Despite the fact that sometimes it still feels like April and that yesterday was August 1, the big ol’ year that has been 2020 is almost over.
What does that mean? Well, it’s time to make your “what I read” list and check it twice to make sure you finished your Read Great Things 2020 Challenge categories and see how many books you read to see if you finished the Above Average Reading Challenge.
Prizes will be available for winners in December, and we’ll have a virtual celebration in January both to reveal the 2021 categories and share what our beginning-of-year reads are.
Need info about the reading challenges or how to claim your victory? Keep reading!
Is this the first time you’ve heard about the Durham Tech Library’s annual reading challenges for this year? Sorry. That’s on me. I’ve advertised them less since we’ve been off-campus and been busy learning how to adapt as best we can to continually changing circumstances.
2020 is the third year we’ve done the Read Great Things Challenge. These are the basics– we have 12 categories, you need to finish books during the calendar year (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31) that fit in 10 of them. One book can count for two categories, so a strategic reader can finish the challenge in 5 books.
The 2020 categories are–
- A book of short stories or essays
- Someone else’s favorite book
- A book recommended by a celebrity book club
- A book that has won an award
- A book about nature or the great outdoors
- A book that is part of a series
- A bildungsroman [a novel focusing on the spiritual or psychological growth of the main character, often from childhood to adulthood; also called a coming-of-age novel]
- A book that has been translated into English from another language OR a book in a language other than English
- A controversial book, either currently or at some point in history
- A book with a one-word title
- A book about or that features voting or civic engagement
- A book suggested by a Durham Tech librarian either in-person or on the Durham Tech Library Blog
What if you haven’t finished? Well, you still have until December 31, 2020, so you may still have time. We don’t have book length or Lexile requirements.
What do you do when you’re finished? Congrats! You win! Fill out the completion form to document your book titles and to reserve your prize if you want one. We’ll have face masks and book marks available for pick-up or to be mailed to your home.
Have you read more this year because, perhaps for pandemic reasons, your social engagements have dried up?
Maybe you don’t want to be controlled by categories and would prefer to read 20 mysteries or romance novels or 20 books in a very long on-going series?
Did you finish the Read Great Things Challenge and then some (well, like 20 books at least)?
Then you can also earn a prize in the Above Average Reading Challenge: 20 Books in 2020.
When you’re done, fill out the Above Average Reading Challenge form to document your win and, if you want, claim your totally awesome button.
Questions? Queries? Contact Meredith Lewis, the mostly Orange County Campus Librarian, who is currently in-between books, but may start on Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines or Gabriel Savit’s The Way Back this evening. Charlie will help.
