2024 Reading Challenge

As you probably know, I’m a Library Director in Massachusetts. And, as such, I thought I’d do a little shameless plug for the Massachusetts Center for the Book reading challenge for 2024. It’s basically a 12 square Bingo card for the year and it encourages you choose one book each month that fits the category.

Here, take a look:

I think it’s kind of cool and I’m going to accept the challenge starting in January with . . . wait for it . . . The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Okay, not the whole series, but some of the series. You see, I just finished Killers of the Flower Moon and there was a reference in that book to the Ingalls family and their time in Kansas and their views towards Native Americans. Those views, as you can probably surmise, weren’t great and most likely racist. I adored these books as a child and I want to see how they hit now, as an adult with a much more enlightened view of the world. I’m starting with Little House on the Prairie (which is technically #3 in the series) and I’ll see how far I get.

If you’d like to join me, you can read more about the program here.

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. I loved the Little house books, and the Tv show! I tried to read them a few years ago with my daughter, and I just couldn’t get into them again.

  3. Well, this is a fun reading challenge! And I love that it is a year-long challenge! I will be very interested in hearing your thoughts after you read Little House on the Prairie… I remember thinking about that after I read Killers of the Flower Moon.

  4. The Little House books set the tone for the subjects that interest me most in reading — women’s history, pioneers, biography, memoir. I’m afraid that there are some parts that don’t stand the test of time (same with the TV show).

  5. I loved The Little House Books as a child and was a bit sad when my sons weren’t interested in them at all when they were children. I’ll also be interested in your thoughts after you finish some of the books. The MCftB has chosen some interesting monthly challenges!

  7. I developed a resistance to being told what to read in graduate school. I really got tired of reading tomes that I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. However, I do recognize that that aversion does not always serve me well. I decided this past year that I would try reading outside my usual genres, but I don’t think I am up for a monthly challenge. Keep us posted how it goes.

  8. This reminds me a bit of the Summer Reading a number of us used to do. I never filled my card, but it was fun. This looks like a good idea for a year-long challenge. I hope you post updates as the year moves along. (Funny, I don’t remember reading any of the Little House books and I never watched the show on TV!)

  9. What a well thought out challenge. I’ll be interested in your thoughts about the Little House books. I read them as a child and was fascinated because I had family that homesteaded. I’m sure parts of it will not be in line with current thinking. But when your existence is seemingly under threat from many things and events, it certainly casts a different light on things. Look forward to your impressions.

  10. That looks like a fun challenge. Last year I did a challenge I found online, this year I decided to make my own because I bought a book cart last year and filled it up with books that have been sitting around for years, and I had my father write the title/author on a slip of paper, wrapped it up and put it in a little glass jar. Six of my montly challenges are pulling from that jar. I have decided that if I pick a book that I really have no desire to read anymore since I bought them so long ago, then I can donate them. The first pick was a series that I didn’t know when I added it to the cart so I put it in another pile and am getting the first 2 books and will read the series eventually.

  11. What a perfect library challenge! I was so-so on the Little House books as a kid. I read them, and liked them, but they were never my favorites. My sister, though, LOVED them! Anyway, i tried to get Erin interested when she was young, but nothing doing. (And I still didn’t like them much as an adult.) I hope you’re not too disappointed. (Have you watched the movie version of Killers of the Flower Moon yet?)

  12. Thanks for sharing this. Sounds like a great way to encourage reading books that maybe are outside the norm of what we read. I have been reading Little House on The Prairie books as one of my granddaughters has been reading them. I recently purchased A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. That should fit the slot of January.

  13. That looks like a great year long library challenge!
    I never read the Little House books when I was young, but do remember reading them to my sister who is about 14 years younger than me. I look forward to seeing what you think of the books now!

  14. yay for all things encouraging more books and reading! and I applaud your willingness to re-read Little House (I’ve decided not to … I still have all the books on my shelf and will just let the happy memories be happy memories.)

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