2023 Adult Summer Reading Program Announced

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Join us for our Adult Summer Reading Program! This year's theme is All Together Now, celebrating community, diversity, friendship, teamwork, and kindness. Sign up by calling a Reader Advisor or logging into Beanstack. The program will run from June 1, 2023, to July 31, 2023. Participants must read five titles and log them on Beanstack or call a Reader Advisor to report the ASRP titles and be entered for prize drawings. You can earn additional entries into our prize drawing by reading a title from the selected reading list below or on Beanstack. The prize drawings will take place on August 10, 2023.

 

Adult Summer Reading List

For every book you read off this list and log, you will get an extra entry into the grand prize drawings! Must be logged on Beanstack. Call us at Wolfner if you need help with this!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio (DB074228)

Just before starting fifth grade, home-schooled ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities, is told he will be attending a prep school. Nervous, he tries to convince his classmates that he is an ordinary kid just like them

Someplace to Call Home by Sandra Dallas (DB109993)

"In 1933, when twelve-year-old Hallie Turner and her brothers, Tom and Benny, take to the road seeking whatever work they can get, they find kindness in small-town Kansas." -- Provided by publisher.

You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too by Tammy Strobel (DB075531)

Simple-living blogger shares recommendations for reducing reliance on material possessions, using time effectively, and recognizing the power of simple pleasures. Covers managing debt, downsizing a household, and creating a meaningful work life. Includes a list of action items after each chapter.

The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey through a New America by Sarah Van Gelder (DBC19690)

America faces huge challenges--climate change, social injustice, racist violence, economic insecurity. Journalist Sarah Van Gelder suspected that there were solutions, and she went looking for them, not in the centers of power, where people are richly rewarded for their allegiance to the status quo, but off the beaten track in rural communities, small towns, and neglected urban neighborhoods. Unrated.

Belong: Find Your People, Create Community, and Live a More Connected Life by Radha Agrawal (DBC13066)

The author offers readers a blueprint to find their people, and build and nurture community, because connectedness she argues is the key to happiness, fulfillment, and success. Packed with prompts, charts, and quizzes, this book aims to help readers find those special people who feed their souls. Adult.

Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven (DB106546)

Biologist and former national park ranger recounts her time spent in an isolated cottage in Montana, where she bonded with a fox. Raven examines the relationship between wildlife and humans, and reflects on what can be learned from the natural world and the meaning behind loss.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (DB088145)

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. 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.

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin (DB103815)

Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Though told she's dying, Lenni still has plenty of living to do. Joining the hospital's arts and crafts class, she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83-year-old rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined.

Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown (DB096736)

Essays from a disability rights advocate with cerebral palsy, discussing what it's like to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America. Examines her relationship with her able-bodied twin, navigating romance, her love of pop culture, and her viral hashtag #DisabledAndCute.

Disfigured on Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc   (DB111368)

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? Amanda Leduc looks at fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm to Disney, showing us how they influence our expectations and behavior and linking the quest for disability rights to new kinds of stories that celebrate difference. 

Sitting Pretty : The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig (DB101063)

A memoir essay collection from a disability advocate living with paralysis. The author reflects on her experiences growing up, the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and the pervasiveness of ableism.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark (DB111822)

Two women. Many aliases. Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future."

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This year is the first time the National Library Service will host a nationwide Summer Reading Program. If you would like to attend any of these programs, you must be registered for them in advance. A Reader Advisor can help you register. Here are the events planned (all times listed are Central Daylight Time):

 

  • Kickoff Event (all ages): Monday, June 26 at 3:00 p.m. 

 

  • Author Talk (adult): Thursday, June 29 at 6:00 p.m., Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures

 

  • Storytime and Music (K-grade 3): Thursday, July 6 at 6:00 p.m.

 

  • Author Talk (middle grades): Tuesday, July 11 at 6:00 p.m., Celia Perez, The First Rule of Punk

 

  • Author Talk (K-grade 5): Saturday, July 22 at 12:00 p.m., Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything

 

  • Author Talk (young adult and middle grades): July 27 at 6:00 p.m., Kwame Alexander, The Crossover

 

  • Author Talk (young adult): August 3 at 6:00 p.m., Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not from Here

 

We do not have the links to these programs yet. Please check our Facebook page and website for details. We will mail or email the Zoom links for these as well.

You can find more titles in the National Library Service catalog by typing in "Summer Reading Program 2023".