JOHN DAY — Savannah Stout read 37 books last year, including a dozen tomes she consumed as part of the Grant County Library’s 2023 reading challenge.

“I decided to do it because I’m a nerd,” she said of the challenge. “I love to read.”

The John Day resident was named the challenge’s grand prize winner after her name was selected in a drawing. She was presented with a reading-themed gift basket stuffed with everything required for a cozy curl-up with a good book, including a blanket, coffee mug, bookmarks, hot chocolate and socks.

Nearly three dozen people participated in the reading challenge, according to assistant librarian Dovie Wood.

The idea was to bring people into the library and get them thinking about books, and it was successful in that regard.

“We liked it because it made people roam around the library and look for certain authors,” Wood said.

It also got people reading books they might not ordinarily consider. The challenge for March was to read a celebrity memoir. Stout chose “Spare,” the best-selling 2023 autobiography by Britain’s Prince Harry.

“I don’t think I’d have picked that up” if not for the challenge, Stout said. “But it was pretty good.”

Another unexpected choice was “The Wife Before,” which Stout read in response to June’s challenge to read a volume purchased at the library’s annual book sale. It’s a mystery by Shanora Williams about a woman who marries a handsome golf pro but begins to have dark suspicions about the circumstances of his first wife’s death.

That book turned out to be her least favorite, but hardly a total loss. “It was OK,” she said.

Other monthly reading prompts included a book that’s been made into a movie, the first book in a series, a book published the year you graduated high school, an audiobook, a book by an author whose name matches one of yours, a nonfiction book, a book with a one-word title, a book set somewhere you have traveled and a best-seller published in 2023.

Stout’s favorite read of the year was “In Five Years,” a novel by Rebecca Serle about a woman who knows exactly what her life is going to be like in five years — but then has a shockingly realistic vision of a very different outcome.

Wood said it hasn’t yet been decided if the library will do a reading challenge this year, but if there is one, Stout will likely sign up for it.

“I’ll definitely try,” she said.