2025 Adult Reading Challenge

Welcome to the 2025 Adult Reading Challenge! 

Get ready for a fresh twist this year, packed with exciting themes, creative prompts, and endless book inspiration. Whether you're a reading challenge pro or a curious first-timer, we’re thrilled to have you on this journey. Join us and discover new stories, explore different genres, and reignite your love for reading. Let’s make 2025 a year of literary adventures!

Get ready to level up your reading game with the 2025 Adult Reading Challenge! 

This year, it’s all about Book Bingo—25 unique themes to inspire your reading.

Hit a Bingo: Complete a row and snag a fun prize (up to 3 Bingos!).

Go All In:  Finish all 25 prompts by June 30th to be entered into our mid-year drawing for $100 worth of books of your choice, covered library-style, plus your very own personalized library stamp! Miss the first round? No worries! Finish by December 31st for another chance to win the same amazing prize in our year-end drawing.

To keep it fair and fun:
📚 Each book can only count for one prompt—no double dipping!
📚 Prompts can’t be combined, so pick the perfect read for each theme.

Let’s make 2025 a year of unforgettable bookish adventures. Ready to play?

Ready to join the fun? Log in to Beanstack and register for the 2025 Adult Reading Challenge! Once you're signed up, you can dive into your bingo card, earning badges tied to exciting book themes. It’s all on the honor system – we trust you're following the rules and having a blast along the way. Let the reading adventure begin!

• The Hunting Party-Lucy Foley

• Ways to Hide in Winter-Sarah St. Vincent

• Good Morning, Midnight-Lily Brooks-Dalton

• Smilla's Sense of Snow-Peter Høeg,

• The Winter People-Jennifer McMahon

• The Henna Artist-Alka Joshi

• Women in Black-Madeleine St John

• Interior Chinatown-Charles Yu

• Insomnia- Stephen King

• The Liar's Club-Mary Karr

• Parable of the Sower-Octavia Butler

• A House with Good Bones- T. Kingfisher
• When Women Were Dragons-Kelly Regan Barnhill
• The Island of Sea Women-Lisa See
• A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini

• Tuesdays with Morrie-Mitch Album

• When Breath Becomes Air-Paul Kalanithi

• Angela’s Ashes-Frank McCourt

• The Hiding Place-Corrie ten Boom

• Believing-Anita Hill

• Pachinko-Min Jin Lee

• The Inheritance of Loss-Kiran Desai

• Tale of the Dreamer's Son- Preeta Samarasan

• The Coroner’s Lunch- Colin Cotterill

• A Golden Age- Tahmima Anam

• Before I Say Good-Bye-Mary Higgins Clark

• Winter Solstice-Rosamunde Pilcher

• The Bear and the Dragon-Tom Clancy

• The Brethren-John Grisham

• Me Talk Pretty One Day-David Sedaris

• Incidents Around the House-Josh Mallerman
• This Thing Between Us-Gus Moreno
• Baby Teeth-Zoje Stage
• How to Sell a Haunted House-Grady Hendrix
• Starve Acre-Andrew Michael Hurley

• A Room Called Earth-Madeleine Ryan

• True Biz-Sara Novic

• We are all the same in the dark-Julia Heaberlin

• A Time to Dance-Padma Venkatraman

• Borderline-Mishell Baker

• The Beach-Alex Garland

• She Started It-Sian Gilbert

• Something in the Water-Catherine Steadman

• Do Not Become Alarmed-Maile Meloy

• The Vacationers-Emma Straub

• Remarkably Bright Creatures-Shelby Van Pelt

• I’m Glad My Mom Died-Jennette McCurdy

• Divine Rivals-Rebecca Ross

• Normal People-Sally Rooney

• Before the Coffee Gets Cold-Toshikazu Kawaguchi

• Spinning Silver-Naomi Novik
• The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories-Angela Carter
• The Bear and the Nightingale-Katherine Arden
• The Snow Child-Eowyn Ivey
• Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister-Gregory Maguire

• Ask Again, Yes-Mary Beth Keane
• The Dutch House-Ann Patchett
• This is Where I Leave You-Jonathan Tropper
• My Sister the Serial Killer-Oyinkan Braithwaite
• Before the Wind-Jim Lynch

• The Great Alone-Kristin Hannah
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry-Rachel Joyce
• A Fine Balance-Rohinton Mistry
• The Little Italian Hotel-Phaedra Patrick
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry -Garbrielle Zevin

Pick up anything a friend, book club, or even a total stranger has raved about—because you never know where your next favorite read might come from!

• We are never meeting in real life-Samantha Irby

• The Friend- Sigrid, Nunez

• The Travelling Cat Chronicles-Hiro Arikawa

• Tides-Betsy Cornwell

• The Penguin Lessons-Tom Michell

Take a trip back in time! Find a fascinating book published the year you were born. Need ideas? Email Stephanie at [email protected] with your birth year, and she’ll handpick some awesome reads just for you!

• The Tao of Martha-Jen Lancaster

• Daisy Darker-Alice Feeney

• Gingerbread-Helen Oyeyemi

• Skipping Christmas-John Grisham

• The Afterlife of Holly Chase-Cynthia Hand

• Timeline-Michael Crichton

• By any other name-Jodi Picoult

• Call the Canaries Home-Laura Barrow

• The Lake House-Kate Morton

• The Broken Girls-Simone St. James

• The Other Black Girl-Zakiya Harris

• Defending Jacob-William Landay

• The Magpie Murders-Anthony Horowitz

• The Woman in the Library- Sulari Gentill

• Fingersmith-Sarah Waters

• The Bone Houses-Emily Lloyd-Jones

• The Wishing Game-Meg Shaffer

• The Invited-Jennifer McMahon

• Rabbit Heart-Kristine S. Ervin

• The Rose Code-Kate Quinn

At OFPL, we’re all about great recommendations! If nothing on this list sparks your interest, just ask one of our staff—we’d love to help you find your next favorite read!

Turn your TBR list into a listening adventure! Check out audiobooks on CD or explore digital options through Libby, Hoopla, or Cloud Library. Need help getting started? Visit our digital library on our website or stop by, and we’ll get you set up with our easy-to-use reading apps!

• Nettle and Bone-T. Kingfisher

• Greenwood-Michael Christie

• Tom Lake-Ann Patchett

• Crow Lake-Mary Lawson

• Peach Blossom Spring-Melissa Fu

• The Librarianist-Patrick Dewitt

• Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop- Hwang Bo-reum

• The Reading List-Sara Nisha Adams

• The Uncommon Reader-Alan Bennett

• The Book of Form and Emptiness-Ruth Ozeki

• Big in Sweden-Sally Franson

• The Paris Apartment-Lucey Foley

• Greenwich Park-Katherine Faulkner

• The Island of Missing Trees-Elif Shafak

• Call Me By Your Name- Andre Aciman

• West with Giraffes-Lynda Rutledge

• The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson-Ellen Baker

• Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame-Olivia Ford

• The Cemetery of Untold Stories-Julia Alvarez

• Real Life and Other Fictions-Susan Coll

As we did last year, we’ll gather quarterly to discuss our reading journeys, share recommendations, and talk about our progress in the challenge. Meetings will take place at the library in March, June, September, and December. Be sure to check our events calendar for exact dates and times.

Connect with the reading community by sharing your thoughts, book recommendations, and favorite passages on social media. Use our hashtag (#2025ofplreadingchallenge) to join the conversation, spark discussions, and build a vibrant network of fellow readers.

The 2025 Adult Reading Challenge isn’t just about meeting goals—it’s an invitation to dive into a year-long celebration of stories, imagination, and discovery. Happy reading, and may every page lead you to a new adventure!