Adult Battle of the Books 2025

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Competitive readers, it is time to wipe off your reading glasses, sharpen your pencils and put on the coffee: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is pleased to announce that Adult Battle of the Books, the book-based trivia showdown, will return for 2025. This year, you’ll be excited to learn that Adult Battle of the Books has expanded to new locations: CLP Lawrenceville, CLP Brookline, CLP Squirrel Hill and CLP East Liberty. The top two teams from each preliminary round will be invited to contend in the ultimate Battle: Our dynamic Championship at Aslin Beer Company.

Adult Battle of the Books is a trivia game created by the career bookworms at CLP just for you, our book-loving city of literary champions. Teams of 3-5 readers have the spring to carefully read a list of five titles, then we gather in June for three rounds of trivia questions about the people, places, and plots of those books.

What’s Different for 2025?

Your team captain will sign up on behalf of your team to be one of the eight teams to compete at one of our four CLP locations in June.
If you are the first or second place winner at one of the CLP locations, you will be invited to compete in the Championship Round on September 10th at Aslin Beer Company.

Battles will be hosted at:

CLP-Lawrenceville on Tuesday, June 10 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm – REGISTRATION FULL
CLP-Brookline on Thursday, June 12 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm – REGISTRATION FULL
CLP-Squirrel Hill on Tuesday, June 17 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm – REGISTRATION FULL
CLP-East Liberty on Wednesday, June 18 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm – REGISTRATION FULL

The event will begin at 5:30 pm with the game starting at 6 pm sharp.

NOTE: You and your team can only sign up for one location event.

You can sign up for a free library card here.  

If you are new to our eResources, check out these tutorial videos on how to get started.     

If you’re looking for more book suggestions, we’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Book Recommendation form to send us some information about what you like to read and we’ll curate a list just for you.    

If you have any additional questions, you can contact a librarian through Facebook or Instagram. You can also call us at 412-622-3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org  

Anita de Monte Laughs Last

by Xochitl Gonzalez

A first-generation Ivy League art history student uncovers the genius work of a female artist decades after her suspicious death. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, this book is a witty examination of power, love, art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio from Libby.

Come and Get It

by Kiley Reid

When Agatha Paul started her visiting professorship at the University of Arkansas she intended to write a book on marriage. The more she gets to know her students, though, the more Agatha realizes that their lives and conflicts—especially their relationship to money—are much juicier writing topics. Eavesdropping, making up stories for Teen Vogue, and bribing a resident assistant are just a few of the outrageous things that happen as Agatha slides deeper into her new obsession.

This title is available for checkout as an eBook in Libby and in eAudio on Libby.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

by Shubnum Khan

After moving to a ruined mansion with her father, Sana becomes obsessed with the history of the estate, including a mysterious death that occurred a hundred years ago. Meanwhile a djinn, also concerned with the mysterious death, haunts the mansion and Sana’s every move. This item is available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio from Libby.

The Ministry of Time

by Kaliane Bradley

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams only to find the project she’ll be working on involves a recently established government ministry gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio from Libby.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

by David Grann

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. But then… six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio from Libby.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Free To The People