Reading Challenges

Summer is coming to an end! Whether you were flying to an exotic vacation spot, lounging on the beach, or escaping the heat indoors, reading is a quintessential part of the summer months. This time offered a chance for you to get your hands on something new.

To challenge ourselves this summer, Midtown Reader has embarked on reading challenges!

Reading challenges are a stimulating way to help discover a new favorite genre, author, or simply expand upon your previous favorite reads. Social Media Director Hannah Beth read internationally this past year, focusing on books written by authors who were not from the United States. Former manager Kim went an entire year reading only books written by women. Current manager Darrell is only reading science fiction for the month of August.

Perhaps you have been stuck in a reading slump and you can’t seem to drag yourself out. A reading challenge can be the perfect boost to help break the slump and reawaken that reading bug.

Turning to our customers, we recently did a survey on our Instagram asking if you have ever tried to tackle a reading challenge. 45% of the responses we received said no.

We decided to compile a list of challenges below, perfect for the last stretch of summer vacation or for the fall months. Great genres for binge reading are poetry, mystery, and American classics. You could take it a step further and binge on an author like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, or Ruth Ware (like owner Sally Bradshaw did this summer). And as always, don’t forget that Midtown Reader is here to make suggestions and serve you for all your reading needs!

Poetry Suggestions:

Tropic of Squalor by Mary Karr

Lunch Poems by Frank O’Hara

Olio by Tyehimba Jess (Winner of a Pulitzer Prize)

Orlando by Sandra Simmonds

Smote by James Kimbrell

Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar

Caged by T.B. Darks

Mystery Suggestions:

Glass Houses by Louise Penny

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

Macbeth by Jo Nesbo

House of Spies by Daniel Silva

The Lying Games by Ruth Ware

American Classics:

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Color Purple by Alice Walker