Library announces Reading Challenge
Just this week, the Soda Springs Public Library announced that it would be kicking off a reading challenge for both adults and teens, which it is calling “Pages and Pines.”
The adult reading challenge involves reading 50 books during the course of the year, from a list of themes/topics/prompts released by the library.
For teens, the challenge involves 25 books.
The reading challenge will run from January 12 to December 28, and those who are able to complete the challenge will be eligible to win a Soda Springs Library hoodie in honor of their achievement.
A form on which reading accomplishments will be tracked can be obtained in person from the library
Things that will count toward the challenge are Junior Fiction, YA Fiction and Nonfiction, Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, YA and Adult Graphic Novels. Audiobook versions of those books are also accepted. What will not be counted are items from the Children’s Department except for Junior Fiction, newspapers, magazine, websites, PDFs, and so on. Librarians can give you a ruling if you have a question about whether something qualifies.
Only one grand prize hoodie can be won by each participant, and you have to have your sheet officially signed by a library staff member for it to count. You also need to have a current (free) library membership during the program and when you pick up your prize in order to qualify.
The categories don’t need to be completed in any particular order, and several of them are “Wild Card” style picks. Some of the set examples are: A Book or Title that Features Food, A Book Set in a Capital City, A Book Set in a Locked Room or Location, A Cover with Jewelry on it, A Book Without Modern Technology, and so on.
The idea is to encourage reading habits for all ages. Reading provides entertainment, information, and new ways to think about the world around you. It also helps to keep your brain working in areas such as recall, association, vocabulary, problem solving, communication, and more.
For those of you who find yourself driving a lot, audiobooks can be a great way to occupy your time as you go about your day to day tasks. Immersion into a separate creative place can help you decompress from the immediate needs of the day in a way that refreshes you when you get back to it.
So far, I started my challenge list with the “A Title with Sea, See, or C” category. I read “Sea of Tranquility” (2022) by Emily St. John Mandel, and it reminded me why I like losing myself in a book. The book is a time travel mystery set partly in 2020’s pandemic, as well as 1912, 1987, 2022, and 2401. While fun and quickly moving, the plot allows the author to raise questions about the nature of time, the possibility of a simulated universe, and whether those things matter at the end of the day. My intention is to complete the challenge, and set aside a little bit of space to discuss what I’ve read for the week in the paper.
As the challenge moves forward, we’ll check in periodically and see how it’s going for others, too.
Happy reading!
