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 19, 2025
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Grievers
Brown, Adrienne Maree.
Paper Book
★ "It's a strong precedent that will leave readers eager for more." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Grievers is the story of a city so plagued by grief that it can no longer function....
A better world : a novel
Langan, Sarah.
Paper Book
One of NPR's Best Books of 2024 For fans of Nightbitch and While No One Is Watching, comes "one of the best books this year, or any year" (Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World)--a disturbing dystopian thrillfest about a woman moving...
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...
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 . SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST EDITED ANTHOLOGY . BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY . LOCUS AWARD FINALIST A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question- "Are you ready to be un...
The god of the woods
Moore, Liz
Paper Book
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024 A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2024 A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2024 PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF NPR'S "BOOKS WE LOVE" 2024
The great alone A Novel
Hannah, Kristin.
Audiobook
Birding with benefits : a novel
Dubb, Sarah T.
Paper Book
A divorcee embarks on her "year of yes" and crosses paths with a shy but sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life in this charming rom-com that is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood. Newly-divorced, almost-empty-nester Celeste is finally seeking adventure...
One Golden Summer
Fortune, Carley.
" A radiant, new escape to the lake from #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune I never anticipated Charlie Florek. Good things happen at the lake. That's what Alice's grandmother...
Dinner for Vampires : Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!)
Lenz, Bethany Joy.
Paper Book
An "incredible" (Alex Cooper, Call Her Daddy), "riveting" (People) New York Times bestselling memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free. In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and...
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) ...
Walking Disaster : My Life Through Heaven and Hell
Whibley, Deryck.
Paper Book
This candid memoir of music, fame, endurance, "true triumphs, and challenges" (Matt Pinfield, DJ and TV host) from Deryck Whibley, lead singer of Sum 41, follows his rise from a punk kid to an international star. From his earliest days growing up in Canada, Deryck Whibley loved...
North of normal : a memoir of my wilderness childhood, my counterculture family and how I survived both
Person, Cea Sunrise
Paper Book
Sex, drugs, and . . . bug stew? In the vein of The Glass Castle and Wild, Cea Sunrise Person's compelling memoir of a childhood spent with her dysfunctional counter-culture family in the Canadian wilderness--a searing story of physical, emotional, and psychological survival. In the late...
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...
The third Gilmore Girl : a memoir
Bishop, Kelly.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Goodreads Choice Awards Winner "Come for the Gilmore Girls anecdotes, stay for the revealing truths about what it takes to build a lifelong career in and out of Hollywood" (The A.V. Club) in...
100 plants that heal : the illustrated by herbarium of medicinal plants
Debuigne, Gérard.
Paper Book
Unleash the power of nature's pharmacy for healing and self-care. Immerse yourself in a world of wonder as you explore 100 Plants That Heal, which will leave you wanting to unlock the secrets of nature's medicine cabinet. ...
How to Forage for Wild Foods Without Dying : An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 40 Edible Wild Plants
Zachos, Ellen.
Paper Book
This on-the-go guide is perfect for new foragers eager to learn about the edible plants they're most likely to find, no matter what region they're in, and provides photos and easy-to-follow identification and use guidelines for the 40 most common--and most delicious--wild plants. ...
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...
An anthology of exquisite birds
Hoare, Ben.
Paper Book
Soar through the sky with best-selling author Ben Hoare and discover some of the most exquisite birds on our planet. The seventh book in the bestselling Children's Anthologies series, An Anthology of Exquisite Birds explores some of the most impressive birds on our planet. ...

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