For Teens aged 14 and above & Adults.
We have 12 new categories for the New Year!
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.
- 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.
- Collect all twelve badges. You can collect a badge on Beanstack or come in to get your log stamped at our adult service desks.
- Prizes will be available beginning 5/1/2025.
- Last day to collect 2025 prize will be 1/4/2026.
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.
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You Are Home
#1 New York Times bestselling author and creator Catana Chetwynd's latest collection of comics illustrates the moments a relationship "levels up" and all the intimate, special, and amusing adventures those milestones entail.
Author of Little Moments of Love, Snug, and In Love & Pajamas, Catana Chetwynd imparts her relationship wisdom once again with her latest collection of comics. This time, she explores the momentous steps of a relationship--whether it be moving in together, the reality of facing time apart, or even officially committing to one another--all while shining a light on the joy those moments can offer. Catana's unmistakable illustration and writing styles make even the most mundane tasks, like mowing the lawn or deciding whose turn it is to cook dinner, seem charming. Her relatable content is elevated in a fresh and humorous way that only Catana's comics can do. -
Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye
The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled: no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, the survivors are forced to finally start living.
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Wake
A Best Book of 2021 by NPR and The Washington Post
Part graphic novel, part memoir, Wake is an imaginative tour-de-force that tells the “powerful” (The New York Times Book Review) story of women-led slave revolts and chronicles scholar Rebecca Hall’s efforts to uncover the truth about these women warriors who, until now, have been left out of the historical record.
Women warriors planned and led revolts on slave ships during the Middle Passage. They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas. And then they were erased from history.
Wake tells the “riveting” (Angela Y. Davis) story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always told her that enslaved women took a back seat. But Rebecca decides to look deeper, and her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the “negro burying ground” uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
Using a “remarkable blend of passion and fact, action and reflection” (NPR), Rebecca constructs the likely pasts of Adono and Alele, women rebels who fought for freedom during the Middle Passage, as well as the stories of women who led slave revolts in Colonial New York. We also follow Rebecca’s own story as the legacy of slavery shapes her life, both during her time as a successful attorney and later as a historian seeking the past that haunts her.
Illustrated beautifully in black and white, Wake will take its place alongside classics of the graphic novel genre, like Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. This story of a personal and national legacy is a powerful reminder that while the past is gone, we still live in its wake. -
Uncomfortably Happily
"Uncomfortably Happily by Yeon-sik Hong tells the story of its author’s decision to leave 21st-century Seoul and move with his wife to a small house on top of a mountain... Charming and perhaps unexpectedly complex."—Guardian, Best Graphic Novels of 2017
When the gentler pace and stillness of the countryside replace the roar of the city, but your editor keeps calling
With gorgeously detailed yet minimal art, cartoonist Yeon-Sik Hong explores his move with his wife to a small house atop a rural mountain, replacing the high-rent hubbub of Seoul with the quiet murmur of the country. With their dog, cats, and chickens by their side, the simple life and isolation they so desperately craved proves to present new anxieties. Hong paints a beautiful portrait of the Korean countryside, changing seasons, and the universal relationships humans have with each other as well as nature, both of which are sometimes frustrating but always rewarding.
Uncomfortably Happily is translated by American cartoonist Hellen Jo from the acclaimed Manhwa Today award-winning Korean edition. -
They Called Us Enemy
New York Times Bestseller!
A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.
George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future.
In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard.
They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.
What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime. -
Snug
Why bother getting out of bed when you could stay bundled up with that special someone and a book of cozy, cute comics. From the author of the bestselling Little Moments of Love comes #1 New York Times bestseller Snug, a collection of comics that perfectly captures the honest, playful, and relatable snapshots of romantic life.
Chetwynd's second book has the same charming and inviting style as her first and includes 50 percent new, never-before-shared comics. Snug is a celebration of the quirks and peculiarities of every one of us--and the magic that happens when we find our matching puzzle piece. -
Rice Boy
Rice Boy is a surreal fantasy graphic novel set in a world called Overside. A lonely creature called Rice Boy and an ageless machine called The One Electronic venture through a strange world to fulfill a prophecy with implications few understand.
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Pusheen the Cat's Guide to Everything
Pusheen the Cat is back with a brand-new collection of adorable comics, expert advice, and silly antics featuring Pusheen and all her friends!
Whether you’re hoping to learn how to tell if your cat is a Vampurr or looking to study a comprehensive guide to being lazy—Pusheen has got you covered in this super cute guide to everything! This delightful collection of comics and illustrations features some of the most popular and purr-fectly adorable Pusheen comics you know and love, plus a healthy serving of never-before-seen material.
Pusheen the Cat has charmed millions of fans worldwide with her humor, bounces, and tail wiggles. Join in on the fun with this super cute collection perfect for cat lovers and comics fans alike! -
The Party, After You Left
Readers can't get enough of Roz Chast. Now the classic collection The Party, After You Left is back in print. Together, these cartoons, which originally appeared in The New Yorker, Scientific American, Redbook, and other publications, constitute a spot-on record of our increasingly absurd existence. The book is a powerful reminder of how lucky we are to have Roz Chast among us to tackle some of the toughest themes of the times with uproarious humor: genetically altered mice, birthday parties from hell, and comfort drinks in the age of insecurity.
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Paper Girls Volume 1
Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s Eisner Award winning series Paper Girls is coming Amazon Prime Video in July 2022!
From Brian K. Vaughan, #1 New York Times bestselling writer of SAGA, and Cliff Chiang, legendary artist of WONDER WOMAN, comes the first volume of an all-new ongoing adventure.
In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.
Collecting Issues #1-5 for only $9.99! "Along with Paper Girls, Brian K. Vaughan is the writer/co-creator of the graphic novels Saga, The PrIvate Eye, We Stand On Guard, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, The Hood, and The Escapists. His work has been recognized at the Hugo, Eisner, Harvey, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. BKV sometimes dabbles in film and television work from Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their loyal wiener dog Hamburger K. Vaughan. After graduating from the Kubert School JARED K. FLETCHER began working at DC Comics as part of their new in-house lettering department. A few years later, he left to pursue his freelance career as the proprietor of Studio Fantabulous. He spends his long days designing logos, books, t-shirts, art directing covers, and lettering comic books.CLIFF CHIANG began working in editorial for Vertigo Comics before making the leap into freelance illustration in 2000 and he hasn't looked back. He's best known for his work on Human Target, Green Arrow & Black Canary, and Wonder Woman. Cliff lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
MATT WILSON has been coloring comics since 2003, getting his start coloring for the comics coloring studio Zylonol Studios. After a few years in the studio, Matt eventually branched out on his own to color titles like Phonogram, Young Avengers, Thor, Daredevil, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, and The Wicked + The Divine. In 2015, Matt's work earned him Eisner Award and Harvey Award nominations.
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Night Fever
A dark new graphic novel thriller in the tradition of Patricia Highsmith from the bestselling creators of Pulp, Reckless, Criminal, and Kill Or Be Killed.
Who are you, really? Are you the things you do, or are you the person inside your mind?
In Europe on a business trip, Jonathan Webb can't sleep. Instead, he finds himself wandering the night in a strange foreign city, with his new friend, the mysterious and violent Rainer as his guide. Rainer shows Jonathan the hidden world of the night, a world without rules or limits. But when the fun turns dangerous, Jonathan may find himself trapped in the dark... And the question is, what will he do to get home?
Night Fever is a pulse-pounding noir thriller from grand masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. A Jekyll-and-Hyde story of a man facing the darkness inside himself, this riveting tour of the night is a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips readers!
Select praise for Night Fever:
“Night Fever pulled me in from the first moment with its razor sharp writing and gorgeous art. Brubaker and Phillips have crafted a taut, riveting story, as disturbing as it is satisfying, full of memorable lines and stunning images. Thought-provoking and highly entertaining.” ?Charles Yu, National Book Award winning author of Interior Chinatown
"Brubaker’s masterfully hardboiled scripting is both unnervingly nihilistic and propulsively thrilling, and Phillips’s illustration has rarely evoked such nuances of character or absolute menace. VERDICT Another masterwork from a collaborative team that seems increasingly incapable of producing anything less. —Library Journal
"Crackling, effortless style." ?Publishers Weekly
"The art is striking. Moody and noir, it also makes strong use of colors: one page contrasts yellow with dominant blues, purples, and blacks to illuminate graphic violence, while other pages use lighter tones to indicate Jonathan having a greater measure of control. Part mysterious crime story, part psychological drama, Night Fever is a haunting graphic novel in which a man tests his limits and realizes why they existed in the first place." ?Foreword Reviews
Select praise for Brubaker & Phillips:
"Brubaker and Phillips's books have always been about eight years ahead of their time." —Brian K. Vaughan, SAGA, Paper Girls
"Brubaker & Phillips continue to make sweet music together, broadcast to you in the form of the best comics around." —Robert Kirkman, Invincible, The Walking Dead
"Ed and Sean are that rare longterm collaboration that never become complacent, each project is a new revelation, the love visibly increased, the enthusiasm for the craft only growing over time. You don't have to consider the purchase, you make it on instinct at this point." —Rick Remender, Deadly Class, Black Science
"Like Scorsese and De Niro, Brubaker and Phillips are the unmatched masters of a certain kind of storytelling—those fables of doomed and deluded men who are ready to die bloody, defending the tatters of their soiled American dreams. A new title from the sharpshooters behind Criminal and Fatale is reason enough to go on living." —Joe Hill, Locke & Key, Horns, NOS4A2
"Brubaker and Phillips have achieved the sort of creative consistency that'd justify critics filing their INSTANT CLASSIC reviews before they even read whatever they put out next." —Kieron Gillen, The Wicked + The Divine, Die
"I’ve been reading Ed Brubaker comics since the first appearance of Ed Brubaker comics and every single time he announces a new title I mutter to myself: 'ugh! I wish I would’ve thought of that!'" —Brian Michael Bendis, Powers
"I'm a pretty easy mark for any Brubaker-Philips creation..." —Jonathan Hickman, East of West, House of X
“Two of the best in the business, no contest.” —Kelly Sue DeConnick, Captain Marvel, B*tch Planet -
My Brilliant Friend
A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante's inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship.
The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila.
Ferrante is the author of three previous works of critically acclaimed fiction: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and The Lost Daughter. With this novel, the first in a tetralogy, she proves herself to be one of Italy's great storytellers. She has given her readers a masterfully plotted page-turner, abundant and generous in its narrative details and characterizations, that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight her many fans and win new readers to her fiction.
Categories
Back in My Day: Read a book written before you were born.
Admiration: Read an autobiography, biography, or memoire about someone you admire.
The Big Blue: Read a book about an ocean, near an ocean, or a body of water on the cover.
Tree Hugger: Choose a book about animals, nature or the environment.
Grand Prize: Read a book that has won an award.
Got Game?: Get your head in the game by reading a story about sports.
Bookish: Read a book about books, bookshops, or libraries.
Mirror, Mirror: Read a book about folklore, fairytales, or mythology.
Armchair Adventure: Choose a book that takes you to a distant land.
Stargazing: Choose a book on astronomy, a celebrity, or a Science Fiction read.
Graphic Content: Read a graphic novel or manga.
Say My Name: Choose a book with a proper name in the title.