Peoria Reads in a one book cone city project instituted and led by Common Place and the Peoria Public Library. In 2007, the Peoria Reads joined forces with The Big Read. Books selected from previous years are:

2002 – A Lesson Before Dying by Earnest J. Gains
2003 – The Reappearance of Sam Webber by Jonathan Scott Fuqua
2004 – The Speed of Light by Elizabeth Rosner & Four Perfect Pebbles by Lila Perl & Marion Blumenthal Lazan
2005 – Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
2006 – Nickled and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
2007 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2008 – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2009 - The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
2010 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2011 - The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
2012 - Don't Shoot: One Man, A Street Fellowship, And The End of Violence in Inner-City America by David M. Kennedy
2013 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot