Another year of the Great Reading Challenge is coming to a close. We hope you’ve read lots of great books in 2023! Please submit the total number of books you’ve read by the end of the day on Jan. 1, 2024, using the form below.
The new Great Reading Challenge begins in January 2024. You can register for the 2024 Challenge in person, online or on Beanstack starting in mid-January. We will announce here on our website, in the library and on social media when registration and printed packets are available for pickup. If you want to get started right on Jan. 1, the January 2024 Reading Roulette category is: Read a novella. Read a book that is under 200 pages long. Thank you for your continued participation in the Great Reading Challenge! We help keep Dubuque reading.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email the GRC creator and Librarian Angie at ajohnson@carnegiestout.org.
The Great Reading Challenge (GRC) is a year-long reading challenge open to adults 18+ who have a Carnegie-Stout Public Library card. To complete the challenge, you need to read at least 18 books by the end of 2023 that fit into one of the many categories in the GRC Book Log. There are also Reading Roulette categories announced each month, and if you read a book from that category, it will count as two books read! (See below for Reading Roulette categories.)
GRC Materials:
GRC Reading Levels:
- BRONZE LEVEL (18-29 books read)
- SILVER LEVEL (30-49 books read)
- GOLD LEVEL (50-79 books read)
- PLATINUM LEVEL (80-99 books read)
- DIAMOND LEVEL (100+ books read)
2023 Reading Roulette Categories
December: Best of the Year
Read any book that has been listed on a best of 2023 book/reading list from any website, podcast, magazine, or newspaper. This book counts 2 books read for the GRC if you read it in December 2023.
November: No Buy November
What’s better than reading a book? Reading a book that’s free! Read a book that you get for free from Carnegie-Stout Public Library. This can be any format: digital, print, or on CD audio. If you read a book checked out from C-SPL in the month of November 2023, it counts as two books read for the GRC. Happy (free) Reading! ?
October: Fall Foliage Colors
??Read a book with fall foliage colors on the cover. (Red, Orange, and/or Yellow) This will count as two books read for the challenge. Happy reading!
September: Books on Display
Read book from a face-out display at library. If you only read digital items, choose a book from the online theme displays in Libby or Hoopla. If you read a book in this category this month, it counts as two books read for the GRC in the month of September 2023. Happy Reading!
August: A Book By or About an Athlete
This can be a fiction or non-fiction title and any type of athlete, whether amateur or professional. Reading a book in this category in the month of August 2023 counts as two books read for the GRC. Happy Reading!
July: Book Published in Your Birthday Month
Read a book that was published during your birthday month (of any year). This one may take a little digging to find, but a simple Google search for “books published in [your birthday month]” should bring up a few lists. As always, if you read a book in this category during July, it will count as two books read for the challenge. Good luck and happy reading!
June: Glittery, Bright Covers
✨Read a book that has a glittery or brightly colored cover this month and it will count as two books read for the challenge.
May: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Read a book by an Asian American or Pacific Islander author in May and it will count as two books read for the challenge. Find reading suggestions here.
April: “Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body” by Rebekah Taussig
This book has been selected for the 2023 Dubuque County Reads initiative, which invites Dubuque County residents to read the book and then join in a series of discussion events happening April 15-27. If you read “Sitting Pretty” this month, it will count as two books read for the challenge.
March: Green Cover
Read a book with a green cover this month and you’ll be lucky enough to have it count as two books read for the challenge! Find suggestions here. Happy reading☘️
February: Love
Read a book that has the word “love” (or a version of love, such as loving, lover, lovely, etc.) in the title. Any book that fits this category will count as two books read for the challenge!❤️
January: Read a Novella
Read a book that is less than 200 pages long and it will count as two books read for the challenge!
- Join Us on the Beanstack app for more reading challenges!
- Find reading recommendations from C-SPL Readers of the Month.
- See new titles available for check out.
4 thoughts on “2023 Great Reading Challenge”
A Christmas memory by Richard Paul Evans
Any great novella recommendations out there??????
The Death of Ivan Illych by Tolstoy
I think The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway counts
You can find some great suggestions from our catalog here: https://catalog.carnegiestout.org/?browseCategory=featured_library_catalog&subCategory=featured_library_catalog_january_grc_read_a_novella
I’ll try to do better this year.