There are two puzzle competition sessions:

Saturday, March 28
10 – 11:30 am
Morningside Branch Library

Tuesday, March 31
6-7:30 pm
Aalfs Downtown Library

Get Registered:   

• Puzzle Competition – Saturday, March 28: 10 am at Morningside Branch Library – REGISTRATION FULL
• Puzzle Competition – Tuesday, March 31: 6 pm at Aalfs Downtown Library – REGISTRATION FULL

Arrive early to get a table and play as a team or on your own. Food and beverage may be purchased from Buffalo Alice staff.

Where: Buffalo Alice (1022 4th Street)
When: Wednesday, March 11 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Who: Open to the Public — Free Admission (Buffalo Alice staff will be available if you wish to purchase food and drink)

The Sioux City Reads program returns with a new title for 2026: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger. Community members are invited to join the Library for a variety of Sioux City Reads events occurring throughout March. Follow the Library on Facebook to see all planned events at facebook.com/SiouxCityPublicLibrary. Library events are free and open to the public.

Upcoming Events

Open Book Club: The River We Remember 

In-person: 

Monday, March 2 at 10am at the Morningside Branch Library

Monday, March 2 at 5pm at the Aalfs Downtown Library

Virtual: 

Click here to register for the Virtual Session: Wednesday, March 4 at Noon via ZOOM

Trivia Night!  

Wednesday, March 11, 6:30-8:30pm at Buffalo Alice (1022 4th Street, Sioux City) 

Celebrate 2026’s Sioux City Reads season at Trivia Night! Arrive early to get a table and play as a team or on your own. Each round gives players a chance to win exciting book prizes. Food and beverage may be purchased from Buffalo Alice staff. 

Film Screening: Farewell to Manzanar  

Sunday, March 22 at 2pm at the Aalfs Downtown Library. 

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, seven-year-old Jeanne Wakatsuki, her family and 11,000 other Americans of Japanese descent and their immigrant parents are imprisoned in the internment camp Manzanar in California. 

Video Presentation: Memories of Five Nisei 

Wednesday, March 25 at 6pm at the Aalfs Downtown Library

Five second-generation Japanese Americans share memories of their lives, with a focus on their World War II internment camp experience.  

Puzzle Competition – Two Events*

Register your team of 4-6 puzzlers and work to complete a 750-piece river scene puzzle for a chance to win prizes! *Each team may register for one event only. Teams of fewer than four participants may be combined. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. 

• Click here to register for: Saturday, March 28, 10-11:30am at the Morningside Branch Library

• Click here to register for: Tuesday, March 31, 6-7:30pm at the Aalfs Downtown Library

Sioux Cityans chose this title by voting on the Library’s website. Books selected for voting were based around the true crime genre and upcoming events and discussions will follow this topic and themes from the book. Follow the Sioux City Public Library on Facebook, visit siouxcitylibrary.org/siouxcityreads, or sign-up for the Library’s e-newsletter at siouxcitylibrary.org/news to get updates.

Sioux City Reads Writing Contest:

We want to know how this book impacted you! Write an original written work, no longer than one page, inspired by the 2026 Sioux City Reads title, The River We Remember.

Submit your poem by Tuesday, March 31 in-person at any Library location or via this form. One submission per participant, please.

A selection of finalists will be displayed at the Library in April and the winner will be announced on Reference Roundtable, Live on the Library’s Facebook, on Thursday, April 2. The winning author will also receive a $25 gift card to Book People.

Sioux Cityans chose this title by voting on the Library’s website. This book will become the basis for a month of programs and discussions.

About The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger:
In 1958, on Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service.

“William Kent Krueger’s page-turning, rewarding mystery The River We Remember is a superb exploration of the prejudices and complexities of post-World War II America.” —Bookpage

“Irresistible…Book clubs, here’s your next pick. Find The River We Remember, take it home and shut the door.” —Macro Eagle

Everyone will be invited to join in all the fun events and activities for Sioux City Reads in March, but now is the time to relax and read The River We Remember!

Now through November 30, cast your vote to help select the next Sioux City Reads title at SiouxCityLibrary.org/siouxcityreads. Copies of each book are available for check out at any Sioux City Public Library location.

Vote for one of the following three exciting mystery books:

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn – A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era. In Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendships. Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore – August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.  As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet 

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger – On Memorial Day 1958, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service.  Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of mid-century American life, The River We Remember is a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home. 

The chosen book will be announced in January and will serve as inspiration for events, discussions, and Beanstack challenges throughout the upcoming 2026 Sioux City Reads initiative. Visit the Library’s website, Facebook page, or sign-up for the Library’s e-newsletter at SiouxCityLibrary.org/news to stay up-to-date on the exciting upcoming events.

This year the Library selected books from the mystery genre. The chosen book will serve as inspiration for events, discussions, and challenges throughout the upcoming 2026 Sioux City Reads initiative.  

2026 Sioux City Reads Nominee: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger is set in 1958 in a small Minnesota town. On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service.  

Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of midcentury American life, The River We Remember is a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home. 

“ [Krueger] is a fine storyteller, but it is his understanding of his characters and his sense of the past that make The River We Remember more than just a story. As novels go, this one is a work of art.”—The Denver Post 

“Irresistible…Book clubs, here’s your next pick. Find The River We Remember, take it home and shut the door.”—Macro Eagle 

The winner will be announced in January. Visit SiouxCityLibrary.org/siouxcityreads, the Library’s Facebook page, or sign-up for the Library’s e-newsletter at SiouxCityLibrary.org/news to get all the latest updates.  

This year the Library selected books from the mystery genre. The chosen book will serve as inspiration for events, discussions, and challenges throughout the upcoming 2026 Sioux City Reads initiative.  

2026 Sioux City Reads Nominee: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore begins in August 1975 when a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. 

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

“Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR 

This highly decorated book also was named a New York Times best Thriller and Crime Novel of 2024, People Magazine’s #1 Book of the Year, one of NPR’s “Books We Love” 2024, and one of Time Magazine’s “100 Must-Read Books of 2024.”  

The winner will be announced in January. Visit SiouxCityLibrary.org/siouxcityreads, the Library’s Facebook page, or sign-up for the Library’s e-newsletter at SiouxCityLibrary.org/news to get all the latest updates.