Are you participating in the Adult Reading Challenge and looking for some reading inspiration? To help make the challenge a little easier, we have created a list of suggested reading for each of the challenge categories, check out our lists below.
Please note: A different book must be read per challenge category. A book includes hard-copy, eBook & audiobook.
Recommended Read - Staff Picks
Fiction
The Other Side of Beautiful - Kim Lock
Early Morning Riser - Katherine Heiny
The Axeman's Carnival - Catherine Chidgey
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
Contemporary Retelling of a Classic
On Beauty – Zadie Smith (Based on Howards End)
Circe – Madeline Miller (Retelling of Homers Odyssey)
Ayesha at Last – Uzma Jalaluddin (Pride and Prejudice)
Emma: A modern retelling – Alexander McCall Smith
Boy. Snow. Bird. – Helen Oyeyemi (Retelling of Snow White)
The Hours – Michael Cunningham (Mrs. Dalloway)
Pride – Ibi Aanu Zoboi (Pride and Prejudice)
Frankenstein in Baghdad – Ahmad Saadawi (Frankenstein retelling)
The Meursault Investigation – Kamel Daoud (Retelling of The Stranger)
Fragile – Sarah Hilary (Rebecca)
Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys (Jane Eyre)
Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding (Pride and Prejudice)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – David Wroblewski (Hamlet)
Warm Bodies – Isaac Marion (Romeo and Juliet)
Pride - Ibi Zoboi (Pride and Prejudice Remix)
The Gap of Time - Jeanette Winterson (The Winter's Tale)
The Spring Girls - Anna Todd (Little Women)
Shylock is My Name - Howard Jacobsen (Merchant of Venice)
New Boy - Tracy Chevalier- (Othello)
Hag-Seed - Margaret Atwood (The Tempest)
Autobiographies / Biographies
Motherwell: A Girlhood – Deborah Orr
House of Glass: the story and secrets of a twentieth-century Jewish family – Hadley Freeman
The Yellow House – Sarah M. Broom
Greenlights – Matthew McDonaughey
Agatha Christie: A very elusive Woman – Lucy Worsley
Love, Pamela – Pamela Anderson
Shackleton: A Biography – Ranulph Fiennes, Sir
Fantasy Novel
Including: Magical Realism, Fairy Tale, Urban, Dark, Historical + more
Check out here for in depth details on Fantasy sub genres.
The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
Try these Fantasy Authors
Self-Help / Motivational
Definition: Books that help to solve a personal problem or provide tools to motivate you to achieve a goal.
Be your best self: ten life-changing ideas to reach your full potential
The Greatness mindset: unlock the power of your mind and live your best life today. – Lewis Howes
Four Thousand Weeks; time management for mortals – Oliver Burkeman
Think Like a Monk – Jay Shetty
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson
Big Magic: Creative Living beyond fear – Elizabeth Gilbert
Climate Fiction
Definition: Climate fiction, or cli-fi, explores the impact of environmental change on our world. These novels delve into dystopian futures, apocalyptic scenarios, or subtle shifts in climate, highlighting the consequences of human actions. They provoke reflection, inspire activism, and offer cautionary tales, merging science, storytelling, and urgent calls for environmental awareness.
The High House – Jessie Greengrass
Last one at the Party – Bethany Clift
The Overstory – Richard Powers
Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr
Sea of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel
The Last Migration – Charlotte McConaghy
When the Lights Go Out – Carys Bray
How Beautiful we Were – Imbolo Mbue
Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
Cold Fame Citrus – Claire Vaye Watkins
Banned or Challenged Books
This challenge celebrates the freedom to read and show cases books that have historical attempts to be censored or banned from schools, libraries and bookshops. You might be surprised by some titles below that were on the banned book list at some point but are now freely available.
Books that were banned
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Colour Purple – Alice Walker
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
The Handmaids Tale – Margaret Attwood
Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
The Call of the Wild – Jack London
This is a list of some of the most challenged books of 2022 compiled by the American Library Association.
Gender Queer: A Memoir – Maia Kobabe
All Boys aren’t Blue – George Johnson
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
Looking for Alaska – John Green
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
Bildungsroman
Definition: A bildungsroman novel focuses on a main character's journey from youth to adulthood. It's about their personal and moral growth & self-discovery. These stories start when the character is young and follow their experiences, challenges, and lessons as they grow up. You'll find themes like finding your identity, dealing with society's expectations, and having mentors who shape you. Examples of bildungsroman books include "Great Expectations," "Pride and Prejudice," "The Catcher in the Rye," "To Kill a Mockingbird," and the "Harry Potter" series. These books give you insights into personal growth, real-life struggles, and the journey to adulthood.
Magma: A Novel – Thora Hjorleifsdottir
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
Never Let me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
Read around the World
Fiction
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks
The Last Train to London – Meg Waite Clayton
Wish you Were Here – Jodi Picoult
The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah
To Italy, with Love – Nicky Pellegrino
The Paris Architect – Charles Balfoure
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul – Deborah Rodriguez
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Non-Fiction
The Durrells of Corfu – Michael Haag
My Life in France – Julia Child
Backyard to Backpack – Evie Farrell
A Walk in the Woods – Billy Bryson
A Sailor, a chicken and incredible voyage – Guirec Soudee
Graphic Novel
The Sun, the Sea, the Stars : Ancient Wisdom as a Healing Journey - Julia Bochis
Enter the Blue - Dave Chisholm
Mophead : how your difference makes a difference - Selina Tusitala Marsh