Join The Spring Fling Reading Challenge!

March 30, 2022 Reading Challenge, Reading Suggestions

Spring forward into a new reading challenge for adults, running April 1- May 15 at Algonquin Area Public Library.

The Spring Fling Reading Challenge invites you to give your reading a seasonal refresh, with a BINGO game that combines reading and simple activities, to complete up to five horizontal, vertical, or diagonal rows. For each completed row, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card from a local restaurant. (Drawing is exclusively for AAPLD cardholders).

To get started, log into Beanstack and select the Spring Fling Reading Challenge. You can also pick up a BINGO card at the Adult Services desk, or at the Eastgate Branch. After reading one book, you'll receive a Jersey Mike’s coupon. Track your progress on paper, or in Beanstack. The Challenge concludes on May 15. All BINGO cards/squares must be recorded in Beanstack or at the Adult Services desk by May 16 to be eligible for the gift card drawing.

The Spring Fling Reading Challenge display at the Main Library features books that fit many of the themes on the BINGO card.  Each book on the display contains a bookmark that shows which theme the book fits. For more suggestions, just ask a staff member, or browse our Spring Fling Reading Challenge online catalog to place a hold.

Bonus tip-- some books fit more than one theme, so you can count the same book for up to two different squares!

Read on for some book suggestions.

Library Reads Pick

The Maid by Nita Prouse - Molly Dunn throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. But Molly's orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself very dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's odd demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect and she finds herself in a web of subtext and nuance she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, a medley of friends she didn't realize she had refuses to let her be charged with murder--but will they be able to discover the real killer before it's too late? (This also counts as a Debut Novel).

Debut Novel

Carrie by Stephen King -  Even mega-bestselling authors have to start somewhere! This 1974 novel about a lonely misfit teen girl whose telekinetic powers unleash terror and death at her high school prom, launched Stephen King's career, and brought horror fiction to the mainstream. If you've never read this one, here's your chance. (This book also counts as a Book with Flowers on the Cover)

Set In Illinois or Written by an Illinois Author

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson - It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. (This book is also a Debut Novel, and a Library Reads Pick)