It’s been a hectic summer for me. I ended up starting a new job in July at EAA, with their annual AirVenture event happening only a few weeks after I started. But that didn’t stop me from reading! I ended up participating in another reading challenge from my local library for the summer. Check out how I completed the Oshkosh Public Library Summer Reading Challenge.

The challenge was broken up into several steps in order to complete. Not only did I have to read a certain amount of books, but I also had to complete certain steps involving the library itself.

Read for 600 Minutes

One of the first parts of the challenge was reading for 600 minutes in the summer. As I’ve mentioned before when I completed their Winter Reading Challenge, I’m awful with tracking the amount of time I read a book. This time around, I used an audiobook to track the time I read a book rather than setting a timer. I listened to “Lock Every Door” by Riley Sager, and part of “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama to read for 600 minutes.

Write 3 Reviews

With all the books I read, I needed to write 3 reviews for the challenge. I wrote reviews for the following books: “The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi, “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab, and “When No One is Watching” by Alyssa Cole.

Complete 7 Activites

Unlike the Oshkosh Public Library’s Winter Reading Challenge, I had to complete certain activites that tied in with the library itself. I had to complete four reading activities and three activities related to the library. For the reading prompts, they gave you options for how you wanted to complete the activity. The prompts I used for each activity are bolded.

Activity #1

• Read a book with a red cover: The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
• Post-Apocalyptic Novel
• Book written the decade you were born

Activity #2

• Read a book set in a foreign country: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• Read a Wisconsin book (set in WI, about WI, written by a WI author, etc.)
• Stranger than Fiction (a nonfiction book that’s unusual)

Activity #3

• Read an award-winning book: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig [GoodReads 2020 Winner]
• The book was better (a book adapted into a movie)
• Oshkosh Public Library Staff Picks

Activity #4

• Book with pictures
• Short & sweet (less than 200 pages)
• Blast from the past (a childhood favorite): The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Activity #5

For this activity, I needed to complete three of the following activities:

• Watch a video on the Oshkosh Public Library’s YouTube Page
• Sign up for the Library’s E-Newsletter
• Discover this months’ Featured Resource on the Research Page
• Checkout a Magazine using The Wisconsin Digital Library/Libby
• Enter the Mark Gruenwald Comic Book Creation Challenge
• Visit the Book Bike! (I didn’t do this activity but I really wanted to)
• Find a picture of Menominee Park from 100 years ago

Even with how busy my summer was, I’m glad I got to fit in a reading challenge. I still have a ways to go for the other reading challenges I’m participating in this year, but I’m glad I could complete a reading challenge and help support the Oshkosh Public Library.