Jax Stacks Reading Challenge for Adults

Jax Stacks Reading Challenge

1 Year, 12 Books, 16 Challenge Categories

Welcome to the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge, Jacksonville Public Library's only year-round reading challenge for adults! Every year, your friendly (and book-obsessed) local librarians will craft:

  • 16 fun and challenging categories for you to choose from
  • Book recommendations to get you started

You pick the 12 categories that interest you most and start reading! It's that simple.

Throughout the year, we hope that you try a new series, a new genre or a new format (like graphic novels). You might just find a new favorite! It's also a great way to broaden your reading horizons or read something you might have overlooked in the past! 

Skip to:

Learn the Rules | Choose Your Categories 

Get Book Recommendations

Pick a Prize | Get Social

 

The Complete "Rules"

Rule #1: Have fun reading.
Rule #2: Check out books from the Library.
Rule #3: Let us know when you're done so we can give you a prize!

That’s all we’re really asking of you! Admittedly, these are really more like guidelines than rules (except the first rule, we're pretty sure that one is important).  

You can complete as much or as little of the challenge as you want. Don't think you can commit to 12 books? Pick your favorite category and just start reading. You might surprise yourself! 

How to Claim Your Prize

  • Bring the completed bookmark back to the Library on or before December 31
  • or email jplprograms@coj.net with a picture of your completed bookmark (front and back)

Keep Track of Your Progress

Stop by your local library for a Jax Stacks Reading Challenge Bookmark. The 2026 bookmarks should be available December 29, 2025. Just make sure to grab the one with the current challenge year (listed on the front)! For those who prefer a paperless options, find us on StoryGraph and Goodreads.

Jax Stacks Bookmarks artfully arranged to create a border

 

Choose Your 2026 Challenge Categories

Choose your reading adventure - starting January 1, 2026! 

After picking your 12 favorite categories from the 16 listed below, you'll want to read one book for each category you selected. Each book only counts once (for one category), so choose wisely! 

  1. A book by a 2026 Lit Chat author
  2. A book read by a Library Book Club in 2026
  3. A book from a Library display
  4. A book on an "everyone should read this" list
  5. A book in the Zine, Local Author, or Indie Florida collections
  6. A book with an unreliable narrator
  7. A book that fits a previous year's challenge category (see below)
  8. A book suggested by a friend or family member
  9. A book that takes places over 24 hours (or less)
  10. A book with a "punny" title
  11. A book set somewhere you have lived or visited
  12. A book written by or about a celebrity
  13. A book that you haven't read by your favorite author
  14. A book about the Olympics or an Olympian
  15. A Bildungsroman or a coming-of-age story
  16. A western, fiction or nonfiction

Ready to plan your TBR? 

We have a few starter recommendations available right now on Facebook and Instagram. For more, read the Library's blog or check your email (if you signed up for newsletters) on January 1, 2026.

Still working on the 2025 challenge? 

Read our blog for 2025 book recommendations. Or click here to see the top 5 most popular books and categories, chosen by Jax Stacks winners. Reminder: Any book you've read in 2025 will count if it fits one of the 16 challenge categories (even if you started tracking late).

Previous Jax Stacks Challenge Categories (2022-2025)

2025 Reading Challenge

  1. A book by a 2025 Lit Chat author
  2. A book read by a Library Book Club in 2025
  3. A book from a Library display
  4. A book by an author who shares your name or initials
  5. A book published before 2000
  6. The first book in a series
  7. An anthology or book with two or more authors
  8. A retelling of another book or story
  9. An epistolary book or diary format
  10. A graphic novel, either in fiction or nonfiction
  11. A book featuring a Neurodivergent* character
  12. A mystery set outside the U.S.
  13. A nonfiction book about a minority group or person
  14. A book about music
  15. A book with a heist
  16. A book written for children

2024 Reading Challenge

  1. A book by a 2024 Lit Chat author
  2. A book with an eye-catching cover
  3. A book published the year you were born
  4. A book you read as a child
  5. A book of poetry, essays, or short stories
  6. A book read by a Library Book Club in 2024
  7. A sci-fi or alternate history book set in Asia
  8. A book with an LGBTQIA+ protagonist
  9. A nonfiction graphic novel or comic book
  10. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book
  11. A book by a Jacksonville author
  12. A book in translation, written in the 21st century
  13. A horror or dystopian novel
  14. A cookbook
  15. A book by a debut author over 50
  16. A book based on mythology

2023 Reading Challenge

  1. A book you've read and loved before
  2. A book written before 2000
  3. A book in a genre you don't usually read
  4. A book recommended by a library staff member
  5. A historical book set in Africa
  6. A book in translation
  7. A book written by an author when they were under 30
  8. A book set in a place you want to visit
  9. A book read by a Library Book Club in 2023
  10. A book by a 2023 Lit Chat author
  11. A self-improvement, how-to, or DIY book
  12. A book with a non-human protagonist
  13. A book banned in the last 10 years
  14. A book by a Nobel Prize winner
  15. A book with illustrations
  16. A book under 300 pages

2022 Reading Challenge

  1. A book by a Jacksonville author
  2. A book read by a Library Book Club in 2022
  3. A book by an author that shares your zodiac sign
  4. A book about current events
  5. A book in a different format than you usually read
  6. A book in a genre you don't usually read
  7. A book by an international author
  8. A book you've been meaning to read but haven't
  9. A book adapted to or from a TV show, film, or video game
  10. An audiobook read by the author
  11. An award-winner or celebrity book club pick
  12. A book about a culture other than your own
  13. The first book in a series
  14. A book written for teens
  15. A book written by a 2022 Lit Chat author
  16. A book under 300 pages

Looking for Reading Challenges for Kids and Teens?

All Duval County youth are encouraged to sign up for River City Readers, Mayor Deegan's citywide literacy challenge. To participate, simply log at least 20 minutes of reading each day on the Beanstack tracker app. At the end of the year, the city’s top young readers are given prizes! 

During "Summer at the Library," kids and teens can also earn free books by tracking their reading (20 minutes a day for 20 days). The Summer Reading Challenge typically starts in early June and runs through the end of July or early August.

 

Get Book Recommendations

We post a few suggestions when we announce the challenge categories on social media. If you don't already, please follow us on Facebook or Instagram. We even have a Facebook Group you can join! You can also read the Library's blog. We post starter recommendations, a mid-year "check in" and an end-of-the-year "wrap up" (aka "Jax Stacks Wrapped"). 

For more ideas (and a friendly reminder), sign up for the Jax Stacks email newsletter! On January 1, we send out the first round of recommendations (a few books for each category) via a welcome message to current subscribers. Don't worry if you sign up after that. We'll be sending out the same welcome message regularly to new subscribers! 

Every month, we'll also send you reminders about:

  • Library Book Clubs
  • Lit Chat author talks and interviews
  • and anything else that will help you complete the challenge

You may be able to cross off more than just "A book read by a Library Book Club" by joining a Library Book Club. Throughout the year, many of these groups will tackle other categories as well. So, find one to join with our events calendar or get their monthly picks on our blog! 

You can learn more about our featured authors and register for author talks and interviews with our monthly Lit Chat blogs. If you're catching up later in the year, you can also find past interviews on our YouTube Channel or Completely Booked Podcast (available wherever you get your podcasts).  

Get great book recommendations by email! 

Sign Up for Newsletters!

Pro Tip: For even more great book recommendations, sign up for The Book Hookup or get a Personalized Booklist from one of our librarians!

 

Pick a Prize

It's completely optional but if you want to win a prize, be sure to keep track of those book titles on your Jax Stacks Reading Challenge bookmark. When you're done, just snap a picture of the front and back and send it to us at jplprograms@coj.net before December 31! You can also bring it to your favorite library location and ask a librarian to snap the picture and submit it on your behalf. 

Note: We have a friendly competition going on between library branches for the location(s) with the most bookmarks submitted. So, even if you don't want a prize, we'd still love to see your bookmark. Staff at the branches with the most winners will get some "Jax Snacks" (and bragging rights).

Winners who do want to pick a prize will receive a

  • 50% off coupon to the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library Bookstore
  • Choice of a reusable canvas tote, mug, journal, or tumbler (while supplies last)

Jax Stacks branded prizes including a tote, mug, tumbler and journal.

 

Get Social

Are you a Bookstagrammer? Love rating books on #BookTok? As you read through the challenges, share what you’re reading on social media using the hashtag #jaxstacks and #amreading. Be sure to tag @jaxlibrary on Facebook and Instagram so we see your posts! 

You may also consider:

 

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