Last June, a merry band of book lovers marched down Clement Street, a shopping district in San Francisco. Accompanied by a high school drum corps, they carried flags and chanted “Books! Books! Books!” Summer had begun and it was time to get reading.
The parade marked the opening of an adults-only summer reading challenge held by Green Apple Books, a San Francisco bookstore founded in 1967, and Friends & Neighbors, a nearby community art space. Valerie Luu and Eric Lam, who started Friends & Neighbors in 2023, proposed the idea to the Green Apple store manager Eileen McCormick as an extension of their space’s mission to foster connection — and as a way to bring “sportslike enthusiasm” to reading.
Participants competed to read the most hours over the course of three months. They could also aim for bonus categories, such as reading books from 10 different genres, or complete a 30-hour mini challenge. By summer’s end, 521 reading logs and mini challenges were returned, accounting for over 18,000 hours read. And to the top readers went the spoils, including a hand-knit trophy and gift cards to nearby businesses.
For decades, summer reading programs have helped keep children engaged while school’s out. But in the last several years, more and more bookstores and literary organizations have expanded their challenges to adults, tapping into a passion for reading, a desire for community and a taste for nostalgia (and pizza). Some challenges focus on the number of books finished or minutes read; others use bingo cards to help participants diversify their reading habits with thematic (read a translated book) and situational (read outdoors) prompts.
Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., piloted an adult summer reading challenge two years ago after hearing from many customers who were jealous of their kids’ contest, which they’ve run since 2013. After its success, the bookstore shifted to an all-ages, bingo-style challenge last year: More than 2,700 people finished, around 1,400 of whom were adults. Powell’s is one of many independent bookstores around the country that have opened things up to grown-ups, said Bry Hoeg, who manages the store’s City of Books location. “If they weren’t doing it already, they started within the last year.”
While American reading habits have remained steady (and dismal — less than half of adults report reading more than one book per year) for years, the last decade has seen an outpouring of bookish enthusiasm on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, where many like-minded readers share hauls, reactions and reviews. Challenges like summer reading “bring digital book communities — like Goodreads and BookTok — into the real world,” said Allison K. Hill, the chief executive of the American Booksellers Association, “while the gamification aspect delivers the dopamine rush usually associated with social media, but with the added bonus of building real-world connections.”
BookTok in particular was a key driver in Bookshop.org’s decision to host its first adult summer reading challenge in 2023, said Laura Chamberlain, the platform’s associate director of marketing. Over the last two summers, 25,000 people have participated, logging more than 10 million minutes of reading via the tracking app Beanstack.
Retailers are taking a page from libraries, which began offering children’s summer reading programs in the late 19th century and expanded to adults in the 1990s: A 2022 study found that 80 percent of public libraries in the United States have challenges open to all ages or specifically for adults.
Lefty Keans was an avid summer reading participant as a child, but was unaware of her Derry, N.H., library’s adult programming until she signed her son up for a challenge a few years ago. “I was very excited — perhaps some might say overly excited,” she said. She has participated every summer since.
It can take creative thinking to engage adult readers, said Alejandro Gallegos, the community engagement manager for the San Francisco Public Library. For its Summer Stride program, the library takes a tangible approach: rewarding participants with an exclusive tote bag, which features new illustrations each year and can be spotted around the city, creating a kind of grass-roots publicity campaign. In 2024, a record number of adults finished Summer Stride: 7,742 (one of whom was me).
Committing to a challenge brings an intentionality to reading that can be hard to nurture amid competing digital distractions. Some participants appreciated the chance to retrain their attention spans and cut down on screentime. “It’s like an invitation to show yourself what you’re capable of,” said Julia Selker, who participated in and volunteered with the Green Apple Books challenge. For others, the challenges are a way to combat the loneliness epidemic by cultivating community.
Since 2017, Sarah Sinclair, a Seattle resident, has participated alongside her mother and sister in the city’s Summer Book Bingo. The women all live in different states, but love continuing their childhood tradition of reading as a family. “One of the highlights of it is that we’re doing it together and swapping recommendations,” Sinclair said.
Last year, the National Book Foundation partnered with the New York Public Library to launch their own Summer Reading Adventure for adults. This year, they’ve also joined forces with the American Booksellers Association to expand the challenge to 725 bookstores.
For Ruth Dickey, the executive director of the National Book Foundation, the challenges are about connection: “They take something that is inherently a private act — that we each sit down with a book and read — and make it a communal activity that we’re engaging in together and sharing and comparing and inspiring one another.”
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