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Suggested Books from the 2022 Reading Challenge

Don't know where to start or what to read? Take inspiration from our community of Greenwich readers. This list includes just a few of the books our participants read during last year's summer reading challenge. And to join this year, sign up here: https://greenwichlibrary.beanstack.org/summer_reading. Write book reviews and earn raffle tickets for our grand prize drawing!

User from Greenwich Library

100 items

  • Backman has done it again! This was a beautiful story that really resonated with me. Each character was fully realized with humor, depth, and great emotion. I especially loved that each character represented a certain point in life, from expecting…
    Book, 2020New York : Atria Books, 2020.
  • The premise of the book was unique but I felt the author could have been more detailed in her overall depiction. The characters weren't very in depth nor relatable. The ending felt abrupt and vague.
    Book, 2021New York : Riverhead Books, 2021.
  • This book was very creative and well-written. I really enjoyed reading about the stages of a relationship through short journal like entries with various vocabulary serving as the basis for the entries. I would highly recommend any literary romance…
    Book, 2011New York : Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011.
  • I was surprised to see mixed reviews of this book. I found it to be very moving and a wonderful, fictional story. I did have to adjust to the southern accent but other than that it was a real page turner. I was rooting for Kya throughout and…
    Book, 2018New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, [2018]
  • Rogan's autobiographical essay collection has some funny stories but the theme of drug usage plays a prominent role in many of the essays. Overall, somewhat repetitive but otherwise, a fun read. Recommend to anyone interested in this comedic actor…
    Book, 2021New York : Crown, [2021]
  • I chose this book because, as an avid family history researcher, I was intrigued by the fact that the plot involved following up in information derived from Ancestry DNA matches. Little did I know that this book was one of several by Strout that…
    Book, 2021New York : Random House, [2021]
  • Very compelling read. Shorter chapters, which in this age of Covid distraction, is actually a plus. Great characters and a storyline that seems fresh and relevant. I really enjoyed this book.
    Book, 2022New York : Scribner, 2022.
  • Troubled Blood

    a Cormoran Strike Novel

    Galbraith, Robert,
    Robert Galbraith (better known as J. K. Rowling) delivers on this fifth volume of the Cormoran Strike mystery series. For anyone familiar with Harry Potter, it will not come as a surprise that Galbraith builds a complex and twisted cold case that…
    Book, 2020New York, NY : Mulholland Books, Little, Brown and Company, 2020.
  • A modern retelling of the Odyssey from the perspective of a very minor character -- I actually re-read the Odyssey directly after this and was so surprised by how much of the original story made it into this retelling -- but Circe is so much more…
    Book, 2018New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2018.
  • A modern retelling of The Illiad from the point of view of a very minor character. I actually re-read the Illiad directly after reading this book, and was surprised by the amount of the original story that is contained here. This book pretty much…
    Book, 2012New York : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.
  • Loved it! A beautifully written novel that follows a Russian aristocrat for 30 years after he is imprisoned in a luxury hotel by the Bolsheviks. Part romance, part politics, part parenting, part friendship, part meaning of life, part history - this…
    Book, 2016New York, New York : Viking, [2016]
  • This fantasy book takes place on an island full of magical beings. It's a sweet and predictable story, in a good way. It's a fairly light read so perfect book for summertime. I think it's likely a better fit for a young adult audience but I did…
    Book, 2020New York : Tor, [2020]
  • This was an adorable and sweet romance that had many fun tropes. The friends to surprise lovers trope, the sparkly personality with the grumpy goose trope, internalized self-loathing to loving oneself trope, etc. And the main character (and…
    Book, 2022New York : Forever, 2022.
  • I enjoyed this clever, engaging story of friends and family, and, wait for it... time travel. Alice is celebrating her 40th birthday, but after a solitary night at an old favorite watering hole, she goes back to her father's apartment and wakes up…
    Book, 2022New York : Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2022.
  • Jennifer Egan is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Visit From the Goon Squad. The Candy House has some of the same characters but is not exactly a sequel. The story fits into the genre of speculative fiction because the premise is a radical…
    Book, 2022New York : Scribner, 2022.
  • I had high hopes for Andy Weir's latest sci-fi exploration. It's about a cynical scientist who is far from home floating in space on a science expedition in the hopes of saving humanity (sound familiar)? The backstory, sprinkled throughout the story…
    Book, 2021New York : Ballantine Books, [2021]
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars This book was a fun, quick read. It was basically an enemies to lovers plot with quirky girl trope thrown into the mix, but the banter between the main characters was pretty funny and didn't feel forced. My main quibble is that…
    Book, 2022New York : Jove, 2022.
  • Several plot lines unravel at Cape Cod’s most exclusive end-of-summer costume party. Among the guests, we have a past-his-prime journalist who writes for The New Yorker, a wannabe writer who can’t seem to finish a story, a free-spirited poet, and a…
    Book, 2019New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2019.
  • City on Fire

    a Danny Ryan Trilogy Novel

    Winslow, Don, 1953-
    DNF 20%. I got a fifth of the way through the book before confessing I didn’t care what happened to the men in this modern-day Gangs of New York in Providence, RI. Another book that fails the Alison Bechdel test: Do we meet two or more women…
    Book, 2022New York, NY : William Morrow, [2022]
  • An excellent story about a Black violinist who was gifted a “fiddle” by his grandmother. The fiddle turns out to be a rare Stradivarius violin and we meet a few creeps who believe because the violinist is Black — working twice as hard as other…
    Book, 2022New York : Anchor Books, 2022.