Seasons of Reading at Baker Free Library discussion

Happy new year, and thank you for joining BFL's year-long reading challenge, Seasons of Reading. We hope you're off to a great start!

If you read something great for one of our reading challenges, please share the title in a comment below! You can add to this conversation at any time.

The House in the Cerulean Sea would work for the house or letters prompt.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods would work for bookstore or dairy/letters prompt.

I'm 20% into The Berry Pickers for the 2024 award prompt, and I'm pleasantly surprised how quickly it grabbed my interest.

My book choices for the Winter Reading Prompts:
*A locked- room mystery: The Paris Apartment- Lucy Foley
*An award-winning book from 2024: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space- Adam Higginbotham
*A book with the sun, moon or stars on the cover: The Girl Who Chased the Moon- Sarah Addison Allen
*Features a storm or natural disaster: The Night of the Storm by Nishite Parekh
*Features a library or a bookstore: The Personal Librarian-Marie Benedict
*A classic book you have never read: The Secret History-Donna Tartt
*A book with 500 pages or more: 11/22/63-Stephen King
*A book that includes letters, journals or diary entries: Isaac's Storm-Erik Larson
*Set in Alaska, the Arctic, or Antarctica: In the Kingdom of Ice-Hampton Sides
*Title includes House, or Home: The House at Riverton-Kate Morton

Thank you Sarah because I came here to ask for 2024 award-winners and I’m already on the list for The Berry Pickers.
Next I’ll need suggestions for Alaska/Arctic/Antarctic settings.
So far I would recommend The Many Daughters of Afong Moy (stars on the cover), Knife Skills for Beginners (locked-room mystery), and The Inheritance Games (includes letters/diary).

I noticed that if you click on this group's bookshelf there are recommendations for reads based on the reading prompts. Might be a good place to start for anyone not sure of what to read :)

jen, I'm going to try to find Knife Skills for Beginners as my locked room mystery. Thank You for that suggestion.

Set in Alaska/Artic/Antarctic suggestions:

Cold Storage, Alaska. Not top-notch literature but funny and went fast.

And I think I got the suggestion here for Good Morning, Midnight as a stars on the cover prompt, but it takes place in the Arctic.

Shanka (Shannon) wrote: "I noticed that if you click on this group's bookshelf there are recommendations for reads based on the reading prompts. Might be a good place to start for anyone not sure of what to read :)"

Hi all,

Yes, please visit the bookshelf for reading lists that fit each prompt! If you're on mobile, the bookshelves are hidden from view. Head to our website and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for direct links to each booklist: https://www.bowbakerfreelibrary.org/P...

So happy to see all of these recommendations coming in! Don't forget, we have our first in-person meet up on Wednesday, February 5 if anyone wants to chat/trade ideas at the library. Happy reading!

-Juliana, Baker Free Library

Wanted to second the recommendation for Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton - it is fantastic! And as Sarah said, works for both the "stars on the cover" prompt and it takes place in the Arctic.

In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides is another great option for the Arctic prompt mentioned by Shanka. It is non-fiction, but an incredibly compelling story.

I just finished Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson for the prompt ‘a book that features a library or a bookstore’ and I highly recommend. Lots of twists and turns.

I'm on to Spring now (thank you BFL for the prize!) and was struggling with finding a book title with an apostrophe in it, but I just picked up Chris Bohjalian's latest The Jackal's Mistress, problem solved.

Jen wrote: "I'm on to Spring now (thank you BFL for the prize!) and was struggling with finding a book title with an apostrophe in it, but I just picked up Chris Bohjalian's latest The Jackal's Mistress, probl..."

Perfect solution! Hope you enjoy it. :)

Caitlin wrote: "I just finished Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson for the prompt ‘a book that features a library or a bookstore’ and I highly recommend. Lots of twists and turns."

I saw this and checked the book out, read it in a dayish, fast read! For some reason a bunch of the books I chose are long! I needed this win!