WPL Books It! Adult Winter Reading Challenge

WPL Books It! Adult Reading Challenge. Don't forget to grab your registration grab bag full of your favorite ‘90s swag! For this '90s themed challenge we're offering readers the opportunity to be entered to win three different prizes. 

Prize 1: Your Favorite ‘90s CDs and a state of the art CD player alarm clock with a $50 gift card to Joe’s Albums

Prize 2: The Beanie Babies collection of your dreams with a $50 gift card to That’s Entertainment

Prize 3: A VCR and a starter collection of all the best VHS movies from the ‘90s with a $50 gift card to the Elm Draught House Cinema

Prizes sponsored by the Worcester Public Library Foundation

Click here for more information and to log into your Beanstack account to start logging your minutes, activities, and reviews. If you don't have an account, you can create one today!

Read these patron book reviews submitted by your fellow readers to get an idea of what to read next! And don't forget to log what you read, WPL events you attend, and your book reviews!

The Underworld by Susan Casey

Parts of this were fascinating and truly compelling. Other parts got a little lost in the weeds. This book is a collection of vignettes from Casey’s own life and travels interspersed with history about various attempts to reach the deepest parts of the ocean. I learned a lot, but I also found it difficult to follow the through line and the more technical details at times. Perhaps this would have been easier with an ebook than an audiobook—the supplemental PDF was almost impossible to access, so I didn’t see the contents until afterward. Overall, though, I finished this book more satisfied than I did when I finished Devil’s Teeth. So that’s something.

Tracy B.

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

I don't typically enjoy ghost stories, but I appreciated this one told from the perspective of a Navajo woman because through the character's point of view I was able to suspend my disbelief. I also liked the detailed descriptions of her photography and how her cameras were almost like characters in the story.

Lynn F.

Defiant by Brandon Sanderson

A satisfying end that, as all good sci-fi does, leaves room for more to come.

Matthew N.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

This was even more intense than I was expecting, in terms of violence. It was incredibly interesting to read it in 2024, which is where things pick up in this text written about the future. Living through a pandemic and insurrection made some of the events and attitudes in the beginning of the book hit in a new way. Overall a very standout work.

John S.