Summer Reading

Adult Summer Reading
To Participate:
- Create a FREE account through Beanstack.
- Enroll in the Adult Summer Reading Challenge. The challenge officially starts June 26th and goes through August 26th.
- Log each book you read.
- Every month, we'll draw winners for prizes (like Amazon gift cards), with a grand prize at the end of August!

Summer Scares
Read along if you dare! Summer Scares is an annual reading program from The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist, which provides libraries and schools with three recommended horror titles each for adult, young adult (teen), and middle-grade readers. It introduces readers to new authors, helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list, and promotes reading for years to come.
Continue below to view the recommended books and the library's related programming! Visit the HWA's Youtube channel to view author panels from previous years (2023 coming soon).
Adult Recommendations

Ring Shout
by P. Djèlí Clark
In 1915, the Klan spread fear and
violence across the country. Maryse
Boudreaux and her fellow resistance
fighters, armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, stand in their way. But something awful’s brewing and things are about to heat up.
Young Adult Recommendations

In the Shadow of Blackbirds
by Cat Winters
In 1918, Americans are suffering with the Spanish Influenza and World War I. Mary Shelley Black watches as mourners flock to séances, and she must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns.
Middle Grade Recommendations

Small Spaces
by Katherine Arden
Nightfall is fast descending when Ollie’s school bus breaks down on a trip to an area farm. As the kids head for the woods—bordered by a field of creepy scarecrows—the bus driver has one piece of advice: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”
SPL's Summer Scares 2023 Programming

Film Screening: Get Out (rated R)
Tuesday, June 27th at 6:30 p.m.
At the library (no registration required)
Like Ring Shout, this critically-acclaimed film uses the lens of horror to explore themes of racism.
Bonus: Join SPL's Movie Discussion Club on Google Meet on Tuesday, July 11th at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the film! Registration link to be posted.

Film Screening: Maleficent (rated PG)
Wednesday, July 26th at 6:30 p.m.
At the library (no registration required)
Like the stories of The Merry Spinster, this film weaves a fractured fairytale, retelling the classic story of Sleeping Beauty.
Bonus: Join SPL's Movie Discussion Club on Google Meet on Tuesday, August 1st at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the film! Registration link to be posted.

Book Discussion
Tuesday, August 22nd at 7:00 p.m.
At the library (no registration required)
Read at least one of the adult Summer Scares 2023 books? Come join us for a fun, informal discussion and share your thoughts!