5×5 Reading Challenge! 25 Books in 25 Weeks!

From 5/25/25 to 11/16/25, we challenge you to read 25 books! This is our hardest reading challenge to date 🤓

For each box, the book should fit the category of that row and column. For example, the center box is your favorite genre that has won or been nominated for an award.

Like our normal adult Winter & Summer Reading Programs, all participation is eligible for an entry in a prize raffle:

Each box that is not part of a complete row, column, or diagonal is one entry in a small prize raffle.
Each complete row, column, or diagonal is one entry in a medium prize raffle.
One complete board is one entry in a grand prize raffle.

One board is only eligible for one of the 3 raffles. You can submit as many boards as you like. When you hand in your board, you will fill out your information for the raffle separately and we do the rest!

Example entries

This board will be entered into the raffle for completed rows, diagonals, and columns. It earned two entries.

A second board may be submitted with two entries for the smallest prize raffle.

FAQs

Is this the adult summer reading program? This is our only adult reading program until Winter Reading, which starts mid-late December.

Do audiobooks count? Yes! You can interpret the “under 250 pages” category as under ~7 hours, or check a physical edition’s page count. You can also count the narrator’s name towards the alliteration category.

Can I read books for younger audiences? Absolutely! We want you to read whatever suits you best. You can read comic books, chapters of a larger text (religious books, serialized classics, or even podcast episodes).

Can I count the same book multiple times? 😄 YES YOU MAY! 25 books in 25 weeks is a serious challenge and we know it’s not feasible for everyone.

Need recommendations?

You can use the form for Your Next 5 Books to request personalized recommendations! We have a staff recommendation display at the library for browsing and we only need mild prompting to chat about our current reads! To get you started, here are some of our favorites!

Evie Dunmore
Middlemarch by George Eliot