2025 Adult Reading Challenge

In a reading rut? Want to broaden your book choices?

Join the EMPL Readers Services 2025 Reading Challenge.

The reading challenge is a chance to shake up your reading habits and to explore all that The Reader Services Department offers by completing reading and non-reading challenges throughout the year. Those who participate will be invited to a party in January of 2026 where there will be prizes, refreshments, a book buzz, and a chance to share the titles read during the year. The Basic Reading Challenge consists of twelve, one for each month of the year. Complete the challenge within that month and get entered to win a prize. Unsure you can read a book a month? Don’t worry, there is a lot of flexibility in the challenge so you can participate no matter how much you read. Feeling ambitious? Complete our Extra Reading Challenges and/or our non-reading Bonus Challenges and increase your chance at winning our Grand Prize. You may read whatever you want as long as it meets the challenges. Not sure of what to read? We will have suggestions for you all through the year and a discussion forum online where you can get ideas or share what you are reading. Participate either online or by submitting your completed challenges in person at the library. Program is open to all with a Nassau Library Card.

Registration starts January 2nd online or in the library. For more information check out https://eastmeadow.info/books-reading/reader-services/ .

INSTRUCTIONS ON REGISTRATION

INSTRUCTIONS ON SUBMITTING READING CHALLENGES AND COMPLETING NON-READING CHALLENGES

To complete a challenge, please submit the title and author of book you read, the date completed, how it fits the challenge and rate the book on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. For nonreading challenges tell us the date completed and how you fulfilled the challenge.

For more information click on this link.

READING CHALLENGE GOODREADS PAGE – This is the place to discuss the reading challenges. You can recommend books, ask for suggestions or discuss the book you are reading for the challenge. If you are not a member of Goodreads you must create an account at goodreads.com . After joining, you will receive an e-mail asking you to verify your e-mail address – please do so by clicking the link provided. After you log into Goodreads, click on this link – EMPL Reading Challenge Page and select Join Group. You can also find our page by clicking on Community at the top of the Goodreads page. Select Groups and type EMPL in the seach box. Select EMPL Reader Services Reading Challenge 2025 and click Join Group.

For additional information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 1236.

Feb 3 @ 7:00 PM - Author Kevin Wade

MEET THE AUTHOR – KEVIN WADE

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Kevin Wade, who will join us to discuss his debut novel Johnny Careless. Wade has been a movie screenwriter and his credits include Working Girl (seven Academy Award nominations), True Colors, Mr. Baseball, Junior, Meet Joe Black, and Maid in Manhattan. He worked on the TV drama Blue Bloods as a writer, show runner, and executive producer. Wade will be signing copies of his book which will be for sale after the program.

Register online by clicking on this link, or by calling 516-794-2570, option 3.

Police Chief Jeep Mullane has been bounced back home to Long Island's North Shore by a heartbreaking case that both earned him his NYPD detective's shield and burned him out of the Job. Now heading up a small local police department, he finds himself navigating the same geography he did growing up there as the son of an NYPD cop. Jeep is a "have-not" among the glittering "haves," a sharp-witted, down-to-earth man in a territory defined and ruled by multigenerational wealth and power and the daunting tribal codes and customs that come with it. When the corpse of Jeep's childhood friend Johnny Chambliss--born into privilege and known as "Johnny Careless" for his reckless, golden-boy antics--surfaces in the Bayville waters, past collides with present, and Jeep is pulled into a treacherous web. He is challenged by Johnny's wealthy and secretive family and his beautiful, enigmatic ex-wife as he untangles a knotted mystery fraught with theft, corrupt local moguls, and decades-old secrets, all while grappling with his own deep-seated grief for his lost pal.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 1236.

Dec 16 @ 7 PM - Evening Discussion: Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

Join us on December 16 at 7:00 pm as we discuss Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. Daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta and Queen Leda, the sister of Helen, and ultimately the murderous Queen of Mycenae who killed her husband Agamemnon, Clytemnestra is one of the most notorious villainesses of the ancient world. What forged her into the legendary queen and complicated women she becomes? And what drives her to her infamous act?

Register online by clicking on this link or by calling 516-794-2570, option 3.

The eBook version of Clytemnestra can be accessed through the Nassau Digital Doorway.

Discussion guide for Clytemnestra.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 1236.

Dec 3 @ 6:30 PM - Author Lynda Cohen Loigman

MEET THE AUTHOR – LYNDA COHEN LOIGMAN

December 3 at 6:30 p.m.

Join us in conversation with Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Matchmaker’s Gift and The Two-Family House, when she visits our library to discuss her newest book, The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. Lynda will be signing copies of her book which will be for sale after the program.

Register online by clicking on this link or by calling 516-794-2570, option 3.

The eBook version of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern can be accessed through the Nassau Digital Doorway.

On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs–an active senior community in southern Florida–she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy–and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier. Augusta is still haunted by the mistakes of her past. What happened all those years ago and can Augusta reclaim the magic of her youth before it's too late?

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern was chosen as one of People’s Best Books of October!

Nov 26 @ 7 PM - Mystery Club - Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Join us on November 26 at 7:00 p.m. as we discuss The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. Alex is a young author who is invited to an exclusive writer’s retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell–they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate. But when one of the writers vanishes, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she must discover the truth–or suffer the same fate.

Register online by clicking on this link or by calling 516-794-2570, option 3.

The eBook version of The Writing Retreat can be accessed through the Nassau Digital Doorway.

Discussion guide for The Writing Retreat.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 1236.

Oct 17 @ 6:30 PM - Book Launch: Marilyn Simon Rothstein

SPECIAL EVENT: BOOK LAUNCH FOR MARILYN SIMON ROTHSTEIN’S LATEST NOVEL: WHO LOVES YOU BEST

October 17, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

We are honored to have Marilyn Simon Rothstein visit our library to launch her newest book, Who Loves You Best, which will be published October 15. Marilyn will be signing copies of her book which will be for sale after the program.

Register online by clicking on this link, or by calling 516-794-2570, option 3.

A woman drops everything to spend more time with her grandchild, only to discover new truths about herself. For Jodi Wexler, a Florida doctor with a flourishing practice, only one thing’s missing: the chance to spend more time getting to know her eight-year-old granddaughter, Macallan. When Jodi’s restauranteur daughter asks her to watch Macallan in the Berkshires while she takes care of some business out of town, Jodi can’t say yes fast enough. Neither Jodi’s podiatric patients nor her just-fired, suddenly retired husband can keep her away. But when Jodi arrives, she discovers she’s not the only grandma at Lisa’s house. Lisa’s mother-in-law, Di—a hard-nosed real estate agent—has moved into the house. What’s more, there’s Grannie Annie, the twenty-seven-year-old girlfriend of Lisa’s oddball father-in-law. They’re not the only surprises. Lisa’s marriage is faltering even as her new restaurant is taking off. As the competition for Macallan’s attention among the three “grandmas” increases, Lisa drops a bomb about her life that changes everything. Under pressure, and determined to help her daughter, Jodi must choose her next step. Her decision surprises everyone—Jodi, most of all.

Oct 7 @ 7 PM - Evening Discussion: Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers

Join us on October 7 at 7:00 pm as we discuss The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers. Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who’s just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina–the tobacco capital of the South–where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives. But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn’t quite the carefree paradise that it seems. A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems, and although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise. Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn’t know who she can trust–and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.

Register online by clicking on this link, or by calling 516-794-2570, option 3.

The eBook version of The Tobacco Wives can be accessed through the Nassau Digital Doorway.

Discussion guide for The Tobacco Wives.

For more information, please call the Reader Services Department at 516-794-2570 ext. 1236.