Open Books Challenge 2025: Books with Libraries

The Open Books Reading Challenge is a year-long reading challenge for people interested in pushing the boundaries of their reading. For full details of the program, please check-out our page at: https://www.rplmn.org/books-more/discover-more/open-books-reading-challenge

This list is to help you find books that fit the 2025 category of "Books with libraries in them."

Happy Reading!

Updated December 31, 2024
RPL Staff
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The reading list : a novel
Adams, Sara Nisha
Paper Book
NOW A LILLY'S LIBRARY PICK! "The most heartfelt read...a surprising delight of a novel."--Shondaland An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London...
The war librarian
Armstrong, Addison
Paper Book
The personal librarian
Benedict, Marie
Paper Book
Over one million copies sold! The Instant New York Times Bestseller! A Good Morning America* Book Club Pick! Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR! Named a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post! "Historical fiction at its best!"...
The Paris library
Skeslien Charles, Janet
Paper Book
An instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller--based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II--The Paris Library is a moving and unforgettable "ode to the importance of libraries, books, and...
The burning page : an invisible library novel
Cogman, Genevieve
Paper Book
Librarian spy Irene and her apprentice Kai return for another "tremendously fun, rip-roaring adventure," (A Fantastical Librarian)--the third in the bibliophilic fantasy series from the author of The Masked City.   Never judge a book by its cover...<...
The lions of Fifth Avenue : a novel
Davis, Fiona
Paper Book
1913. When Laura Lyons applies to the Columbia Journalism School she finds herself involved with the Greenwich Village Heterodoxy Club, a radical feminist group that makes her question her role as wife and mother. When valuable books are stolen from the library, she's forced to confront her...
My heart will find you
Deveraux, Jude
Paper Book
A mail-order bride A lonely rancher A portal to the past Their love refused to stay quiet, echoing across time... When the world is brought to a standstill in the early days of a global pandemic, Etta Wilmont finds...
Cloud cuckoo land
Doerr, Anthony
Paper Book
On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more "If you're looking for...
The woman in the library
Gentill, Sulari
Paper Book
USA TODAY BESTSELLER "Investigations are launched, fingers are pointed, potentially dangerous liaisons unfold and I was turning those pages like there was cake at the finish line." --Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times must-read books for summer 2022 Ned Kelly award winning author Sulari...
The little village of book lovers : a novel
George, Nina
Paper Book
A young woman with the extraordinary power to bring soulmates together searches for her own true love in this tender, lyrical standalone novel inspired by the "bona fide international hit" (The New York Times Book Review) The Little Paris Bookshop In Nina George's...
Mr. Lemoncello's great library race
Grabenstein, Chris
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Grabenstein is back with the third fantastically fun, puzzle-packed MR. LEMONCELLO adventure!   On your marks. Get set. Lemon, cello, GO!   Everyone's favorite game maker, Mr. Lemoncello, is testing out his...
The archive of the forgotten
Hackwith, A. J.
Paper Book
In the second installment of this richly imagined fantasy adventure series, a new threat from within the Library could destroy those who depend upon it the most. The Library of the Unwritten in Hell was saved from total devastation, but hundreds of potential books were destroyed....
The midnight library
Haig, Matt
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestsellerA GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had...
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections : a novel
Jurczyk, Eva
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "A rare treat for readers. I loved this book!"-Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore "Who doesn't love a mystery involving rare books and bad librarians?" -Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times<...
The absolute book
Knox, Elizabeth
Paper Book
A bewitching epic fantasy about a revenge killing, a mysterious scroll box that has survived centuries of fires, and the book that changed everything "Intricately plotted and gorgeously written, The Absolute Book is a cinematic tale that is by turns dark and dreamlike, yet...
The bookman's tale
Lovett, Charles C.
Paper Book
A mysterious portrait ignites an antiquarian bookseller's search through time and the works of Shakespeare for his lost love Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books, The Bookman's Tale is a former bookseller's sparkling novel and a delightful...
The mysterious moonstone
Luper, Eric
Paper Book
Getting lost in a good book has never been this dangerous!Cleo and Evan have a secret. A collection of books so dangerous they are locked up tight. A friend has vanished inside the pages of one of them. It's up to them to find the key that will set her free. A PRICELESS DIAMOND...STOLEN!When Cleo...
The borrower
Makkai, Rebecca.
Paper Book
In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake,...
One for the books
McKinlay, Jenn
Paper Book
Love is in the air in Briar Creek as library director Lindsey Norris and boat captain Mike (Sully) Sullivan are finally tying the knot. The entire town is excited for the happy day, and Lindsey and Sully's plan for a small wedding evaporates as more and more people insist upon attending the event of...
The book woman of Troublesome Creek
Richardson, Kim Michele
Paper Book
RECOMMENDED BY DOLLY PARTON IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE! A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A USA TODAY BESTSELLER A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER The bestselling historical fiction novel from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy Mary, a...
The cat who saved books : a novel
Natsukawa, Sōsuke
Paper Book
AN INDIE NEXT PICK! From the #1 bestselling author in Japan comes a celebration of books, cats, and the people who love them, infused with the heartwarming spirit of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles. Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the...
The book of form and emptiness
Ozeki, Ruth
Paper Book
Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction "No one writes like Ruth Ozeki--a triumph." --Matt Haig, New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library "Inventive, vivid, and propelled by a sense of wonder." --TIME "If you've lost your...
The messy lives of book people
Patrick, Phaedra
Paper Book
The house cleaner of a famous author must carry out her employer's shocking last wish in this delightful new novel from beloved author Phaedra Patrick Mother of two Liv Green barely scrapes by as a maid to make ends meet, often finding escape in a good book while...
The library : a fragile history
Pettegree, Andrew
Paper Book
A history of libraries and the people who built them, from the ancient world to the digital age "Engaging [and] ambitious" (The Washington Post)    Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private...
The last chance library
Sampson, Freya
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick A Library Reads Pick June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way. ...
Sir Ladybug and the bookworms
Tabor, Corey R.
Paper Book
The third adventure in the fresh and funny Sir Ladybug young graphic novel series, from Caldecott Honoree and two-time Geisel Award winner Corey Tabor. Perfect for fans of Catwad, Bird & Squirrel, and Narwhal & Jelly. Sir Ladybug--the duke of the dandelion patch, champion of...
Ink blood sister scribe : a novel
Törzs, Emma
Paper Book
NAMED A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR & ONE OF THE BEST FANTASY NOVELS OF THE YEAR  "Astonishing and pristine, the kind of debut I love to be devastated by, already so assured and sophisticated that it's difficult to imagine where the author can go from here. . . ....
Among others
Walton, Jo.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2011 Nebula Award for Best Novel Winner of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable,Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary...
0101816990929
YA CON
Paper Book
In this hilarious and thought-provoking contemporary teen standalone that's perfect for fans of Moxie, a bookworm finds a way to fight back when her school bans dozens of classic and meaningful books. Clara Evans is horrified when she discovers her principal's "prohibited...
0101811234307
YA GRAPHIC NOVEL YUM V.01
Paper Book
A New York Times best seller and librarian favorite that will appeal to shojo and non-shojo fans alike! In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of...
0101812806442
YA SCHW
Paper Book
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell- a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive. Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop...

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