzle Collection!

As it gets cold, people are finding themselves indoors more often. We are here to help beat the cabin fever and winter boredom with our robust board game and puzzle collection at each Davenport Public Library branch! In this episode, Beth, Brittany, and Stephanie each selected a board game and talked about why each sounded appealing! 

Stephanie’s Suggestion:
Hues and Cues

Beth’s Suggestion:
The Floor is Lava

Brittany’s Suggestion:
The Settlers of Catan

2024 Goodreads Choice Award Winners:

Below are the winning titles of 2024! Have you read any??

Fiction – The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Historical Fiction – The Women by Kristin Hannah
Mystery & Thriller – The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Romance – Funny Story by Emily Henry (AND Audiobook – Funny Story by Emily Henry)
Romantasy – House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas
Fantasy – Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune
Science Fiction – The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Horror – You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King
Debut Novel – How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Young Adult Fantasy – Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
Young Adult Fiction – Heartstopper: Volume 5 by Alice Oseman
Nonfiction – The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
Memoir – The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
History & Biography – The Bookshop: The History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss

What Our Hosts Read In November

Beth’s Reads:
Navigate Your Stars by Jesmyn Ward
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Hey Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction by Jarrett Krosoczka
What is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth About Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachel Denhollander
The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton

Stephanie’s Reads:
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen, narrated by Nicol Zanzarella (second book in the Hart and Mercy Series)
Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir by Denise Dorrance
Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, narrated by Christie Moreau, Maxwell Hamilton, and Juliette Goglia (4.5 in The Inheritance Games Series)
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune, narrated by Daniel Henning (second book in the Cerulean Chronicles)
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult) by Bethany Joy Lenz, narrated by Bethany Joy Lenz
The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood, narrated by Nicolette McKenzie (third book in Marlow Murder Club Series)
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
The Singer Sisters by Sarah Seltzer, narrated by Barrie Kreinik, Helen Laser, and Stephanie Németh-Parker

Brittany’s Reads:
The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica, narrated by Piper Goodeve and Jeremy Arthur
The Girls in Navy Blue by Alix Rickloff, narrated by Dylan Moore and Carlotta Brentan
The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas (second book in the Long Game Series)
Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam (releases in 2025)
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler, narrated by Jenna Lamia

If you would like to listen to our episode, it can be found wherever you get your podcasts. If you prefer listening on the web, it can be found here!

We love hearing from our listeners, please feel free to comment on this blog post, on our socials, or email us at checked.in@davenportlibrary.com.

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 2025 Online Reading Challenge is … GENRES! Each month we will be reading a different genre. I will pick a main title for us to read together if you would like, but feel free to read anything set in that genre for the month! I can’t wait to start reading with you all.

This month the online reading challenge genre is literary fiction. What is literary fiction? According to NoveList, a readers’ advisory resource that you can access through the Davenport Public Library, literary fiction is character-driven, usually involves social commentary, uses stylish writing language, and can sometimes have ambiguous endings. The plot is not the main focus in literary fiction, which allows writers to instead place their energies on the language used and character development.

Our main title for January is On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years. – Penguin Books

Looking for some other books that are literary fiction? 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 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!

Online Reading Challenge – December Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

It’s the final month of the 2024 Online Reading Challenge! How did your reading go this month? Did you read something that was dual timelines that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Without meaning to, I also read a couple other dual timeline books, but The Great Believers was the best of those recent reads.

Splitting between 1985 Chicago and 2015 Paris, Rebecca Makkai weaves these two timelines into a cohesive story that pulls at the lives of many individuals across time and space. Yale Tishman is working as the developmental director for an art gallery in 1985 Chicago. He is working hard to bring a collection of 1920s paintings in as a gift to the gallery, but egos both inside the gallery and outside the gallery are affecting his ability to secure this gift. As Yale’s professional life takes off, his personal life is fracturing. The AIDS epidemic is destroying the lives of people around him. His friends are dying one by one, and after the funeral of his friend Nico, the virus starts to come closer to Yale than ever before. Yale turns to Nico’s little sister, Fiona, for help, guidance, and solidarity.

Flash forward to 2015 and Fiona is a wreck. She lost contact with her daughter Claire years ago, but a friend recently sent her a video of who she thinks is Claire on a bridge in Pairs. Determined to rescue Claire from the cult she disappeared into, Fiona heads to Paris. Once arrived, she stays with an old friend who documented the Chicago AIDS crisis, forcing Fiona to reckon with the feelings, emotions, and actions that the crisis thrust onto her life all those years ago. Her time spent in Paris is time spent examining her past and all the ways AIDS changed her life and her relationship with those around her, specifically her daughter.

Makkai expertly weaves Yale’s life from 1985 with Fiona in 2015, diving back and forth between the two, teasing just enough information from one to help inform the other and vice versa. What set this book apart for me was the narrator and his ability to pull me into the story from the start. While the timelines were inextricably linked together, the author still gave equal importance to both places in time, while also acknowledging how the past impacts the present both directly and indirectly.

In January, we’ll be starting the 2025 Online Reading Challenge with a brand new theme! I can’t wait to share this with you.

Online Reading Challenge – December

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge searches for materials that have dual timelines. Our main title for December is The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

A dazzling novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister.

Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster. – Penguin Books

Looking for some other books that are dual timelines? 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

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something that spanned decades or time that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. While I was researching books that fit this category, I discovered Pachinko, a Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017. I was instantly intrigued and knew that I wanted to read this book. To read the publisher’s description of Pachinko, check out our introductory blog. My thoughts are below.

Pachinko opens in the late 1800s and travels through to 1989, beginning in Korea before there was a North and a South. Spanning many decades, Min Jin Lee has written a gorgeous story following the lives of four generations of one family. Each generation of family is given ample space to tell their stories and live their lives, running through emotional highs and lows as their life choices prove to have consequences for the generations after. Each character is complex, leading passionate, well-detailed lives. Themes of loyalty, ambition, love, and sacrifice run through this novel as each character works to change and better their circumstances. Min Jin Lee isn’t afraid to dive into the nitty gritty, covering lives on the street to Japan’s universities to the criminal underworld of pachinko parlors. This is one of the best examples of books spanning decades and time that I have read. The world-building is complex and detailed, but in such a way that felt natural and stealthily woven into the storylines. I felt like I was dropped into the lives of each character, struggling alongside them as they worked to survive and provide for their families and themselves. While I have read many books that span decades, Pachinko was incredibly moving and is the true definition of a domestic saga.

Next month, we will be reading books with dual timelines!

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 searches for materials that span decades and time. Our main title for November is Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan–the inspiration for the television series on Apple TV+.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger. When she discovers she is pregnant–and that her lover is married–she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations. – Grand Central Publishing

Looking for some other books that span decades or time? 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

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in the future that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara stole my heart from the start and had me rooting for her to find her family.

Klara is an Artificial Friend anxiously awaiting a customer to choose her. Readers are introduced to Klara as she sits in a store full of other Artificial Friends. What marks Klara as different and ultimately helps decide her fate is her keen observational skills. She spends her days watching the people who come in to browse as well as the people who pass outside the store. Klara is highly intelligent, but misses the abilities to pick up on some nuances and cues that humans have. This book highlights relationships between humans and artificial intelligence, and the impact that artificial intelligence would have on society. As the world changes, Klara is there to see it all, but does she understand what is happening around her? That’s a whole other story.

I listened to the audiobook version of Klara and the Sun, which I felt lent more of an insight into Klara’s world as hearing her voice highlighted how much she wanted to adjust and do everything right. (I did try reading the print book first, but had a hard time engaging with the text). While I found Klara’s story and her interpretations of the lives of everyone around her intriguing, I was left wanting more. I felt dropped into a new world with little to no explanation of what was happening with hardly any world building. As I was reading, I was able to figure some issues out myself, but not others. With time away from the book, I realize that the way I felt mirrored how Klara felt when she changed environments. The author scattered tidbits of information throughout the book that you had to weave together. He writes scenes that surface level seemed pretty self-explanatory, but once you thought about them, they were actually quite complex. I think this is a book that I will appreciate more as time passes.

Next month, we will be spanning decades and time!