12 To Try
For Teens & Adults
We have 12 new categories for the New Year!
Sign up in Beanstack below and be sure to pick up a new log book and category bookmark at any of our Adult service desks.
Here is How it Works:
- Sign up on the library’s Beanstack website or at the library. You can track your progress at wauclib.beanstack.org or pickup a paper log in person..
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Read twelve different themed books between 1/2—12/30. Need help finding a book to read? Curated reading lists are available below. Another way to find a title that you like is to check out what our Book Clubs are reading.
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Collect all twelve badges. You can collect a badge on Beanstack or pick up your stickers at our adult service desks.
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Prizes will be available beginning 5/1/2024
You can read books from the categories in any order you would like, at your own pace , however we will highlight a different set every month. Look to the list on the right to see the other book recommendations.
Category of the Month:
Earn this badge by reading a book with a title that begins with "in", "at", "on", "of", or "to".
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To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South -- and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred
One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, served as the basis of an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
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To Heaven and Back
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • One million copies sold! Dr. Mary Neal (featured in the Netflix original series Surviving Death) tells the incredible story of the kayak accident during a South American adventure that took her to heaven—where she experienced God’s peace, joy, and angels—and back to life again.
In 1999 in the Los Rios region of southern Chile, orthopedic surgeon, devoted wife, and loving mother Dr. Mary Neal drowned in a kayak accident. While cascading down a waterfall, her kayak became pinned at the bottom and she was immediately and completely submerged. Despite the rescue efforts of her companions, Mary was underwater for too long, and as a result, died.
To Heaven and Back is Mary’s remarkable story of her life’s spiritual journey and what happened as she moved from life to death to eternal life, and back again. Detailing her feelings and surroundings in heaven, her communication with angels, and her deep sense of sadness when she realized it wasn’t her time, Mary shares the captivating experience of her modern-day miracle.
Mary’s life has been forever changed by her newfound understanding of her purpose on earth, her awareness of God, her closer relationship with Jesus, and her personal spiritual journey suddenly enhanced by a first-hand experience in heaven. To Heaven and Back will reacquaint you with the hope, wonder, and promise of heaven, while enriching you own faith and walk with God. -
To Fetch a Thief
In the third book in the brilliant New York Times bestselling series featuring a lovable and wise dog narrator, Chet and Bernie go under the big top to solve the most unlikely missing persons (and animals!) case ever.
We were outnumbered, some big number against two. When it comes to numbers, two is as far as I go, but it’s enough, in my opinion. . . .
“Sit,” Bernie said.
I sat. Bernie would think of something—he always did. That was one of the things that made the Little Detective Agency such a success, except for the finances part . . .
Chet has smelled a lot of unusual things in his years as trusted companion and partner to P.I. Bernie Little, but nothing has prepared him for the exotic scents he encounters when an old-fashioned traveling circus comes to town. Bernie scores tickets to this less-than-greatest- show-on-earth because his son Charlie is crazy about elephants. The only problem is that Peanut, the headlining pachyderm of this particular one-ring circus, has gone missing—along with her trainer, Uri DeLeath. Stranger still, no one saw them leave. How does an elephant vanish without a trace?
At first there’s nothing Bernie and Chet can do— it’s a police matter and they have no standing in the case. But then they’re hired by Popo the Clown, who has his own reasons for wanting to find out what has become of the mysteriously missing duo. After Chet takes a few sniffs in Peanut’s trailer and picks up her one-of-a-kind scent, he and Bernie are in hot pursuit, heading far away from the bright lights of the traveling show and into the dark desert night.
Some very dangerous people would prefer that Chet and Bernie disappear for good and will go to any lengths to make that happen. Across the border in Mexico and separated from Bernie, Chet must use all his natural strength and doggy smarts to try to save himself—not to mention Bernie and a decidedly uncooperative Peanut, too.
To Fetch a Thief shows why readers everywhere have fallen head-over-paws in love with the Chet and Bernie mystery series. Top-notch suspense, humor, and insight into the ways our canine companions think and behave make this the most entertaining and irresistible book in the series yet.
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On Writing
This volume "really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists", written by American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy, Stephen King (b. 1947). The first third of the book contains King's memoir, which includes heartfelt tidbits about his brother, mother and his long battles with alcohol and drug addiction. The second part of the book, "On Writing," is where aspiring novelists might find inspiration. King describes the symbolism in many of his novels and offers writers common sense advice. He presents his taboos of writing: adverbs (especially those in dialog) and the passive voice. He describes his writer's toolbox, including examples of both good and bad writing, sometimes taken from his own work, sometimes taken from other writers. He also describes his approach to research. King concludes by including a list of nearly a hundred novels that he considers the best that he's read in the last three or four years.
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On the Way to the Wedding
A New York Times Bestseller
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn comes the story of Gregory Bridgerton, in the final installment of her beloved Regency-set novels featuring the charming, powerful Bridgerton family, now a series created by Shondaland for Netflix.
GREGORY'S STORY
Unlike most men of his acquaintance, Gregory Bridgerton believes in true love. And he is convinced that when he finds the woman of his dreams, he will know in an instant that she is the one. And that is exactly what happened. Except ...
She wasn't the one. In fact, the ravishing Miss Hermione Watson is in love with another. But her best friend, the ever-practical Lady Lucinda Abernathy, wants to save Hermione from a disastrous alliance, so she offers to help Gregory win her over. But in the process, Lucy falls in love. With Gregory! Except ...
Lucy is engaged. And her uncle is not inclined to let her back out of the betrothal, even once Gregory comes to his senses and realizes that it is Lucy, with her sharp wit and sunny smile, who makes his heart sing. And now, on the way to the wedding, Gregory must risk everything to ensure that when it comes time to kiss the bride, he is the only man standing at the altar ...
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On the Road
In his September 5, 1957, New York Times review, Gilbert Millstein prophetically declared that On the Road was "the most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as 'beat.'" Few novels have had as profound an impact as On the Road, and Kerouac's vision continues to inspire: three generations of writers, musicians, artists, and poets cite their discovery of On the Road as the event that "set them free." This hardcover edition commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the original publication of an American classic. On the Road chronicles Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent, from East Coast to West Coast to Mexico, with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road an inspirational work of lasting importance.
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On the Rez
"[This book] is about modern-day American Indians, especially the storied Oglala Sioux, who live now on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the plains and badlands of the American West. Crazy Horse, perhaps the greatest Indian War leader of the nineteenth century; and Black Elk, the holy man whose teachings became known around the world, were Oglala; Frazier visits their descendants on Pine Ridge Reservation--"the rez"--now one of America's poorest places. With his longtime friend Le War Lance (whom he first wrote about in his 1989 best-seller Great Plains) and other Oglala, Frazier drives around the rez as they visit friends and relatives, go to powwows and rodeos and package stores, and tinker with various falling-apart cars. In the career of SuAnne Big Crow, the most admired Oglala basketball player of all time, who died in a car accident in 1992, Frazier finds a modern reemergence of the Sioux hero who saves her people; and he learns about the ancient and enduring Sioux concept of the hero, in its pulse-quickening, death defying, public-spirited glory. Most of all, with compassion and imagination, Frazier brings us into the private world of the reservation. He portrays the survival, through toughness and humor, of a great people whose culture has shaped American identity."--Dust cover.
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On the Line
The masterful storytelling and gripping suspense that are trademarks of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author combine in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nora Roberts and James Patterson…
Mateo Castillo is a rising star chef on the verge of breaking out in Manhattan’s cutthroat celebrity cooking scene – until a mysterious illness sends him to the ER. As he and his doctor, Adrian Ardell, investigate the cause of his episodes, they find they have more in common than their shared interest in his health. Like Mateo, Adrian’s family immigrated to the US when she was young, fleeing a country overrun with violence. While Mateo is from South America, her roots are Eastern European, but they both understand what it takes to succeed against all odds. They begin to develop feelings for one another, even as their search for answers leads them to more questions from Mateo’s past…
In 1988 Colombia, Mateo’s young parents meet at a Salsa dance class and fall in love. But the country is controlled by ruthless, brutal cartels and they’re forced to flee when violence arrives on their doorstep. Their journey first to Mexico and then the United States is filled with danger and uncertainty, but eventually they’re able to make a home and a family.
Now, Mateo’s strange illness threatens to uncover a dark secret that even he could never have guessed, exposing his family to dangers from the past—while clouding the investigation into who is trying to hurt Mateo in the present… -
On the Come Up
This is the highly anticipated second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning The Hate U Give.
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.
But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.
Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.
Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.
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On Mystic Lake
Annie Colwater’s husband has just confessed that he’s in love with a younger woman. Devastated, Annie retreats to the small town where she grew up. There, she is reunited with her first love, Nick Delacroix, a recent widower who is unable to cope with his silent, emotionally scarred young daughter. Together, the three of them begin to heal. But just when Annie believes she’s been given a second chance at happiness, her world is turned upside down again, and she is forced to make a choice that no woman in love should ever have to make.
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On Juneteenth
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The essential, sweeping story of Juneteenth’s integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Texas native.Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond. All too aware of the stories of cowboys, ranchers, and oilmen that have long dominated the lore of the Lone Star State, Gordon-Reed—herself a Texas native and the descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas as early as the 1820s—forges a new and profoundly truthful narrative of her home state, with implications for us all.
Combining personal anecdotes with poignant facts gleaned from the annals of American history, Gordon-Reed shows how, from the earliest presence of Black people in Texas to the day in Galveston on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of legalized slavery in the state, African-Americans played an integral role in the Texas story.
Reworking the traditional “Alamo” framework, she powerfully demonstrates, among other things, that the slave- and race-based economy not only defined the fractious era of Texas independence but precipitated the Mexican-American War and, indeed, the Civil War itself.
In its concision, eloquence, and clear presentation of history, On Juneteenth vitally revises conventional renderings of Texas and national history. As our nation verges on recognizing June 19 as a national holiday, On Juneteenth is both an essential account and a stark reminder that the fight for equality is exigent and ongoing.
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On Fire Island
"Dazzling...as funny as it is poignant, nostalgic as it is sharp." —Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After
A book editor spends one last summer on Fire Island in this sparkling and surprising new novel from the author of A Shoe Story.
As a book editor, Julia Morse lived and breathed stories. Whether with her pen to a manuscript or curled up with a book while at her beloved Fire Island cottage, her imagination alight with a good tale, she could anticipate practically any ending. The ending she’d never imagined was her own.
To be fair, no one expects to die at thirty-seven. So when the unthinkable happens to Julia, rather than following the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, she chooses to spend one last summer near those she loves most.
As she follows her adoring, novelist husband Ben to their—unexpectedly full—home on Fire Island, she discovers the ripple affect her life has had on the trajectory of so many: her baseball loving, young-at-heart neighbor who believes it’s best not to go it alone, two bright-eyed teenagers eager to become adults, and her best friend who must shake off heartbreak for a new chance at love.
With poignant comedy and insight, On Fire Island is an ode to the stories all around us and to the brightest types of loves…for the people closest to you and the places that shape you.
Categories
Walkaway: Read any book that shows people walking away on the cover.
Frenemies: Read a book where hatred turns to friendship or love.
Who Are You?: Read a biography, autobiography, or memoir.
Preposition: Read a book with a title that begins with "in", "at", "on", "of", or "to"
Rebel for a Cause: Read a banned or controversial book.
Spice of Life: Read a cookbook, or a book about food.
Build a Bridge: Read a book with differing political perspective, socio-economic background, or gender identity.
Puzzle Master: Read an intricate mystery or true crime with a jigsaw plot.
Dewey Demystified: Take a walk through the non-fiction stacks and find a hidden gem.
Derivative: Read a story derived from another story or true events.
Color My World: Read a book with a color name in the title.
Book Club Back List: Read a book that has been on any Book Club List