Booking Ahead
Booking Ahead is Beaverton City Library’s year-long reading program!
Each month, read or listen to a book that fits the monthly theme. Submit an entry for every month you complete to be entered into monthly prize drawings. All entries will also be included in a Grand Prize drawing at the end of the year.
Scroll through to see each month's theme.
JANUARY: Read The Cold Millions by Jess Walter, our One Book, One Beaverton 2022 selection.
TIP: Join us for related events during the month of January. Learn more at BeavertonLibrary.org/1book.
FEBRUARY: Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) that celebrates an identity other than your own.
TIP: Exploring other people’s experiences helps us build empathy. Choose an identity or culture and search the booklists in the library catalog to find related titles. Choose “list” from the “Search the catalog” dropdown box and type your chosen identity into the search field. Click on any list to see suggested titles.
MARCH: Read a book of short stories.
TIP: Check out the annual Best American Short Stories series for some expertly curated anthologies.
APRIL: Read a book that is an adaptation, retelling, or spin-off of a classic.
TIP: Check out the New York Public Library blog piece “Anne, Emma, Jo, Lizzy, Jane, Alice: Contemporary Retellings of Classic Novels.”
MAY: Read a novel with an unreliable narrator.
TIP: An unreliable narrator is an untrustworthy storyteller who is either deliberately deceptive or unintentionally misguided.* For a lengthy list of titles, consult the Book Riot article “50 Must-Read Books with Unreliable Narrators.”
JUNE: Read the first book published by your favorite author.
TIP: If your favorite author’s fist book is out of print or hard to find, read the oldest published book of theirs that you can obtain.
Don’t forget to sign up for Adult Summer Reading beginning June 1!
JULY: Celebrate Disability Pride Month! Read a book by an author who is differently abled or neurodivergent (fiction or nonfiction).
TIP: Use NoveList Plus to find a list of authors and books that fit this theme. Log in to the database with your library card and open the “Advanced Search.” Under “Author’s Cultural Identity,” choose “Ability Diverse,” and click “Search.” You may then further refine results to books intended for adults if you wish.
AUGUST: It’s hot out there! Cool down with a book set in winter or a cold climate (fiction or nonfiction).
Tip: Check out a Nordic mystery/thriller or search the library catalog for keywords like “winter,” “snow,” “Alaska” (or other cold locale) and narrow down your results to an adult audience.
SEPTEMBER: Read a book you found on the library’s New Books shelf.
TIP: Our new books are easily identifiable by the strip of yellow tape on the spine!
OCTOBER: Read a book by an author who is from a continent other than North America.
TIP: Our friendly library staff is happy to help you find a book to fit this theme.
NOVEMBER: Read a book that is feel-good, heartwarming, or hopeful.
TIP: Pick up our printed booklist “Feel-Good Books” at either Beaverton City Library location.
DECEMBER: Read a book of speculative fiction.
TIP: Browse one of the many patron- or staff-created lists of speculative fiction in our catalog.