As our #ReadICT Challenge celebrates a double-digit anniversary, we could not be more excited to announce a new slate of challenge categories.
We’ve kept the concept the same, even after a decade, because why mess with perfection? Just read 12 books from these 12 categories over the next 12 months.
And that’s it: A dozen books over the course of a year. Read them as quickly or slowly as you want, and in any order.
The challenge is a partnership of KMUW, The Wichita Eagle and the Wichita Public Library, and it’s designed to help you expand your reading comfort zone. We make the categories flexible enough to be interpreted broadly — fiction or nonfiction, all age ranges, and genres galore.
Ready to see the 2026 categories? Here we go:
1. A book with 10, ten or X in the title
2. A book of poetry or a novel in verse
3. A book about independence
4. A book with an academic setting
5. A book about a race or competition
6. A book with food on the cover
7. A book that inspires you
8. An award-winning children’s book
9. A first book in a series
10. Author from the Southern Hemisphere
11. A book about prehistoric or ancient history
12. A book about community
As usual, I’ve already had some fun scouring my home library and my ever-growing TBR (to-be-read) list to look for titles that might fulfill the various categories.
Category No. 1 — a book with 10, ten or X in the title — is a nod to #ReadICT’s 10th anniversary. Lots of possibilities here, including nonfiction gems like “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” or George Saunders’ short story collection, “Tenth of December.”
A book about independence (Category No. 3) is a salute to another notable anniversary — the 250th birthday of the United States. You could interpret that literally and read something about the Founding Fathers (Ron Chernow’s epic “Alexander Hamilton,” perhaps?). Or you could go with a novel like “Watership Down,” which follows a group of rabbits as they flee oppression and try to establish their own free society. If you love a good memoir, check out Maggie Smith’s “You Could Make This Place Beautiful,” which chronicles the poet’s journey through divorce.
Category No. 6 — a book with food on the cover — is a fun one. You might choose Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation” (french fries), John Irving’s “The Cider House Rules” (apple), Michelle Zauner’s “Crying in H Mart” (noodles), or Aimee Bender’s “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake” (lemon cake, of course). There’s also “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky, or one of my recent favorites, “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” by Grady Hendrix.
Category No. 10 — an author from the Southern Hemisphere — compels you to search south of the equator for your next read. Consider popular Australian writers like Peter Carey, Liane Moriarty or Markus Zusak, or a Chilean author like Pablo Neruda or Isabel Allende.
For Category No. 12 — a book about community — I’m considering reading a nonfiction book about urban planning, like Jeff Speck’s “Walkable City,” or one that delves into the idea of place attachment, like Melody Warnick’s “This Is Where You Belong.” But many novels also explore the idea of community, including “The Emperor of Gladness” by Ocean Vuong.
The Wichita Public Library offers personalized book recommendations, staff picks and ever-changing displays of new and backlist titles.
Our #ReadICT Challenge group on Facebook has more than 8,300 members from all over the world, and it’s a wonderful place to chat about the challenge and get book recommendations.
Over the coming year, we’ll be hosting #ReadICT meetups, book swaps and other special events related to the challenge. Be sure to visit the library’s #ReadICT page, where you can track your progress online and be eligible for monthly prizes.
Happy new year, and happy reading.
Suzanne Perez writes about education and books for KMUW and the Kansas News Service. She created the #ReadICT Challenge in 2016 while a staff member at The Wichita Eagle.
