Wednesday, August 30, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

There is no specific individual title assigned for discussion at the August 2023 meeting — this month’s theme is LGBTQ Graphic Novels.

You may find some titles worth considering on the A Day Full of Graphic Novels booklist here on BookGuide!

This month’s Let’s Get Books Together meeting will also be shared via Zoom online. Zoom Login: Coming Soon!

Wednesday, July 26, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

There is no specific individual title assigned for discussion at the July 2023 meeting — this month’s theme is Super Queeros – all things super heroes!

This month’s Let’s Get Books Together meeting will also be shared via Zoom online. Zoom Login: Coming Soon!

Wednesday, June 28, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

There is no assigned reading for discussion at the June 2023 meeting — This is a Stonewall Book Award book talk — group host Lane will go over the top 10 adult fiction titles and award winners of the Barbara Gittings Adult Fiction Literature Award.

See the Stonewall Book Award page here on BookGuide!

This month’s Let’s Get Books Together meeting will also be shared via Zoom online. Zoom Login: Coming Soon!

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the May meeting is Megan Giddings’ 2022 novel, The Women Could Fly.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times–a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in which witches are real and single women are closely monitored.

Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother’s disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behavior raises suspicions and a woman–especially a Black woman–can find herself on trial for witchcraft.

But fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of 30 — or enroll in a registry that allows them to be monitored, effectively forfeiting their autonomy. At 28, Jo is ambivalent about marriage. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has her never understood her mother more. When she’s offered the opportunity to honor one last request from her mother’s will, Jo leaves her regular life to feel connected to her one last time. In this powerful and timely novel, Megan Giddings explores the limits women face–and the powers they have to transgress and transcend them.”

Wednesday, April 26, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

There is no specific title assigned for discussion at the April 2023 meeting — in honor of National Poetry Month, participants are encouraged to read and share some appropriately-themed poetry during this month’s meeting.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the March meeting is Lydia Conklin’s collection, Rainbow Rainbow: Stories.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“In this exuberant, prize-winning collection, queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming characters seek love and connection in hilarious and heartrending stories that reflect the complexity of our current moment.

Capturing both the dark and lovable sides of the human experience, Rainbow Rainbow: Stories establishes debut author Lydia Conklin as a fearless new voice for their generation.”

Wednesday, February 15, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the February meeting is Lev AC Rosen’s Lavender House.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene’s recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret–but it’s not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they’ve needed to keep others out. And now they’re worried they’re keeping a murderer in.

Irene’s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept–his calendar is wide open. And his secret is the kind of secret the Lamontaines understand.

Andy had never imagined a world like Lavender House. He’s seduced by the safety and freedom found behind its gates, where a queer family lives honestly and openly. But that honesty doesn’t extend to everything, and he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy–and Irene’s death is only the beginning.

When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House can’t lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business.”

Wednesday, January 18, 2023 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the January meeting is Nicole Griffith’s Spear.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“She left all she knew to find who she could be . . .

She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and sets out on her bony gelding for Caer Leon.

With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home.

The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we’ve longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all.”

Wednesday, December 28, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the December meeting is Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.”

Discussion will be followed by a special Winter-themed D&D session.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The titles for discussion at the September meeting is Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the descriptions from our catalog:

“In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers’s delightful new Monk & Robot series gives us hope for the future. It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They’re going to need to ask it a lot. Becky Chambers’s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?”

and

“A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a story of kindness and love from one of the foremost practitioners of hopeful SF. After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home. They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe. Becky Chambers’s new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?”

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

The title for discussion at the September meeting is Nghi Vo’s Siren Queen.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.”

Wednesday, September 28, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

This is a graphically imagined horror novel that includes depictions of violence, assault and self-harm that can be triggering for some individuals.

Please note – While this book is clearly cataloged for mature audiences our group discussion will strive to remain PG13. Further, we understand this may not be the book for you and we fully respect your choices.

The title for discussion at the September meeting is Gretchen Felker-Martin’s Manhunt.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they’ll never face the same fate. Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren’t safe. After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics — all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons.”

Wednesday, August 31, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

The title for discussion at the August meeting is Isaac Fellman’s Dead Collections.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“When archivist Sol meets Elsie, the larger than life widow of a moderately famous television writer who’s come to donate her wife’s papers, there’s an instant spark. But Sol has a secret: he suffers from an illness called vampirism, and hides from the sun by living in his basement office. On their way to falling in love, the two traverse grief, delve into the Internet fandom they once unknowingly shared, and navigate the realities of transphobia and the stigmas of carrying the “vampire disease.” Then, when strange things start happening at the collection, Sol must embrace even more of the unknown to save himself and his job.”

Wednesday, July 27, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the May meeting is Janelle Monae’s The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Whoever controls our memories controls the future. Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborating creators have written a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts-as a means of self-conception-could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, A.I., or other, your life and sentience was dictated by those who’d convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate. That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free. Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it’s like to live in such a totalitarian existence…and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor-and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place-The Memory Librarian serves readers tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there”

Wednesday, June 29, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The topic for the June meeting is Graphic Novel Share — no specific assigned reading, just bring a favorite Graphic Novel to share with the group. There may be books available for a free giveaway at this meeting.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the May meeting is Cadwell Turnbull’s No Gods, No Monsters.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.

As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.

At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?

The world will soon find out.”

Wednesday, April 27, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the April meeting is Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy. To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything. “I refuse to be nothing…” In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.”

Wednesday, March 30, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the March meeting is Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland.

This month’s meeting was a hybrid meeting, combining both In-Person and Zoom.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Vern escapes the religious compound where she was raised and gives birth to twins in the forest, raising them away from the influence of the outside world. Her community won’t let her go that easily, however, and as they pursue, she breaks the boundaries of humanity, changing her body in uncanny ways in order to protect her family.”

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

THIS MEETING HELD ON ZOOM, NOT IN-PERSON!

Due to the increase in COVID-19 risks, all In-Person library meetings this month have been cancelled. Therefore, the January Let’s Get Books Together meeting was held online using Zoom meeting software.

The title for discussion at the February meeting is A.E. Osworth’s We Are Watching Eliza Bright.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Eliza Bright was living the dream as an elite video game coder at Fancy Dog Games when her private life suddenly became public. But is Eliza Bright a brilliant, self-taught coder bravely calling out the toxic masculinity and chauvinism that pervades her workplace and industry? Or, is Eliza Bright a woman who needs to be destroyed to protect “the sanctity of gaming culture”? It depends on who you ask… When Eliza reports an incident of workplace harassment that is quickly dismissed, she’s forced to take her frustrations to a journalist who blasts her story across the Internet. She’s fired and doxxed, and becomes a rallying figure for women across America. But she’s also enraged the beast that is male gamers on 4Chan and Reddit, whose collective, unreliable voice narrates our story. Soon Eliza is in the cross-hairs of the gaming community, threatened and stalked as they monitor her every move online and across New York City. As the violent power of an angry male collective descends upon everyone in Eliza’s life, it becomes increasingly difficult to know who to trust, even when she’s eventually taken in and protected by an under-the-radar Collective known as the Sixsterhood. The violence moves from cyberspace to the real world, as a vicious male super-fan known only as The Inspectre is determined to exact his revenge on behalf of men everywhere. We watch alongside the Sixsterhood and subreddit incels as this dramatic cat-and-mouse game plays out to reach its violent and inevitable conclusion. This is an extraordinary, unputdownable novel that explores the dark recesses of the Internet and male rage, and the fragile line between the online world and real life. It’s a thrilling story of female resilience and survival, packed with a powerful feminist message.”

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

THIS MEETING HELD ON ZOOM, NOT IN-PERSON!

Due to the increase in COVID-19 risks, all In-Person library meetings this month have been cancelled. Therefore, the January Let’s Get Books Together meeting was held online using Zoom meeting software.

The title for discussion at the January meeting is Kali Wallace’s Dead Space.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“An investigator must solve a brutal murder on a claustrophobic asteroid mine in this tense science fiction thriller from the author of Salvation Day. Hester Marley used to have a plan for her life. But when a catastrophic attack left her injured, indebted, and stranded far from home, she was forced to take a dead-end security job with a powerful mining company in the asteroid belt. Now she spends her days investigating petty crimes to help her employer maximize its profits. She’s surprised to hear from an old friend and fellow victim of the terrorist attack that ruined her life-and that surprise quickly turns to suspicion when he claims to have discovered something shocking about their shared history and the tragedy that neither of them can leave behind. Before Hester can learn more, her friend is violently murdered at a remote asteroid mine. Hester joins the investigation to find the truth, both about her friend’s death and the information he believed he had uncovered. But catching a killer is only the beginning of Hester’s worries, and she soon realizes that everything she learns about her friend, his fellow miners, and the outpost they call home brings her closer to revealing secrets that very powerful and very dangerous people would rather keep hidden in the depths of space.”

Wednesday, December 29, 2021 — 6:30-7:45 p.m

The title for discussion at the December meeting is H.E. Edgmon’s The Witch King.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Wyatt, a transgender witch, hides in the human world after he loses control of his magic, but his fiancé, Emyr, a fae prince, is at risk of losing his throne if he does not find and marry Wyatt.”

Wednesday, November 24, 2021 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the November meeting was Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

” Reese had what previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Ames thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese, and losing her meant losing his only family. Then Ames’s boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she is pregnant with his baby– and is not sure whether she wants to keep it. Ames wonders: Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family, and raise the baby together?”

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the October meeting was Eliot Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Earth’s population is divided between only two existing countries which cannot manage to cooperate in any way, until a distress signal arrives from Titan’s first settler. Neither country can afford to rescue her on their own if they act separately. Ambrose wakes up on board the Coordinated Endeavour under strange circumstances: he doesn’t remember the launch, the ship’s OS is voiced by his mother, strangers have been aboard, and Kodiak, the only other person on this mission, has barricaded himself away from sight. But nothing will stop Ambrose from making this mission succeed– not when the settler he’s rescuing is his sister.”

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The group will start their meetings again at Gere Branch Library on September 29th, 2021 with a “Book Share” opportunity — Come get reacquainted with the group, which is having its first gathering since COVID-19 interrupted the meetings at the downtown library in the Spring of 2020.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the December meeting was Dennis Staples’ This Town Sleeps.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Set on a reservation in far northern Minnesota, This Town Sleeps explores the many ways history, culture, landscape, and lineage shape our lives, our understanding of the world we inhabit, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of it all.

On an Ojibwe reservation called Languille Lake, within the small town of Geshig at the hub of the rez, two men enter into a secret romance. Marion Lafournier, a midtwenties gay Ojibwe man, begins a relationship with his former classmate Shannon, a heavily closeted white man. While Marion is far more open about his sexuality, neither is immune to the realities of the lives of gay men in small towns and closed societies.

One night, while roaming the dark streets of Geshig, Marion unknowingly brings back to life the spirit of a dog long buried in the elementary school playground. The mysterious revenant leads him to the grave of Kayden Kelliher, an Ojibwe basketball star who was murdered at the young age of seventeen and whose presence still lingers in the memories of the townsfolk. While investigating the fallen hero’s death, Marion discovers family connections and an old Ojibwe legend that may be the secret to unraveling the mystery he has found himself in.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, November 18, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the November meeting was Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven.

He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven’s Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained by the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven’s watch, the city flourishes.

But the Raven’s tower holds a secret. Its foundations conceal a dark history that has been waiting to reveal itself…and to set in motion a chain of events that could destroy Iraden forever.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, October 14, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the October meeting was Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties: Stories.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“In Her Body and Other Parties: Stories, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naïvely assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.

Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties: Stories swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, September 9, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the September meeting was C.L. Polk’s Witchmark.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, August 12, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the August meeting was M.K. England’s The Disasters.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four hours. But Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy.

Nax and three other washouts escape—barely—but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. And the perfect scapegoats. On the run, Nax and his fellow failures plan to pull off a dangerous heist to spread the truth. Because they may not be “Academy material,” and they may not even get along, but they’re the only ones left to step up and fight.

Full of high-stakes action, subversive humor, and underdogs becoming heroes, this YA sci-fi adventure is perfect for fans of Illuminae, Heart of Iron, or the cult classic TV show Firefly and is also a page-turning thrill ride that anyone—not just space nerds—can enjoy.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, July 8, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the July meeting was Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: “He has a nose,” people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that’s come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that’s also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, June 10, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the June meeting was Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“One of the most highly praised novels of the year, the debut from an astonishing young writer, Freshwater tells the story of Ada, an unusual child who is a source of deep concern to her southern Nigerian family. Young Ada is troubled, prone to violent fits. Born “with one foot on the other side,” she begins to develop separate selves within her as she grows into adulthood. And when she travels to America for college, a traumatic event on campus crystallizes the selves into something powerful and potentially dangerous, making Ada fade into the background of her own mind as these alters―now protective, now hedonistic―move into control. Written with stylistic brilliance and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, May 13, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the May meeting was Rory Power’s Wilder Girls.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“A feminist Lord of the Flies about three best friends living in quarantine at their island boarding school, and the lengths they go to uncover the truth of their confinement when one disappears. This fresh, new debut is a mind-bending novel unlike anything you’ve read before.

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there’s more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.”

[MEETING NOT HELD, DUE TO CORONAVIRUS SAFETY MEASURES.]

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the April meeting was Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This is How You Lose the Time War.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters – and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hell-bent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

Co-written by two beloved and award-winning sci-fi writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.”

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the March meeting was Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy’s Once and Future.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“King Arthur as you’ve never imagined! This bold, sizzling YA retells the popular legend with the Once and Future King as a teenage girl — and she has a universe to save.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the February meeting was Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly un-stuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.”

Wednesday, January 8, 2020 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The theme for the first meeting of 2020 was Graphic Novel Book Share!

All participants are encouraged to bring a graphic novel with LGBTQ+ representation in it, and be prepared to discuss its appeal factors with the rest of the group.

See the complete list of titles discussed at this meeting, in this post on the BookGuide Blog.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the December meeting was Andrea Lawlor’s Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“It’s 1993 and Paul Polydoris tends bar at the only gay club in a university town thrumming with politics and partying. He studies queer theory, has a dyke best friend, makes zines, and is a flaneur with a rich dating life. But Paul’s also got a secret: he’s a shapeshifter. Oscillating wildly from Riot Grrrl to leather cub, Paul transforms his body and his gender at will as he crossed the country–a journey and adventure through the deep queer archives of struggle and pleasure.

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is a riotous, razor-sharp bildungsroman whose hero/ine wends his/her way through a world gutted by loss, pulsing with music, and opening into an array of intimacy and connections.”

Wednesday, November 13, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the November meeting was Kai Chen Tong’s Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir is a coming-of-age story about a young Asian trans girl, pathological liar, and kung-fu expert who runs away from her parents’ abusive home in a rainy city called Gloom. Striking off on her own, she finds her true family in a group of larger-than-life trans femmes who make their home in a mysterious pleasure district known only as the Street of Miracles. Under the wings of this fierce and fabulous flock, she blossoms into the woman she has always dreamed of being, with a little help from the unscrupulous Doctor Crocodile. When one of their number is brutally murdered, our protagonist joins her sisters in forming a vigilante gang to fight back against the transphobes, violent johns, and cops that stalk the Street of Miracles. But when things go terribly wrong, she must find the truth within herself in order to stop the violence and discover what it really means to grow up and find your family.”

Wednesday, October 9, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the October meeting was Laura Lam’s Pantomime.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass – remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the September meeting was Lara Elena Donnelly’s Amberlough.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“The Smuggler: By day, Aristide Makricosta is the emcee for Amberlough City’s top nightclub. By night, he moves drugs and refugees under the noses of crooked cops. The Spy: Covert agent Cyril DePaul thinks he’s good at keeping secrets, but after a disastrous mission abroad, he makes a dangerous choice to protect himself and hopefully Aristide too. The Dancer: Streetwise Cordelia Lehane, burlesque performer at the Bumble Bee Cabaret and Aristide’s runner, could be the key to Cyril’s plans, if she can be trusted. As the twinkling marquees lights yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means and people necessary.”

Wednesday, August 14, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the August meeting was Jordy Rosenburg’s Confessions of the Fox.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Jack Sheppard and Edgeworth Bess were the most notorious thieves, jailbreakers, and lovers of eighteenth-century London. Yet no one knows the true story; their confessions have never been found.

Writing with the narrative mastery of Sarah Waters and the playful imagination of Nabokov, Jordy Rosenberg is an audacious storyteller of extraordinary talent.”

Wednesday, July 10, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The July meeting of Let’s Get Books Together was an official One Book – One Lincoln book discussion. This was an opportunity t0 discuss The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai – one of the three finalists for One Book – One Lincoln in 2019.

Here’s the description:

A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister.

Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

This month’s theme was “Non-Fiction”, and was a “Book Share” month — participants were encouraged to read any non-fiction books related to the group’s themes, and be prepared to share a brief description/review with the rest of the group this evening.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the May meeting was Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space–and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe — in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy — exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs — an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.”

Wednesday, April 10, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the March meeting was Katrina Carrasco’s The Best Bad Things.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“1887. Alma Rosales was trained in espionage by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, but dismissed for bad behavior and a penchant for going undercover as a man. She now works for Delphine Beaumond, the mastermind of a West Coast smuggling ring. When product goes missing at their Washington Territory outpost, Alma– in disguise as dockworker Jack Camp– muscles her way into the local organization while sending coded dispatches to Pinkerton agents to keep them from closing in. But it’s getting harder to keep her cover stories straight and to know whom to trust…”

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the March meeting was Becky Albertalli’s What If It’s Us.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Told in two voices, when Arthur, a summer intern from Georgia, and Ben, a native New Yorker, meet it seems like fate, but after three attempts at dating fail they wonder if the universe is pushing them together or apart.”

Wednesday, February 13, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The title for discussion at the February meeting was Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway.

Here’s the description from our catalog:

“Children have always disappeared from Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter. No matter the cost.”

Wednesday, January 9, 2019 — 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The group will start their meetings at the downtown library on January 9th, 2019 — attendees at this meeting were offered a voice in deciding what books to read at forthcoming meetings!