Tag: Summer Reading Spectacular

288: Weird Sad and Silent by Alison McGhee – Summer Reading Spectacular

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Continuing the 2025 Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Alison McGhee, author of Weird Sad and Silent, about her childhood experiences with libraries, themes like childhood trauma, resilience, and the importance of being seen, and the real life inspiration for the librarian character in the book! And in The Circ Desk segment, Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and Lindsey Dunn from NoveList offer reading recommendations related to Alison’s book.

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In this touching novel by the acclaimed author of Telephone of the Tree, an intriguing new boy at school helps Daisy cope with both bullying and past trauma.

Daisy has been working on invisibilizing herself—ever since living with her mother’s violent ex-boyfriend, and now to avoid the school bullies who are targeting her. She keeps a low profile, eating lunch with the librarian instead of in the Lunchroom of Terror and secretly counting whenever she’s anxious.

But things are looking up. A new boy has befriended her and seems able to stand up to the bullies, and the stray cat she’s been feeding is starting to almost trust her. Maybe she can finally focus on futurizing rather than invisibilizing.

ALISON McGHEE has been awarded the Minnesota Book Award and the Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award for her first novel, Rainlight. This is her second novel. Her short fiction has been published widely in literary magazines. Born and reared in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, she currently lives in Minnesota.

SHOW NOTES:
Weird Sad and Silent

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Library Reads

The Circ Desk recommends:
If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Kiss the Girl by Zoraida Córdova
Tangled Up In You by Christina Lauren
Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto
A Boy Called Bat by Elena Arnold
Close to Famous by Joan Bauer

287: Where You’re Planted by Melanie Sweeney – Summer Reading Spectacular

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Continuing the 2025 Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Melanie Sweeney, author of Where You’re Planted, about her experiences with libraries through her life, the inspiration behind Where You’re Planted, her writing process, and how she incorporates intimate scenes with character arcs. And in The Circ Desk segment, Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and Yaika Sabat from NoveList offer reading recommendations related to Melanie’s book.

Read the transcript!

From the author of the “phenomenal achievement” (Kirkus) Take Me Home, a children’s librarian must temporarily move her public library into a shed in the county botanic gardens, where her archnemesis is the assistant director.

Single mom Tansy Perkins only has room in her life for her daughter and her library. And maybe the next book to add to her collection. But after a catastrophic hurricane severely damages her library, she’s forced to temporarily move her branch into the adjacent county botanic gardens, where Jack Reid—the world’s grouchiest gardener who rescued her and her daughter from the flood—happens to be the assistant director.

Jack has always preferred plants over people, having  built a strong track record of avoiding relationships ever since his divorce six years ago. So, Tansy and her quirky band of bookish colleagues’ encroachment into his carefully-kept territory is a little more than irksome, especially when it means sharing his already-scarce resources.

When Jack and Tansy are tasked with working together on the spring festival, they have no choice but to call a truce. And soon their newfound professional partnership gives way to a deep intimacy that they’ve both been silently craving. But Tansy has lost too much to risk her heart, and Jack has sworn off real love. When an opportunity arises for funding that both the library and gardens need, will their loyalties lie with the futures they’d always planned for, or the new spark they’ve found with each other?

Melanie Sweeney is the USA Today bestselling author of Take Me Home. She writes contemporary romance in which ordinary people find extraordinary love, and she lives near Houston, Texas, with her husband, three kids, and too many cats. When she’s not writing, she’s figure skating, embroidering, or playing her ukulele.

SHOW NOTES:
Where You’re Planted

Find out if your library has NoveList! 
Learn more about Learn with NoveList Plus and get a free infographic!
Library Reads

The Circ Desk recommends:
What You Wish For by Katherine Center
Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady
Pick-Up by Nora Dalia
A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson

286: All the Signs by Jessie Rosen – Summer Reading Spectacular

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In this kick-off to the 2025 Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Jessie Rosen, author of All the Signs, about the inspiration behind her book, her writing process, personal discovery in her narrative, and how much she believes in astrology! In the return of The Circ Desk segment, Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and Yaika Sabat from NoveList offer reading recommendations related to Jessie’s book.

Read the transcript!

Leah Lockhart is more than her astrology. She’ll search the world to prove it.

Leah Lockhart is proudly science-minded and woo-woo averse. But the life she’s carefully curated is knocked suddenly off course, first by a destabilizing case of vertigo, and then by an astrology reading that claims she’s living way out of line with what was written in her stars. 

Incensed, Leah sets off on a mission to prove that astrology is bogus by comparing her life to that of her Star Twins around the world—people born under her exact same map of the stars. But her even deeper guides on a whirlwind journey through Venice, Istanbul, New Orleans, and beyond turn out to be three people already in her orbit: the mother she thinks abandoned her, the father she thinks saved her, and the former boy next door whose love could be the path to her truest self.

Jessie Rosen is a writer who got her start with the award-winning blog 20-Nothings. She  has sold original television projects to ABC, CBS, Warner Bros., and Netflix, and her live storytelling show Sunday Night Sex Talks was featured on The Bachelorette. She is the author of The Heirloom, and lives in Los Angeles.

SHOW NOTES:
All the Signs
The Heirloom

Find out if your library has NoveList! 
Learn more about Learn with NoveList Plus and get a free infographic!
Library Reads

The Circ Desk recommends:
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Two Lives of Lydia Bird: a Novel by Josie Silver
Miranda in Retrograde by Lauren Layne
Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith

269: The Bourne Shadow by Brian Freeman – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Brian Freeman, author of THE BOURNE SHADOW and four previous Bourne novels, about his early experiences with libraries, the impact of Ludlum’s work on his work, and how he aims to modernize Jason Bourne while staying true to the original character. And in our final visit (for now!) to The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika chat about Freeman’s work, page-to-screen adaptations, and cinematic novels!

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It’s been over a decade since Nash Rollins recruited a brilliant, talented, but disaffected young man named David Webb to join Treadstone. Webb became the agent known as Cain–and later took on the identity of Jason Bourne.

That violent winter–which included Cain’s first mission for Treadstone–was also a story of betrayal in ways that David never knew. So after the injury that erased Bourne’s whole life, Nash lied about the circumstances of David’s recruitment to Treadstone. He was afraid that learning the truth might drive Bourne out of the agency forever.

But now, when Bourne meets a woman who recognizes him as David Webb, the secrets of those days begin to come out and Bourne is forced to confront the dangerous ghosts of a past he doesn’t even remember.

SHOW NOTES:

The Bourne Shadow
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268: That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with librarian Eva Jurczyk, author of That Night in the Library, about her unique journey from a bibliographer’s kid to a renowned author, the inspiration behind her gripping mystery novels, and the intersection of librarianship and fiction writing. Over on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika discuss dark academia, locked room mysteries, and their read-alikes for That Night in the Library!

Read the transcript!

Eva Jurczyk was born in a mining town in Poland and wound up halfway around the world in a Canadian city that often masquerades as New York in the movies. As her day job, she buys books, building library collections for the University of Toronto Libraries. She travels to Paris whenever the wind is good but currently lives with her husband, son, and collections of books in Toronto, Canada.

SHOW NOTES:

That Night in the Library
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267: The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Gwenda Bond about her career journey, her fascination with heist stories, her experiences with licensed content, including writing for Lois Lane and Stranger Things, her approach to magic in storytelling, and the vibrant writing community she’s fostering in Lexington, Kentucky. And on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika find interesting read-alikes for the Frame-Up and discuss new exciting new subgenre of romantasy!

Read the transcript!

Gwenda Bond is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the first official Stranger Things novel, Suspicious Minds, as well as the Match Made in Hell, Lois Lane, and Cirque American series. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with a veritable zoo of adorable doggos and queenly cats. She writes a regular newsletter, Dear Reader, available on Substack.

SHOW NOTES:

The Frame-Up
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266: Owly by Andy Runton – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Andy Runton, creator of the graphic novel series Owly, about how libraries influenced his work and life, the origins of Owly, the process of converting the series from black and white to color, and advice for educators and librarians on how to use Owly in their teaching. And on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika discuss graphic novels and why Library Reads solely focuses on titles for adults.

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Andy Runton has always loved to draw and always loved comics. After college and a career in corporate America, he finally followed his heart, started drawing comics, graphic novels, and children’s books, and he hasn’t looked back since. In 2001 he created the all-ages series of graphic novels, Owly, which features a kind-hearted little owl who’s always searching for new friends and adventure. The Owly series has earned praise from fans and critics alike, winning multiple awards including the Harvey Award, two Ignatz Awards, the 2006 Eisner Award for “Best Publication for a Younger Audience,” and many others. He currently reside in the greater-Atlanta area where he works full-time as a cartoonist!

SHOW NOTES:

Owly: Tiny Tales
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265: The Heirloom by Jessie Rosen – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Jessie Rosen, author of the new book, The Heirloom, about the profound impact libraries have had on her life, the inspiration behind her novel, and how her personal experiences and superstitions shaped her writing. At the Circ Desk Rebecca and Yaika discuss how “women’s fiction” has morphed from “chick lit” to “relationship fiction.”

Read the transcript!

Jessie Rosen got her start with the award-winning blog 20-Nothings and has sold original television projects to ABC, CBS, Warner Bros., and Netflix. Her live storytelling show Sunday Night Sex Talks was featured on The Bachelorette. She lives in Los Angeles.

SHOW NOTES:

The Heirloom
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264: The Year of Living Constitutionally by A. J. Jacobs – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with A. J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Constitutionally, about his fascinating, immersive journey of living strictly by the U. S. Constitution, delve into the contrasts between originalism and living constitutionalism, and provides insightful commentary on how the founding document shapes modern-day America. And on The Circ Desk, Rebecca and Yaika talk about the readers’ advisory challenges for non-fiction titles!

Read the transcript!

A.J. Jacobs is a journalist, lecturer, and human guinea pig who has written four bestselling books—including Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically—that blend memoir, science, humor, and a dash of self-help. A contributor to NPR, The New York Times, and Esquire, among other media outlets, Jacobs lives in New York City with his family.

SHOW NOTES:

The Year of Living Constitutionally
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263: Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller – Summer Reading Spectacular

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As part of the Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Kirsten Miller, author of Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, about her deep love for libraries, the real-life banned books that inspired her book, and how she tackled book banning, censorship, and the power of literature, all while retaining a humorous and engaging tone. Stick around for another edition of The Circ Desk with Rebecca and Yaika as they discuss different types of satire, “books about books”, and give their read-alikes from Library Reads and NoveList!

Read the transcript!

Kirsten Miller is the author of Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books and The Change, a GMA Book Club pick, as well as the groundbreaking YA series starring Kiki Strike. Born and raised in a small town in North Carolina, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

SHOW NOTES:

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books
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