Past Winter Reading Programs
2017 Book Bingo
The Kansas City Public Library's Adult Winter Reading Program is making a seasonal move! In 2017 we are excited to combine our yearly adult and youth reading challenges into one great summer program, and we think you'll love what we have in store. But knowing that our patrons look forward to participating in Winter Reading, we still wanted to offer a fun activity to get our passionate readers through the cold winter months. Introducing... BOOK BINGO!
How It Works
- Read any five books between January 27 and March 31, 2017. We'd love it if you read five books that match the categories on the Book Bingo card, but we'll accept ANY five books!
- List the five books you've read on your bingo form here. Submit your completed bingo form, print your confirmation, and turn it in at any Kansas City Public Library location. A completed Book Bingo form earns you a FREE BOOK!
Tips & Resources
Need some Book Bingo inspiration? Here are a few ways to get some leads on great reads:
- Visit your favorite Library location and get in-person ideas from our librarians.
- Fill out a Personalized Reading Profile and get book recommendations from librarians tailored to your reading tastes.
- Follow our Readers Services experts in the Library's catalog for their bingo category reading suggestions. Library staff have “_KCMO” in their usernames. Follow ReadersServices_KCMO for some cool picks!
Share your book selections using the list feature on the Library's new online catalog! If you haven't given the service a test drive yet, try it out. Questions about the catalog? Contact your nearest Library location for help.
Join us for Book Lovers Bingo Night at the Plaza Branch on March 31, 2017 from 6–8 p.m.! All Book Bingo participants are welcome, and this party is not to be missed! RSVPs kindly requested—just click the "YES, I'm going!" box when you fill out your bingo form.
Follow hashtag #bookbingo on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
2016 Winter's Tale Spin
"My library was dukedom large enough." — William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Perhaps no author is more quoted (and sometimes misquoted) than William Shakespeare. This year, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard, the 2016 Adult Winter Reading Program features books and plays that remind us that Shakespeare is still inspiring novelists, playwrights, and poets.
All titles on a suggested reading list take inspiration from Shakespeare and his works, from the foolish wisdom of King Lear's jester to Hamlet's multiple portrayals of grief over the loss of a father. There's also an amusing mashup of the Bard and the Force (as in "be with you"). See how a number of today's writers have put their own spin on some of Shakespeare's most beloved storylines during the two-month program, themed A Winter's Tale Spin. It's part of an extended celebration of Shakespeare accompanying a June exhibit at the Library that will feature a rare, nearly 400-year-old First Folio – the first printed collection of Shakespeare's plays.
How to Participate in Winter Reading
Read any five books between January 19 and March 19, 2016. The Kansas City Public Library has a diverse collection of fiction and nonfiction titles designed to appeal to all reading interests. While our entire collection is at your disposal, readers should also feel free to browse their own shelves at home for a prized paperback or hardcover classic.
2015 Love on the Rocks
“For my part, I prefer my heart to be broken. It is so lovely, dawn-kaleidoscopic within the crack.” ― D.H. Lawrence
Broken hearts. Bad romance. Star-crossed lovers. Rancid relationships.
The 2015 Adult Winter Reading Program features books that remind us that not every fairy tale ends happily ever after. Many of the stories in this year’s book selections not only tug at heartstrings, they bend and break them. Get ready for a healthy pour of heartache with Love on the Rocks.
How to Participate in Winter Reading
Read any five books between January 20 and March 20, 2015. The Kansas City Public Library has a diverse collection of fiction and nonfiction titles designed to appeal to all reading interests. While our entire collection is at your disposal, readers should also feel free to browse their own shelves at home for a prized paperback or hardcover classic.
List those five books on a Reading Log, available at your local Library location or online. Return a completed Reading Log (or the printed online confirmation) to any Library location to receive your limited edition 2015 Adult Winter Reading Program tumbler glass.
Winter Reading participants will also be entered in a drawing for a NOOK GlowLight eReader.
2013 While The City Sleeps
Because the night belongs to...whom? Does the night belong to the creatures that prowl it, seeking solace from the harsh light of day, like werewolves or vampires? Or is the night merely full of mystery and magic, like a circus that appears from nowhere or a bookstore with an esoteric and elite clientele? Do criminals and detectives own the night, mistaking one for the other depending on the circumstance, darkness blurring the lines between them? Perhaps nighttime is the right time to relax, enjoy an evening football game, or watch a moonflower bloom. For some, sundown signals more than nocturnal darkness, it’s a descent into personal shadows. For others, the night is a fathomless world of exploration and possibility. While the City Sleeps entices readers to explore fiction and nonfiction, the interplay of light and dark, the shadows of the human soul and the brightness of the human spirit. Video Book Reviews: Check out YouTube videos of librarians discussing the Suggested Readings from the Winter Reading Program.
2012 Destination Anywhere
Great stories take you places. Unlike any other medium, a book can transport readers a few counties or a few continents away just for the view or for a change of scenery or to observe another culture up-close. No maps and travel guides necessary. No tourist traps netting the unwary. Great authors understand that a truly unique story unfolds in a truly unique setting, and those surroundings – be it a suffocating jungle, an urban bustle or barren desert – make the actions (real or imagined) more memorable.
Destination: Anywhere! offers readers some of the most captivating vistas put into print, scenic landscapes that create a mood and motivate men and women to act on instinct, impulse, or whim. These destinations are places that shape people – and shape readers.
Book Review Videos: Check out YouTube videos of librarians discussing the Suggested Readings from the Winter Reading Program.
2011 Altered States
The timeline of human history presents innumerable crossroads, junctions where individual actions proved decisive – perhaps even more so if these actions were altered even slightly. This premise has proved irresistible for authors of such stature as Mark Twain, Margaret Atwood, and Ray Bradbury. Novelists habitually manipulate time and transform our world, twisting its shape and cultures and characters to conform to their own imaginations and authorial ambitions. The resulting conflicts are insightful and rewarding – and the best examples ring true. Altered States features masterful writers from a wide spectrum of genres to provide unique perspectives on what our lives might look like if humanity took a different turn – or takes a dive in the future.
2010 Readers of the Rue Morgue
The Kansas City Public Library invites patrons to become Readers in the Rue Morgue through the 2010 Adult Winter Reading Program (January 11 – March 14, 2010), focusing on the best in classic and contemporary crime fiction. In addition to rewarding reading experiences, participation earns special prizes and opportunities to engage like-minded readers at book discussions, film screenings, and author events.
2009 Reading Missouri
The Kansas City Public Library invites patrons to start Reading Missouri with the 2009 Adult Winter Reading Program which runs January 12 - March 14, 2009. The Show-Me State claims some of the most enduring voices in American Literature, not to mention some of its more provocative contemporary writers. This program complements the exhibit Painting Missouri - featuring original oil paintings representing every county in Missouri and the City of St. Louis. The exhibit is on display at the Central Library starting January 24.
Recommended Books
While the weather is reason to stay indoors, check our list of recommended reads that helped put Missouri on the cultural map.