Read Great Things Challenge 2022: Ends December 31st! Read and win a prize!

Durham Tech Library Read Great Things Challenge 2022
Did you know you can submit your Read Great Things Challenge form online?

As temperatures drop and the leaves fall, the Durham Tech community has a very important event on the horizon. No, not the end of the fall semester, but the conclusion of the Read Great Things Challenge 2022 on December 31st!

For the last five years, Durham Tech Library has held a fun, no-pressure initiative to keep students, staff, and community members reading throughout the calendar year. Plus, there are prizes to be awarded sometime in January 2023 for those who successfully submit their challenge form!

All types of books count toward the 12 categories, and you only need to fill in 10 of the 12 to qualify for a prize! One book can count for up to two categories, so there is still plenty of time to listen to a short audiobook, enjoy a graphic novel, or even grab one of our vintage paperbacks available in the main campus library. You can read more about the categories on our online guide, where we also have the form that you can submit from the cozy comfort of your home.

What are Read Great Things Challenge Categories?

You can find all of the 2022 categories in the online guide here. One of the categories is “Pick your favorite category from one of our past reading challenges.” The past reading challenges are located on that same guide, just navigate to the previous years using the menu on the left side of the screen.

“But I don’t have TIME to read books before December 31st!”

You would be surprised! Again, a book can qualify for two categories and any type of book is valid! You could even unwind with a few online comic books through Dogwood Digital Library, which would work as “An Artsy Book.”

“I am always driving and never have the time to sit with a book!”

Audiobooks are books! From the convenience of your smartphone and the Libby app (iOS, GooglePlay) you can download audiobooks from the Dogwood Digital Library and play them through your phone. It might not make the traffic disappear, but it is more fun than listening to ads on the radio.
Please note: We encourage you to load up on audiobooks and hit play before you drive. Do not operate your smartphone while driving.

Remember, the deadline is a submission by December 31st. Feel free to fill out the digital form linked at the top of this post during winter break. The library will reach out in January 2023 to those who successfully completed the challenge.

Users should also feel free to deliver paper challenge sheets to the library desk when we are open, but please be mindful of our holiday hours as the library will be closed for winter break after December 16th.

What We’re Reading: The Nineties: A Book

the nineties: a book by chuck klosterman
Available at the Main Campus (E 169.12 .K556 2022) and as an ebook through Dogwood Digital Library

Title: The Nineties: A Book
Author: Chuck Klosterman
Genres: history, essays
2022 Read Great Things Category(ies): A book with a number in the title; Blast from the past: A book of short stories or essays (2020); Our favorite category–A book on the Durham Tech Library Blog

This book was read by Main Campus Reference Librarian Stephen Brooks, who is still a playful, discouraged idealist. As such, this What We’re Reading blog is less a review or summary of the book and more of a personal journey. I listened to an audiobook version of The Nineties, which is a collection of essays in approximately chronological order, over several weeks while commuting to Durham Tech, folding laundry, mowing the lawn and working in the kitchen.

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What We’re Reading: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

the storied life of a.j. fikry by gabrielle zevin
Available at the Main Campus
(PS 3626 .E95 S86 2014)

A.J. Fikry owns a bookstore, which he and his late wife Nic started on a vacationers’ island in New England. The story begins with A.J. the widower wallowing in his grief each night with frozen dinners and red wine. As he works through his grief and begins to let people into his life, he finds meaning.


Title: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Genre: contemporary fiction

Read Great Things 2022 Categories: A happy or hopeful book; A book about community; Blast from the past: A book about family (2021), An epistolary book or a book that contains epistolary parts (2019), A book being made into a movie this year (2018)


Why did you choose to read this book?

My book club chose this as an upbeat book. We had been reading a lot of difficult or serious books–which I haven’t finished or quit reading–so this was a welcome change. This one was very light and breezy, without being simplistic.
It covers a lot of ground: love, loss and infidelity; books and reading; comedy, tragedy and hope.

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Read Great Things Challenge 2022: Five Years of Reading Together

A little unfinished business first–

Need to fill out your 2021 challenge form? Here it is! 

Need to fill out your 2021 SPRINT form? We’ve got you– here it is!

If you’ve already filled it out, no need to do it a second time.


New year, new Read Great Things Challenge categories! 2022 marks the fifth year of our reading challenge and we’re excited to have you in our community of readers.

What is the Read Great Things Challenge?

The Read Great Things Challenge is a personal reading challenge sponsored by the Durham Tech Library that encourages folks to diversify and/or increase their reading goals by completing books throughout 2022 that fit into at least 10 of the following 12 categories:

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