Despite many obstacles presented in 2020, library patrons could not be deterred from completing OPL's 2020 Reading Challenge. OPL staff are grateful to those who carried on with the challenge — including the 150+ participants who submitted a completed log sheet — and hope that participants found some new favorites among the titles they read during the course of the year. This recap highlights the most-read titles and authors from those submissions, which collectively represent an impressive 1,836 books. All prize winners have been notified.
Find details for the 2021 Reading Challenge, opens a new window for your opportunity to read beyond your comfort zone and win prizes at the end of the year!
The Top 15 titles read across all categories:
- After the Flood, opens a new window by Kassandra Montag
- They Called Us Enemy, opens a new window by George Takei
- The Nickel Boys, opens a new window by Colson Whitehead
- Queenie, opens a new window by Candice Carty-Williams
- Red, White & Royal Blue, opens a new window by Casey McQuiston
- Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood, opens a new window by Andrew Rannells
- #imomsohard , opens a new windowby Kristin Hensley & Jen Smedley
- The Hate U Give, opens a new window by Angie Thomas
- A Fire Story, opens a new window by Brian Fies
- Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream, opens a new window by Carson Vaughan
- Pumpkinheads, opens a new window by Rainbow Rowell
- Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations, opens a new window by Mira Jacob
- My Antonia, opens a new window by Willa Cather
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, opens a new window by Bryan Stevenson
- Eleanor & Park, opens a new window by Rainbow Rowell
The Top 15 authors read across all categories:
- Kassandra Montag, opens a new window
- Rainbow Rowell, opens a new window
- Willa Cather, opens a new window
- Neil Gaiman, opens a new window
- George Takei, opens a new window
- Colson Whitehead, opens a new window
- Candice Carty-Williams, opens a new window
- Casey McQuiston, opens a new window
- Angie Thomas, opens a new window
- Elizabeth Acevedo, opens a new window
- Kristin Hensley, opens a new window & Jen Smedley, opens a new window
- Andrew Rannells, opens a new window
- Fredrik Backman, opens a new window
- Brian Fies, opens a new window
- Marjane Satrapi, opens a new window
Top titles read in each category:
Read a book in one sitting:
We Should All Be Feminists, opens a new window by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You, opens a new window by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jonny Sun
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, opens a new window by Charlie Mackesy
Last Night's Reading: Illustrated Encounters with Extraordinary Authors, opens a new window by Kate Gavino
I'm Thinking of Ending Things, opens a new window by Iain Reid
Read a book made into a movie or TV show:
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, opens a new window by Bryan Stevenson
Little Fires Everywhere, opens a new window by Celeste Ng
You, opens a new window by Caroline Kepnes
Good Morning, Midnight, opens a new window by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Codename Villanelle, opens a new window by Luke Jennings
Read a book by a Nebraska author:
Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood, opens a new window by Andrew Rannells
Zoo Nebraska: The Dismantling of an American Dream, opens a new window by Carson Vaughan
Pumpkinheads, opens a new window by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor & Park, opens a new window by Rainbow Rowell
#imomsohard, opens a new window by Kristin Hensley & Jen Smedley
Read a book from OPL’s 2019 Top Shelf, opens a new window:
The Nickel Boys, opens a new window by Colson Whitehead
Red, White & Royal Blue, opens a new window by Casey McQuiston
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, opens a new window by Hallie Rubenhold
Such A Fun Age, opens a new window by Kiley Reid
The Wolf and the Watchman, opens a new window by Niklas Natt och Dag
Read an “Own Voices” book:
Queenie, opens a new window by Candice Carty-Williams
The Poet X, opens a new window by Elizabeth Acevedo
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, opens a new window by Grace Lin
The Girl with the Louding Voice, opens a new window by Abi Daré
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous , opens a new windowby Ocean Vuong
Listen to a book:
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know, opens a new window by Malcolm Gladwell
When Dimple Met Rishi , opens a new windowby Sandhya Menon
The Silent Patient, opens a new window by Alex Michaelides
I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life, opens a new window by Anne Bogel
Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World, opens a new window by Matt Parker
Read a fantasy, myth or fairy tale:
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin, opens a new window by Liesl Shurtliff
Mythos: The Greek Myths Reimagined, opens a new window by Stephen Fry
All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother, opens a new window by Danielle Teller
A Wizard of Earthsea, opens a new window by Ursula K. Le Guin
Children of Virtue and Vengeance, opens a new window by Tomi Adeyemi
Read a book in translation:
The Alchemist, opens a new window by Paulo Coelho; translated by Alan R. Clarke
Territory of Light, opens a new window; Yūko Tsushima; translated from the Japanese by Geraldine Harcourt
Parade: A Folktale, opens a new window by Hiromi Kawakami; translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell
Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology, opens a new window translated and edited by Adil Babikir
The Master and Margarita, opens a new window by Mikhail Bulgakov; translated with notes by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Read the 2020 Omaha Reads Book*:
After the Flood, opens a new window by Kassandra Montag
The Hate U Give, opens a new window by Angie Thomas
This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm, opens a new window by Ted Genoways
Eleanor & Park, opens a new window by Rainbow Rowell
The Bones of Paradise, opens a new window by Jonis Agee
*Participants were given the choice to read a previous Omaha Reads selection, opens a new window if they preferred.
Read a book by a nonbinary or LGBTQ+ author:
As the Crow Flies, opens a new window by Melanie Gillman
Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me, opens a new window by Janet Mock
Bingo Love, opens a new window by Tee Franklin; art by Jenn St-Onge
An Unkindness of Ghosts, opens a new window by Rivers Solomon
How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir, opens a new window by Saeed Jones
Read a classic that’s new to you:
Little Women, opens a new window by Louisa May Alcott
Their Eyes Were Watching God, opens a new window by Zora Neale Hurston
The Picture of Dorian Gray, opens a new window by Oscar Wilde
The Bluest Eye, opens a new window by Toni Morrison
My Antonia, opens a new window by Willa Cather
Read a nonfiction graphic novel:
They Called Us Enemy, opens a new window by George Takei, Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott; art by Harmony Becker
A Fire Story, opens a new window by Brian Fies
March: Book One, opens a new window by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations, opens a new window by Mira Jacob
Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, opens a new window by Lucy Knisley
We look forward to hearing from this year’s challenge participants! Share what you’re reading on social media and tag @omahalibrary on Facebook, opens a new window, Twitter, opens a new window or Instagram., opens a new window
This year, you can also join a Reading Challenge Book Club, opens a new window online for a lively discussion of each challenge. Share the books you're reading and get ideas for titles that apply to the different challenge themes. Registration is required.
Contact readingchallenge@omahalibrary.org , opens a new windowwith any questions about the Reading Challenge.
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