Ready to broaden your reading horizons? Every year we offer up fresh reading prompts as part of our #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge. Use these staff recommendations and reviews to get started, and don't forget to check out our special events and author visits related to the challenge. 

 

The Good War
Slavery by Another Name
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, February 22
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author".  These books were all awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Never Whistle at Night
Anthology of Australian Aboriginal Literature
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Short Fiction by Indigenous Authors

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, February 22
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by or about someone from an Indigenous culture".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Of Time and Turtles
The Underworld
Staff Picks

Smithsonian Magazine Best Science Books of 2023

  • Bland L.
  • Tuesday, February 20
Check out these recently published science titles that Smithsonian Magazine has singled out for praise.  The list includes Of Time and Turtles, by best-selling author Sy Montgomery, and the thought-provoking Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of O
Versed
Ozone Journal
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, February 15
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author".  These books were all awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
The Dead Are Arising
The Most Famous Man in America
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Pulitzer Prize in Biography

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, February 08
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author".  These books were all awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Memoir.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.

Jun 13 6:30 p.m.

Event
Richland Library Northeast

Northeast Book Group

Join us for a book group discussion of this month’s title, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, by Elle Cosimano.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

May 01 6:30 p.m.

Event
Richland Library Northeast

Northeast Book Group

Join us for a book group discussion of this month’s title, Midnight Library, by Matt Haig.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults
Interpreter of Maladies
March
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Pulitzer Prize in Fiction

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, February 01
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author".  These books were all awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction or Novel.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Crazy Brave
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Memoirs by Indigenous Authors

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, February 01
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by or about someone from an Indigenous culture".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.

May 28 6:00 p.m.

Event
Richland Library North Main

Page Turners Book Group

Join us for a book group discussion of this month’s title, Down the River, Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

May 16 2:00 p.m.

Event
Richland Library Sandhills

Third Thursday Book Group

Join us for a book group discussion of this month’s title, My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults
Long Walk to Freedom
Good Economics for Hard Times
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Nobel Laureates in Something Besides Literature

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 25
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author".  These are written by laureates who won non-literary Nobels, including Medicine, Economics, Physics, and the Peace Prize.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Braiding Sweetgrass
Genocide of the Mind
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Nonfiction by Indigenous Authors

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 25
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by or about someone from an Indigenous culture".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
None of This Would Have Happened if Prince Were Alive
Halal if You Hear Me
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Books with If in the title

  • Adele C.
  • Wednesday, January 24
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge prompt, "Read a book with If or When in the title".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Beowulf
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Nobel Laureates in Literature

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 18
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author".  Please note that the Nobel Prize in Literature is given to an author, not a specific book.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
The Round House
Ghost Lake
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Literary Fiction by Indigenous Authors

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 18
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by or about someone from an Indigenous culture".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Before Freedom, when I Just Can Remember
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Books with When in the title

  • Adele C.
  • Wednesday, January 17
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge prompt, "Read a book with If or When in the title".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Paths of Dissent
The Drone Eats with Me
Staff Picks

BroaderBookshelf 2024: War in Nonfiction

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, January 15
Fulfill the "read a book about war" prompt with these titles.This list is part of the BroaderBookshelf 2024 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
Song for Night
Green on Blue
Staff Picks

BroaderBookshelf 2024: War in Fiction

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, January 15
Fulfill the "read a book about war" prompt with these titles.This list is part of the BroaderBookshelf 2024 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
Franchise
Lords of Finance
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Pulitzer Prize Winning History

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 11
Check out one of these history books to fulfill the Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author" - they've all been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in History.
The Things She's Seen
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Young Adult Books by Indigenous Authors

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 11
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by or about someone from an Indigenous culture".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Notes on Grief
Have a Little Faith
Staff Picks

BroaderBookshelf 2024: Death in Nonfiction

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, January 08
Fulfill the "read a fiction or nonfiction title that confronts the topic of aging or death" prompt with these titles.This list is part of the BroaderBookshelf 2024 reading challenge. Find more lists here. 
A Death in the Family
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Staff Picks

BroaderBookshelf 2024: Death in Fiction

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, January 08
Fulfill the "read a fiction or nonfiction title that confronts the topic of aging or death" prompt with these titles.This list is part of the BroaderBookshelf 2024 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
Babel
Harvard Square
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Books set on a college or university campus

  • Adele C.
  • Friday, January 05
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge prompt, "Read a book that takes place on a college or university campus".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Angels in America
Three Tall Women
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Pulitzer Prize Winning Drama

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 04
If you love reading plays, fulfill the "Read a book by a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winning author" with one of these books, all of which won the Pulitzer in the Drama category.This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers
Living Nations, Living Words
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Poetry by Indigenous Authors

  • Sara M.
  • Thursday, January 04
Check out a book from this list to fulfill the 2024 Broader Bookshelf prompt "Read a book by or about someone from an Indigenous culture".This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
How We Age
The End of Old Age
Staff Picks

BroaderBookshelf 2024: Aging in Nonfiction

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, January 01
Fulfill the "read a fiction or nonfiction title that confronts the topic of aging or death" prompt with these titles.This list is part of the BroaderBookshelf 2024 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
A God in Ruins
Old Babes in the Wood
Staff Picks

BroaderBookshelf 2024: Aging in Fiction

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, January 01
Fulfill the "read a fiction or nonfiction title that confronts the topic of aging or death" prompt with these titles.This list is part of the BroaderBookshelf 2024 reading challenge. Find more lists here.
Blog
Richland Library Main

New Year, New Reading Goals

  • Morgan R.
  • Friday, January 05

A new year means new goals. Expand your reading horizons by taking the #BroaderBookshelf challenge!

Your Face Belongs to Us
Power and Progress
Staff Picks

Financial Times Best Business Books of 2023

  • Bland L.
  • Monday, December 11
London’s Financial Times has released a list of the year’s best business titles.  It includes books treating such timely topics as AI (The Coming Wave), cryptocurrency (

Nov 06 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, The Round House by Louise Erdrich.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

Oct 02 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, Beautiful Boy by David Sheff.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

Sep 04 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

Aug 07 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Soldier Boy by Ishmael Beah.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

Jul 03 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

Jun 05 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, The Devil and Webster by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults

May 01 7:00 p.m.

Event
Online

#BroaderBookshelf Book Group

The #BroaderBookshelf reading challenge encourages you to expand your reading horizons. Join us as we discuss this month’s title, Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig.

Event Type(s):

Clubs and Groups

Audience(s):

Adults
From One Cell
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023
Staff Picks

New in Science

  • Bland L.
  • Thursday, November 16
In addition to titles from perennial best-sellers Carlo Rovelli (White Holes) and Neil deGrasse Tyson (To Infinity & Beyond), recent science publications include a new edition of a monumental classic,
Cosmic Scholar
Emily Dickinson Face to Face and "a Hedge Away"
Staff Picks

New and Notable Biographies and Memoirs

  • Bland L.
  • Wednesday, November 15
You’ve probably already heard of the new memoirs by Barbra Streisand (My Name Is Barbra) and Britney Spears (The Woman in Me), but here are some other recent releases you might find worth a read.
Blog
Richland Library Main

South Carolina Cartoonist Jak Smyrl

  • Bland L.
  • Tuesday, October 10

Jak Smyrl (1923–2007) delighted readers of The State newspaper with his illustrations for more than thirty-seven years.  His reputation was such that the South Carolina State Legislature passed a resolution honoring him in what turned out to be the last year of his life.

Blog
Richland Library Main

8 Books for October

  • Megan M.
  • Thursday, October 05

Here's a tiny selection of October's bounty of new releases...

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
Call Me by Your Name
Staff Picks

2023 Charleston Literary Festival Authors

  • Bland L.
  • Tuesday, October 03
The Charleston Literary Festival, which will run from 3 to 12 November, has entered the lit-fest big leagues, to judge from the roster of writers participating this year.  In addition to contemporary fiction stars such as Rebecca Makkai and Claire Keegan, luminaries such as Lorrie Moore, Richard Ford, and Margaret Atwood are also on the list.  Nonfiction is well represented too, with noted historians Simon Schama and Simon Sebag Montefiore, public TV regular Lucy Worsley, perennial best-seller Tracy Kidder, and New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik
Blog
Richland Library Main

7 Books for September

  • Megan M.
  • Monday, September 18

Exploring the wilderness and family drama are hot topics in this crop of new releases.

Blog
Richland Library Main

Ten New Books for August

  • Megan M.
  • Wednesday, August 16

August is jam-packed with new releases. Including a new title from James McBride!

Western Lane
A Spell of Good Things
Staff Picks

2023 Booker Prize Longlist

  • Bland L.
  • Tuesday, August 01
The longlist for the 2023 Booker Prize has just been announced.  This major award recognizes English-language fiction published in the UK and Ireland.  The winner will be announced in November; in the meantime, check out the following longlist titles from our collection.
Our Best Intentions
A Likely Story
Staff Picks

2023 First Novel Prize Longlist

  • Bland L.
  • Thursday, July 27
The longlist for the 2023 First Novel Prize has just been announced.  This prize, created by the Center for Fiction to honor the best debut novel of the year, was first awarded in 2006.  This year's prizewinner will be announced in December.  In the meantime, check out these longlist titles from our collection.
Lessons in Chemistry
The Last Animal
Staff Picks

If You Liked...Lessons in Chemistry

  • Megan M.
  • Thursday, July 06
Lessons in Chemistry was a GMA book club pick and a TV series is coming out later this year. Check out theses similar titles while you wait for your hold...
Time Shelter
The Gospel According to the New World
Staff Picks

2023 International Booker Prize

  • Bland L.
  • Tuesday, June 27
Bulgarian novelist Georgi Gospodinov's Time Shelter has won the 2023 International Booker Prize.  This prize was created in 2004 to recognize works of fiction that weren't eligible for the regular Booker Prize (awarded to books by authors hailing from anywhere in the British Commonwealth).  Check out this prizewinning title, as well as these other nominees for the 2023 prize.
Mr. B
Easy Beauty
Staff Picks

2023 Pulitzer Prizes

  • Bland L.
  • Monday, May 08
Check out the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists in the categories of fiction, history, biography, memoir/ autobiography, poetry, and general nonfiction.
Urban Jungle
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America
Staff Picks

New in Science

  • Bland L.
  • Thursday, May 04
Ben Wilson is a historian and the subject of much acclaim for previous books such as Metropolis.  Now he has ventured into science with Urban Jungle: The History and Future of Nature in the City, an intriguing look at how hu
Magnificent Rebel
Bruno Schulz
Staff Picks

Notable New Biographies & Memoirs

  • Bland L.
  • Friday, April 28
Among the new biographies/memoirs I’m looking forward to reading are Anne de Courcey’s Magnificent Rebel, about shipping line heiress Nancy Cunard’s tumultuous life in 1920s Paris, and New Yorker writer Burkhard Bilger’s Fatherland, about his discovery of hi
System Error
The Knowledge
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Information)

  • Mahogany S.
  • Monday, February 20
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".  This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
SP4RX
Sapiens
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Graphic Novel)

  • Mahogany S.
  • Friday, February 17
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".  This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
The Inner History of Devices
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Social Issues)

  • Mahogany S.
  • Monday, February 13
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".  This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Made for Love
Access Denied
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Fiction)

  • Mahogany S.
  • Friday, February 10
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".  This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
The Memory Librarian
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Sci-Fi)

  • Mahogany S.
  • Monday, February 06
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".  This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
The Empathy Diaries
Man of the Hour
Staff Picks

#BroaderBookshelf 2023 - Technology (Biography)

  • Mahogany S.
  • Friday, February 03
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge prompt "read a fiction or nonfiction book about technology".  This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2023 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.