2025 Akron Postcard Club Summer Reading Challenge
June 1, 2025 鈥� August 27, 2025
Whether you鈥檙e a fan of romance, biography, murder mystery, or local history 鈥� this challenge is for you! Join the Akron Postcard Club as we spend the summer reading 鈥減ostcard-related鈥� books. All participants who complete three or more 鈥渃hallenges鈥� will receive an Akron Postcard Club sticker. Participants who complete all five challenges will be entered into a draw for a copy of Kenneth J. Weiss鈥� Postmarked Akron: Lost Stories of Places and People Discovered in Vintage Postcards (2024).
(Name will be drawn at the August 27, 2025 meeting of the Akron Postcard Club. You do not need to be present to win.)
What鈥檚 a 鈥減ostcard-related鈥� book?
Our definition is broad: Any book, short story, or poem that involves postcards in some way. Perhaps the couple at the heart of the romance sends messages to one another via postcard or maybe the clue to a murder is revealed when a postcard arrives. Maybe 鈥減ostcard鈥� is simply in the title of the book! Or maybe you prefer to read about local history or postcard collections and opt for non-fiction books. The sky is the limit!
How to Participate
- Register for the Akron Postcard Club Summer Reading Challenge by emailing Jennifer Bazar at jbazar@uakron.edu with your name and mailing address (OR sign-up in person at one of the summer meetings of the Akron Postcard Club).
- Complete any 3 of the following 5 challenges to receive an Akron Postcard Club sticker:
- Read a book about local postcards (wherever 鈥渓ocal鈥� is to you!).
- Read a postcard-related non-fiction book.
- Read a postcard-related fiction book.
- Attend the June 25, 2025 meeting of the Akron Postcard Club and tell us about a postcard-related book you鈥檝e read.
- Mail a postcard to the Akron Postcard Club and describe a postcard-related book you鈥檝e read (73 S. College Street Akron, OH 44325-4302).
Not sure where to start?
Check out the list of suggestions below!
- Suggestions marked with a (*) are available at the Akron-Summit County Public Library.
- Some books appear in more than one category.
- Book suggestions do not reflect the views of the Akron Postcard Club, the Institute for Human Science & Culture, 午夜神器, or their respective members or staff.
FICTION
- Historical Fiction
- The Postcard (2023) by Anne Berest*
- A Postcard from Italy (2019) by Alex Brown*
- Postcards (1992) by E. Annie Proulx*
- Romance
- A Postcard from Italy (2019) by Alex Brown*
- The Postcard (2007) by Beverly Lewis*
- The Postcard (2015) by Laura V. Hilton*
- Murder Mystery & Crime
- The Postcard Killers (2010) by James Patterson & Liza Marklund*
- Postcards (1992) by E. Annie Proulx*
NON-FICTION
- Local History
- Postmarked Akron: Lost Stories of Places and People Discovered in Vintage Postcards (2024) by Kenneth J. Weiss*
- Celebrating Akron鈥檚 History in Picture Postcards (2000) edited by Chuck Ayers, Russ Musarra*
- Greetings from Kent, Ohio: A Postcard Portrait of the Tree City (2017) by Roger J. Di Paolo*
- Greetings from Portage Lakes: Celebrating History in Picture Postcards (2017) edited by Carol Eubank, Sylvia Johnson*
- The Ohio: The Historic River in Vintage Postcard Art, 1900-1960 (2017) by John A. Jakle*
- Postcard History Series 鈥� available for a wide selection of local communities*
- Biography or Memoir
- Postcards from the Edge (2011) by Carrie Fisher*
- A Postcard Memoir (2000) by Lawrence Sutin
- Art
- The World Exists to be Put on a Postcard: Artists鈥� Postcards from 1960 to Now (2019) by Jeremy Cooper*
- The Ohio: The Historic River in Vintage Postcard Art, 1900-1960 (2017) by John A. Jakle*
- Deltiology (Postcard Collecting)
- Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People鈥檚 Photography (2006) by Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh*
- Black Americana Postcard Price Guide: A Century of History Preserved on Postcards (1996) by J. L. Mashburn*
- Black Postcard Price Guide (1999) by J. L. Mashburn*
Our thanks to Akron Postcard Club member Rose Vance-Grom for helping to put together this list of suggested titles.