Challenge Yourshelf - Community Recommendations

Looking for your next great read? Our community challenged their shelves this summer, and explored a world of Wild Wonder through new and exciting genres. Now, we're sharing some of the top recommendations!

Updated August 26, 2025
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Prophet song : a novel
Lynch, Paul
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 * INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist for the 2024 Kirkus Prize Shortlisted for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award One of The Irish Times's 100 Best Books of...
There there
Orange, Tommy
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A wondrous and shattering award-winning novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. A contemporary classic, this...
Empty spaces
Abel, Jordan
Paper Book
Winner of the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction * Shortlisted for the 2024 Amazon First Novel Award From the acclaimed, boundary-breaking author of NISHGA comes a hypnotic and mystifying exploration of land and legacy. Reimagining...
Winter counts : a novel
Weiden, David Heska Wanbli
Paper Book
ANTHONY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL THRILLER AWARD WINNER FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL "Winter Counts is a marvel. It's a thriller with a beating heart and jagged teeth."  --Tommy Orange, author of There There ...
Never whistle at night : an Indigenous dark fiction anthology
Hawk Shane.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: "Are you ready to be un-settled?" Featuring stories by: Norris Black * Amber Blaeser-Wardzala * Phoenix Boudreau * Cherie Dimaline * Carson Faust * Kelli Jo Ford...
Friends, lovers, and the big terrible thing : a memoir
Perry, Matthew
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The BELOVED STAR OF FRIENDS takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this "CANDID, DARKLY FUNNY...POIGNANT" memoir (The New York Times) ...
Outdoor kids in an inside world : getting your family out of the house and radically engaged with nature
Rinella, Steven.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . "An imperative call to action" (Nick Offerman)to get children off their screens and into nature, with tips for bonding activities that teach the importance of outside timeand build tough, curious, competent kids-from thehost of the Netflix series and podcast...
Where the falcon flies : a 3,400 kilometre odyssey from my doorstep to the Arctic
Shoalts, Adam
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2024 NATIONAL OUTBOOK AWARD FOR JOURNEYS SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 SPEAKER'S BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR THE BANFF MOUNTAIN BOOK COMPETITION FOR ADVENTURE TRAVEL From Canada's most accomplished adventurer and...
The ends of the world : volcanic apocalypses, lethal oceans, and our quest to understand Earth's past mass extinctions
Brannen, Peter
Paper Book
One of Vox's Most Important Books of the Decade New York Times Editors' Choice 2017 Forbes Top 10 Best Environment, Climate, and Conservation Book of 2017 As new groundbreaking research suggests that climate change played a major role in the most extreme catastrophes in the...
North of normal A memoir of my wilderness childhood, my unusual family, and how i survived both
Person, Cea Sunrise.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER  From the author of the bestselling memoir North of Normal comes the harrowing story of a past that won't let go, and one woman's attempt to put her life back together after everything falls apart In her bestselling memoir North of Normal, Cea wrote with...
The great alone
Hannah, Kristin.
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Instant Bestseller In Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone, a desperate family seeks a new beginning in the near-isolated wilderness of Alaska only to find that their unpredictable environment is less threatening than the erratic behavior found in...
Greenlights
McConaughey, Matthew
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE! Discover the life-changing memoir that has inspired millions of readers through the Academy Award-winning actor's unflinching honesty, unconventional wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater...

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