2020 Reading Challenge: Read a Book in One Sitting

In 2020, OPL invites patrons to take part in the reading challenge! For each category, OPL offers suggestions for titles to read or listen to. As you’re working through the challenge, feel free to tag @omahalibrary on Twitter, opens a new window, Instagram, opens a new window or Facebook, opens a new window to let us know which read you picked up this month!

If you choose to tackle this challenge first, you experience the thrill of completing a challenge with minimal time commitment! If you’re working on this challenge later in the year, consider it a great way to get a “quick win” to motivate yourself to persevere and finish the rest of the challenges. Whenever you choose to complete this one, OPL has you covered with suggested reads. 

For nonfiction fans, there’s “Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Life, opens a new window” by Maria Hesse which allows the reader to follow Kahlo’s remarkable life alongside illustrations reminiscent of her own work, showcasing the beauty, struggle and tragedy of her life.

For some quick motivation, there’s “Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You, opens a new window,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s collection of inspiring tweets posted to his Twitter account at the beginning and end of the day. 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists, opens a new window” and Abby Wambach’s “Wolfpack: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game, opens a new window” offer inspiring, succinct essays with advice on how to empower strong women.

For the literary-minded, there’s “Last Night’s Reading: Illustrated Encounters with Extraordinary Authors, opens a new window” by Kate Gavino, a great little illustrated read full of quotes on life and storytelling.

Writer George Saunders’s “Congratulations, by the Way, opens a new window” is based on a commencement speech he gave and offers a powerful message of the importance of being kind to one another. 

For graphic novel fans, the supernatural “Paper Girls Vol. 1”, opens a new window by Brian K. Vaughan is a great pick for “Stranger Things” fans or those looking for 1980s nostalgia. “I Was Their American Dream, opens a new window” by Malaka Gharib and “Good Talk, opens a new window” by Mira Jacob are two issue-oriented memoirs concerning immigration, race and coming of age. 

For lyrical prose or poetry, try “The Dogs I Have Kissed, opens a new window” by Trista Mateer, “Brown Girl Dreaming, opens a new window” by Jacqueline Woodson, “Bull, opens a new window” by David Elliott or “Glaciers, opens a new window” by Alexis M. Smith. 

This list , opens a new windowcontains these titles and plenty more suggested by OPL staff members that you could choose. 

Happy (quick) reading! 

Starting April 1, 2020, once you complete the 2020 Reading Challenge, enter your reading log online or turn in your completed tracking sheet at your nearest OPL branch and pick up your button prize for completion. All submissions will be entered into a drawing for some fun literary-themed merchandise! All completed tracking sheets or online challenge form entries must be received by December 31, 2020, to be entered into the prize drawing.