Welcome to the 2025 DCL Reading Challenge for adults and kids! Everything you need to get started on a year full of stories, surprises, and inspiration is here.
There are 12 new challenge items to keep you reading all year—you choose the books to fit each category, or you may pick a staff-recommended read from the curated lists below. You may also ask DCL staff in our libraries for their excellent recommendations. As in years past, if one book fits more than one category, you can count it twice!
Once you've finished the challenge and submitted your completed form, you'll be entered into our year-end random drawing for one of these awesome prizes:
Adult Challenge: $200 Shanahan's Steakhouse Gift Card
Kids Challenge: Denver Zoo Annual Family Pass
Congratulations to our 2024 Reading Challenge prize winners!
Adult Challenge: Kristen F.
Kids Challenge: Aaral P.
Adult Challenge: Kristen F.
Kids Challenge: Aaral P.
Download our Reading Challenge kit to take the challenge offline.
Staff Picks for the "Book Set on a Different Planet" category
Staff Picks for the "Book Featuring a Myth or Fairy Tale Retelling" category
Staff Picks for the "Weather as a Character" category
Staff Picks for the "Coming of Age Story" category
Staff Picks for the "Book Featuring Letters/Diaries" category
Staff Picks for the "Book with an Animal in the Title" category
Staff Picks for the "Book by a Debut Author" category
Staff Picks for the "Book About Magic" category
Staff Picks for the "Book with a Title That Is a Complete Sentence" category
Staff Picks for the "Book Set in the West" category
Staff Picks for the "Book Set at Sea" category
Staff Picks for the "Book Written by Two Authors" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book Set on a Different Planet" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book Featuring a Myth or Fairy Tale Retelling" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Weather as a Character" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Coming of Age Story" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book Featuring Letters/Diaries" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book with an Animal in the Title" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book by a Debut Author" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book about Magic" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book with a Title That Is a Complete Sentence" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book Set in the West" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book Set at Sea" category
Staff Picks for kids for the "Book by Two Authors" category
You can also find more recommendations on our staff picks lists. We hope you have fun discovering new books, authors, and genres as you expand your reading horizons!