The concept is simple … at first. Read 50 books in a year, but then things get interesting.
You can’t read just any 50 books. For example, one of them has to have been adapted into a graphic novel. Another has to have been narrated by someone other than the lead character.
“And so if you can if you can do that, you can prove that you are the ultimate book nerd in Boise," said Eliza Ruby, a librarian with the Boise Public Library. "And we will get you some swag to prove this to the world.”
Maggie Dumont and Eliza Ruby, the two Boise librarians who oversee the “nerding out,” visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice to give the details on this year’s challenge.
Read the full transcript here:
GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. I'm George Prentice. Good morning. Truth be told, yes. There are some conversations that I look forward to a bit more than others. And you'll soon see why this is one of those conversations. Eliza Ruby and Maggie Dumont are here. They are librarians and the Boise Public Library System. And among the many other things they do, they also oversee the ultimate Book Nerd book club, something we first talked about in 2021. It has caught fire and then some. Maggie Dumont. Eliza Ruby, welcome back to the program.
MAGGIE DUMONT: Thank you so much for having us.
ELIZA RUBY: Thank you. We're so excited.
PRENTICE: Can I ask. You've got to be over the moon with the level of not just participation, but how exciting that engagement has become.
DUMONT: Yes, we have a very active Facebook group. They are so excited about it. They're always sharing what they're reading, giving each other ideas. And we almost doubled our finishers from last year.
PRENTICE: So first, let's let's do the elevator speech. What do you tell a stranger, one or both of you describe this competition, if you will.
RUBY: Yeah. So the ultimate book nerd is your chance to prove that you are, in fact, a book nerd of the ultimate variety. So the challenge is to read 50 books within the year and based on 50 different challenge categories that we have assigned. And so if you can if you can do that, you can prove that you are the ultimate book nerd in Boise. And we will get you some swag to prove to prove this to the world.
PRENTICE: I was really impressed of how many people not only accomplished this and how many accomplished it. Well, before the end of the year, last year.
DUMONT: Yeah. It was incredible how many people finished even in August, halfway through the year, people were finishing already and asking us when the swag was ready, you know? Yeah. So it's been it's been great.
PRENTICE: So again, you've got what, 50 books? We've got to read 50 books, but there are 50 prompts or 50. Well, let's just get into it. Give me an example or a couple of examples.
RUBY: Yeah. So this year's challenge includes a huge variety of categories we're really excited about this year. We have everything from nature writing to fantasy. We even have one about read a book by a Basque author or about Basque culture.
PRENTICE: So give me some examples of that. Give me some of the more quirkier prompts.
DUMONT: Quirky prompts. Let's see. Let's see. We have a book from the eight hundreds in the Dewey Decimal System. So you have to browse through our our nonfiction collection and find a book in the eight hundreds.
RUBY: We have a category that is read a book that the narrator is not the main character. So something like The Great Gatsby would fit for that.
DUMONT: We have a graphic novel adaptation of a classic, so that's like Little Women has been turned into a graphic novel. The Diary. Frankenstein.
RUBY: And also read a book with recipes, which there are a lot of cozy mysteries that have recipes as well as the story, which is pretty fun.
PRENTICE: I'm thinking of fried green tomatoes right off the gate. Yeah.
RUBY: There you go. Perfect.
PRENTICE: And then all the participants, I mean, they're engaging. This Facebook page is a pretty vibrant, very amazing engagement, not just a sense of pride. Oh, look at what I did. But, hey, here's an idea.
DUMONT: Yeah, we love our community. We love our Facebook group. They are so incredible. They make our job easy, breezy.
RUBY: We don't have to post hardly at all anymore because they all give each other ideas and what they liked and didn't like. And it's been pretty amazing.
DUMONT: And we still get in there to post because we just enjoy it so much. But yeah, they've made our job really easy.
PRENTICE: And to be sure, when someone is challenged with one of those prompts, you've got ideas and the other nerds have ideas. Yes.
DUMONT: Yeah, correct. Yeah, they can always reach out to us. In fact, one of our standing, the one challenge category that will always be there is to get a book recommended by a library staff member. And that is because we are here and we want to talk about books with you.
PRENTICE: People, by the way, can jump in to the pool at any point. It's not as if you have had to start in January, right?
RUBY: Oh, yeah, correct. And if they if they read anything in January, if they didn't find out about this challenge and tell they're listening right now, anything that they've read throughout this year, 2023 so far. So anything in January and now in February can count towards their challenge category. So they don't have to start in February or March and then try and still read 50 books.
PRENTICE: And I'm going to put you on the spot here. Can I ask each of you, I always beg for recommendations. Can each of you recommend something to read?
DUMONT: So I'm actually I am currently have read 16 books already this year, which I'm pretty proud of. But my favorite so far has been The Temeraire Series by Naomi Novik, and it can fit into several categories, But I've put it the first book, which is His Majesty's Dragon, and that I put in the first book in a. Is a category and its think about Napoleonic war era. But with dragons it's pretty fantastic.
RUBY: And then I have been enjoying immensely, immensely enjoying braiding sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I'm using that for nature writing. It could also fit as an indigenous author or a book of essays.
DUMONT: My next book is the name of The Rose by Umberto Eco, and it's about a Benedictine monk who has to investigate a bunch of murders.
PRENTICE: I know this book really well. I love this story. It reads like a really great crime thriller. Fantastic. Oh, good. Yeah.
RUBY: And I'm also right now reading Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. And I am using that as my romance for this year. It's a contemporary romance. It's very sweet story, just a light read. It's balancing out some of the heavier stuff that happens with nature writing. So I'm getting a healthy balance in my books right now.
PRENTICE: Is it fair to say that the demographic is pretty pretty wide here, right, as far as participation?
DUMONT: Yeah, it's been wide. We have, Yeah. Just about everybody. We have a wonderful teacher who is taking her elementary school kids through the challenge that we've been in contact with. And we have a number of people who are retired and this is kind of their retirement hobby that they're trying out and everyone in between. Yeah.
RUBY: I will say that the only difference we did make one change this year and that's with the last couple of years, we've done a challenge book challenge list for kids and then a separate one for adults. This year it's just one list, but kids only have to read 30 out of the 50, but adults and teens still have to read all 50.
PRENTICE: Well, this is one of the best ideas in quite some time. It is so organic and yet so much fun. It is the ultimate book nerd book club and it is a challenge. It's easy to find on Facebook. You won't have to go too far to find it. And they are Eliza Ruby and Maggie Dumont over at the Boise Public Library System. Thank you for what you do every day. I'm not certain how many times you hear that, but it's never enough. And and for this morning, with you and for this morning, thanks for giving us some time, too.
