Competitive readers and trivia enthusiasts, the moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived! The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is excited to announce that Adult Battle of the Books returns in 2026. This year’s preliminary rounds will take place at CLP-Beechview, CLP-Squirrel Hill, CLP-East Liberty, and CLP-Lawrenceville, giving teams across the city a chance to compete. The top two teams from each preliminary round will then advance to the Championship Battle hosted at an exciting new venue, Hazelwood Brew House!
What you need to know:
- Your team captain will sign up to be one of 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 Battle on Thursday, September 24 at Hazelwood Brew House
Get your team captain to sign up for a night of competitive book trivia at CLP–East Liberty on Tuesday, June 16 from 5:30 PM to 8 PM. If this location and date does not work for you, we will also host preliminary battles at:
- CLP-Beechview on Tuesday, June 9 from 5:30-8:00 PM – REGISTER HERE
- CLP-Squirrel Hill on Thursday, June 11 from 5:30-8:00 PM – REGISTER HERE
- CLP-Lawrenceville on Thursday, June 18 from 5:30-8:00 PM – REGISTER HERE
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.
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 beginning of summer 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.
Here’s how you can join:
- Form Your Team: Teams should be 3-5 people, and all players must be 18+. Each team should identify a Team Captain, who will be the main point of contact with the Library. Don’t forget to pick a name that will strike fear into the hearts of other readers!
- Register for the Battle (below): Once you have your team, your Captain should fill out our registration form below. Registration will remain open until Monday, March 23, 2026, but we will close registration early if the event fills up, which it has in all previous years. Be sure to register early!
- Prepare for the Battle: Get copies of the battle books (check the library for lots of copies in a variety of formats) and make a strategy (will everyone read all the books, or will you split the list?)
- Let the Battle Begin: Arrive at your selected CLP location on the designated evening ready to compete! There will be three rounds of questions, plus a bonus round.
All the questions will be taken from these five books*:
- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
- Portrait of a Thief by Grace Li
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
- Water Moon by Samantha Sotto
*For full listing of all formats, including audio and large print, check the check out this Staff Picks booklist or visit the library catalog.
