great reads

 

The next Books & Beyond meeting is on Tuesday, August 29th at 6:30pm and will likely be Zoom-only.  Click here to register to receive a Zoom link the morning of the meeting. 

The topic up for discussion is ecology and, if you need some inspiration, there are some suggestions on the Shelf Care page of our website. 

An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Sex Cult and a President's Murder by Susan Wels
Fast read about a religious sex cult in upstate New York in the 1800s, the Oneidas. Fascinating nonfiction read. It explores how the members of this cult intersected with American society in the 1800s, ultimately leading to the assassination of President Garfield.

Middlegame by Seannan McGuire
Alchemy and science meet in this trippy fantasy about twins separated at birth in America and how they reunite to destroy the evil machinations of the alchemists that separated them and become masters of reality. The boy is a master of language, the girl is a master of math. The plot line is complicated and winding. Be prepared for a lot of horror elements, death and destruction!

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop
This story exists in a parallel universe where monsters (the Others - vampires, shape-shifters, and other deadlier creatures) control the world and humans are merely prey. As part of her divorce, Vicki DeVine owns a rustic lodge on some property along Lake Silence. She with her shape-shifting lodger become involved with a mystery that threatens to disturb the balance between the Others and the humans, with deadly consequences.

The Hidden Species paranormal romance series by Louisa Masters
If you like to read (or listen to) monstrous creatures delighting in carnal activities, then this series is for you. It's also got great characters and a good action adventure plot line that makes them very fast reads.
Demons Do It Better
One Bite with a Vampire
Hijinks with a Hellhound
Sorcerers Always Satisfy

Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
In 1970s Long Island, New York, the Rolffs are staying in a mysterious mansion for the summer. What could go wrong?! The wife spends her days obsessing over cleaning the house. The husband begins turning into a brute. Their once, spry elderly aunt begins to become more confused. And let’s not forget to mention that, as part of their rental agreement, the family must give food to the elderly matriarch of the owners 3 times a day on the top floor of the house. The house is strange and creepy. It makes strange thumping noises. Creepy house, changes in personality, mysterious circumstances abound in this supernatural horror book. Look for the movie, too. Bette Davis plays the aunt.

Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
In 1970s, the Constantines move from New York to an isolated village in Connecticut named Cornwall Coombe. The Constantines love the quaint, natural, and friendly villagers. However, strange customs and circumstances start happening around them. Think of The Wicker Man and Midsommar. There is also a mini-series starring Bette Davis.  

The Other by Thomas Tryon
Holland and Niles Perry are identical thirteen-year-old twins. They are close, close enough, almost, to read each other’s thoughts, but they couldn’t be more different. Holland is bold and mischievous, while Niles is kind and eager to please. The extended clan has gathered at its ancestral farm to mourn the death of the twins’ father in a most unfortunate accident. Mrs. Perry still hasn’t recovered from the shock of her husband’s gruesome end and stays sequestered in her room, leaving her sons to roam free. As the summer goes on, though, and Holland’s pranks become increasingly sinister, Niles finds he can no longer make excuses for his brother’s actions.

The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism by Octavio Paz, translated by Helen Lane
In this series of essays Paz explores the intimate connection between sex, eroticism, and love in literature throughout the ages. Rich in scope, The Double Flame examines everything from taboo to repression, Carnival to Lent, Sade to Freud, original sin to artificial intelligence.

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes
In The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes, an author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, assures us that anxiety is felt by writers at every level, especially when they dare to do their best. Keyes also offers specifics on how to root out dread of public "performance" and of the judgment of family and friends, make the best use of writers' workshops and conferences, and handle criticism of works in progress. 

Minx by Sophie Lark
Ramses Howell is a self-made man. He’s proven he can get what he wants, and from the moment Blake Abbot catches his eye, she becomes his top priority. Blake wonders what took Ramses so long — she knew who he was years before. They strike a deal to play a very specific game. Ramses created the game for Blake, but she adds rules that Ramses has no intention of following. As fantasy invades reality, the arrangement consumes them both. Blake and Ramses cross lines they swore they never would, and each begins to question what they thought they always wanted.

Poldark is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham. The series comprises 12 novels and spans the 18th and 19th centuries. Ross Poldark is a British Army officer who returns to his home in Cornwall from the Revolutionary War in America to a family that believed him dead.
Ross Poldark
Demelza
Jeremy Poldark
Warleggan
The Black Moon
The Four Swans
The Angry Tide
The Stranger from the Sea
The Miller’s Dance
The Loving Cup
The Twisted Sword
Bella Poldark

Grant by Ron Chernow
Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, Blood Meridian traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Meet Elizabeth Zott: “a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention” (The Washington Post) in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show.

For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War by James McPherson
McPherson draws on more than 25,000 letters and nearly 250 private diaries from men on both sides. Civil War soldiers were among the most literate soldiers in history, and most of them wrote home frequently, as it was the only way for them to keep in touch with homes that many of them had left for the first time in their lives. Significantly, their letters were also uncensored by military authorities, and are uniquely frank in their criticism and detailed in their reports of marches and battles, relations between officers and men, political debates, and morale. For Cause and Comrades lets these soldiers tell their own stories in their own words to create an account that is both deeply moving and far truer than most books on war.

And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham
Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how—and why—he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America.

Each season, the Slow Burn podcast takes a deep dive into a different event:
Season 1: Watergate (8 episodes)
Season 2: Clinton–Lewinsky scandal (8 episodes)
Season 3: Biggie and Tupac (9 episodes)
Season 4: David Duke (6 episodes)
Season 5: The Road to the Iraq War (8 episodes)
Season 6: The L.A. Riots (8 episodes)
Season 7: Roe v. Wade (4 episodes)
Season 8: Clarence Thomas (4 episodes)

The One Year podcast explores the people and struggles that changed America—one year at a time. In each episode, host Josh Levin explores a story you may have forgotten, or one you’ve never heard of before. What were the moments that transformed politics, culture, science, religion, and more? And how does the nation’s past shape our present?

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to TakeOver America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them.

Mrs. Davis is a science fiction comedy drama limited series spanning 8 episodes, exclusively streaming via Peacock TV. Sister Simone partners with her ex-boyfriend Wiley on a globe-spanning journey to destroy Mrs. Davis, a powerful artificial intelligence.

The Boyds of Black River by Walter D. Edmunds
There was always something going on in the rambling old mansion that housed the big Boyd family. The Boyds were country genre in the old sense, and they lived to the hilt, as gentry could at the turn of the century, on a prosperous, sprawling farm in upstate New York. It was a good life, overflowing with excitement, humor, good food and good drink, the smell of autumn leaves, the silence of deep snowdrifts, the clatter of the barnyard - all the million activities of country life at its fullest and best.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
Six stunning twentysomethings are about to embark on a blissful, free-spirited journey―one filled with sun-drenched days and intoxicating nights. But as it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in, sending them on a dangerous spiral of discovery.

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. 

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann
From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

Photo by Alejandro Barba on Unsplash

July is Disability Pride Month

Disability is a part of the rich tapestry of human diversity, and something that nearly all of us will experience at some point in our lives, yet people with disabilities have been marginalized and misunderstood for generations. Disability Pride Month is celebrated every July and is an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences, and struggles of the disability community. Why July? It marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark legislation that broke down barriers to inclusion in society. But barriers still exist, which is why we need to honor every kind of disability, the people who identify with them, and the wide range of supports they need to thrive.

ADULTS

nonfiction

Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally by Emily Ladau
An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more inclusive place.

Disability Pride: Dispatches from a Post-ADA World by Ben Mattlin
An eye-opening portrait of the diverse disability community as it is today, and how disability attitudes, activism, and representation have evolved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair
Over the course of this beautiful and, at times, devasting memoir, Selma lays bare her addiction to alcohol, her devotion to her brilliant and complicated mother, and the moments she flirted with death. There is brutal violence, passionate love, true friendship, the gift of motherhood, and, finally, the surprising salvation of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

Such a Pretty Girl: A Story of Struggle, Empowerment, and Disability Pride by Nadina Laspina
Written as continuous narrative and in a subtle and intimate voice, Such a Pretty Girl is a memoir as captivating as a novel. It is one of the few disability memoirs to focus on activism, and one of the first by an immigrant.

Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips, and Recipes for the Disabled Cook by Jules Sherred
A comprehensive guide and recipe collection that brings the economy and satisfaction of home cooking to disabled and neurodivergent cooks.

Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure by Eli Clare
Brilliant Imperfection reveals cure to be an ideology grounded in the twin notions of normal and natural, slippery and powerful, necessary and damaging all at the same time.

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.

Sick: A Memoir by Porochista Khakpour
A powerful, beautifully rendered memoir of chronic illness, misdiagnosis, addiction, and the myth of full recovery.

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esme Weijun Wang
An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. 

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby
Multi-award-winning Hannah Gadsby broke comedy with their show Nanette. Now they take us through the defining moments in their life and their powerful decision to tell the truth—no matter the cost.

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc
Fairy tales shape how we see the world, so what happens when you identify more with the Beast than Beauty? If every disabled character is mocked and mistreated, how does the Beast ever imagine a happily-ever-after?

What Doesn’t Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness, Lessonsfrom a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller
What Doesn’t Kill You is the riveting account of a young journalist’s awakening to chronic illness, weaving together personal story and reporting to shed light on living with an ailment forever.

Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability RightsActivists by Judith Heumann
One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.

A Disability History of the United States by Kim Nielsen
Covering the entirety of US history from pre-1492 to the present, this is the first book to place the experiences of disabled people at the center of the American narrative.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s by John Robison
A born storyteller, Robison has written a moving, darkly funny memoir about a life that has taken him from developing exploding guitars for KISS to building a family of his own. It’s a strange, sly, indelible account—sometimes alien yet always deeply human.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
A pioneering researcher and one of the world’s foremost experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage.

Golem Girl: A Memoir by Riva Lehrer
The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies.

Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson
A Deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else.

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong
This groundbreaking memoir offers a glimpse into an activist's journey to finding and cultivating community and the continued fight for disability justice, from the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project.

fiction

Always Only You by Chloe Liese
Get ready for an emotional ride filled with laughter, longing, and a sweet slow-burn in this sports romance about love’s power not in spite of difference, but because of it.

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
Laurie Frankel has written a laugh-out-loud-on-one-page-grab-a-tissue-the-next novel, as only she can, about how expanding our notions of normal makes the world a better place for everyone and how when days are darkest, it’s our daughters who will save us all.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
A witty, hilarious romantic comedy about a woman who’s tired of being “boring” and recruits her mysterious, sexy neighbor to help her experience new things—perfect for fans of Sally Thorne, Jasmine Guillory, and Helen Hoang!

True Biz by Sara Novic
This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson
It's the summer of 1970. Seventeen-year-old Jean has cerebral palsy, but she's always believed she's just the same as everyone else. She's never really known another disabled person before she arrives at Camp Courage. As Jean joins a community unlike any she has ever imagined, she comes to question her old beliefs and look at the world in a new light. 

Good Kings Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum
Good Kings Bad Kings challenges our definitions of what it means to be disabled in a story told with remarkable authenticity and in voices that resound with humor and spirit.

TEENS

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown
From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America.

Disability Visibility: 17 First-Person Stories for Today, Adapted for Young Adults by Alice Wong
The accounts in this collection ask readers to think about disabled people not as individuals who need to be “fixed,” but as members of a community with its own history, culture, and movements. They offer diverse perspectives that speak to past, present, and future generations. It is essential reading for all.

A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome by Ariel Henley
At only eight months old, identical twin sisters Ariel and Zan were diagnosed with Crouzon syndrome -- a rare condition where the bones in the head fuse prematurely. They were the first twins known to survive it.

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens by Marieke Nijkamp
This anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken will offer today's teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.

Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali
From William C. Morris Award Finalist S.K. Ali comes an unforgettable romance that is The Sun Is Also a Star meets Anna and the French Kiss, following two Muslim teens who meet during a spring break trip.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings
Fourteen-year-old Natalie O'Reilly's world is turned upside down with the news that she will soon go blind and must now attend a school for the blind to learn Braille and how to use a cane. As Natalie tackles the skills that will help her to survive in a sighted world, she inwardly hopes for a miracle that will save her sight. But will that miracle come, or will she need to learn to embrace her new life?

The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will derail her pursuits or cause her to question her own self worth.

Meet Me in Outer Space by Melinda Grace
Smart and unflinching, this #OwnVoices debut contemporary novel stars an ambitious college student who refuses to be defined by her central auditory processing disorder.

Run by Kody Keplinger
Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation, a deadbeat dad, and a mama who's not exactly sober most of the time. Agnes Atwood has never gone on a date, never even stayed out past ten, and never broken any of her parents' overbearing rules. Rules that are meant to protect their legally blind daughter. So when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, with police sirens wailing in the distance, desperate to get out of town, Agnes doesn't hesitate to take off with her. But running away and not getting caught will require stealing a car, tracking down Bo's dad, staying ahead of the authorities, and-worst of all-confronting some ugly secrets.         

All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle
The Bachelor meets Gilmore Girls in this laugh-out-loud young adult romance about a girl who joins her mother on a reality dating show for single parents—only to fall for a contestant’s son.

One for All by Lillie Lainoff
One for All is a gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, in which a girl with a chronic illness trains as a Musketeer and uncovers secrets, sisterhood, and self-love.

Magonia by Maria Headley
Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this New York Times bestselling story about a girl caught between two worlds, two races, and two destinies.

Cursed by Karol Silverstein
Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award, this debut novel thoughtfully and humorously depicts teen Ricky Bloom's struggles with a recent chronic illness diagnosis.

A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen
The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it’s . . . something at first sight. He knows she’s special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.

CHILDREN

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Pimentel
Experience the true story of lifelong activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins and her participation in the Capitol Crawl in this inspiring autobiographical picture book. 

Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw
Not So Different offers a humorous, relatable, and refreshingly honest glimpse into Shane Burcaw’s life. Shane tackles many of the mundane and quirky questions that he’s often asked about living with a disability, and shows readers that he’s just as approachable, friendly, and funny as anyone else.

Born Just Right by Jordan Reeves
From tween advocate for limb difference and founder of Project Unicorn Jordan Reeves and her mom, Jen, comes an inspiring memoir about how every kid is perfect just the way they are.

The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker
A heartfelt middle-grade novel about a theater-loving girl who uses a wheelchair for mobility and her quest to defy expectations—and gravity.

Roll With It by Jamie Sumner
In the tradition of Wonder and Out of My Mind, this big-hearted middle grade debut tells the story of an irrepressible girl with cerebral palsy whose life takes an unexpected turn when she moves to a new town.

Paperboy by Vince Vawter
A boy who stutters comes of age in the segregated South, during the summer that changes his life.

We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio
This New York Times bestseller celebrates kindness, belonging, and friendship inspired by the unforgettable blockbuster book and movie Wonder.

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by Cari Best
Zulay and her three best friends are all in the same first grade class and study the same things, even though Zulay is blind. When their teacher asks her students what activity they want to do on Field Day, Zulay surprises everyone when she says she wants to run a race. With the help of a special aide and the support of her friends, Zulay does just that.

Show Me a Sign by Ann Lezotte
Deaf author Ann Clare LeZotte weaves a riveting story inspired by the true history of a thriving deaf community on Martha's Vineyard in the early 19th century. This piercing exploration of ableism, racism, and colonialism will inspire readers to examine core beliefs and question what is considered normal.

El Deafo by Cece Bell
El Deafo is a book that will entertain children, give hearing-impaired children a hero of their own, and challenge others to consider an experience unlike their own. Like other great works for children, it provides the opportunity for young readers to consider how they would act or react in a similar situation, helping to build empathy and understanding through the power of story.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti
Bowling
A spunky girl born without arms and a boy with Tourette syndrome navigate the challenges of middle school, disability, and friendship—all while solving a mystery in a western theme park.