Book Club and Binge Bags

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Genre: Graphic Fiction

American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Genre: Historical Fiction, African American Literature

*2023-2024 NEA BIG READ LAKESHORE

Each chapter in the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, starting with her two daughters, who are half-sisters, separated by circumstance: Effia marries James Collins, the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is held captive in the dungeons below. Subsequent chapters follow their children and following generations. Check Availability

X: a Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz

Genre: Historical Fiction

‘X’ follows Malcolm from his childhood to his imprisonment for theft at age twenty, when he found the faith that would lead him to forge a new path and command a voice that still resonates today. Check Availability

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Genre: Fiction Mystery

*2023-2024 Great Michigan Read

Daunis, who is part Ojibwe, defers attending the University of Michigan to care for her mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths. Check Availability

Educated by Tara Westover

Genre: Nonfiction Memoir

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes and the will to change it. Check Availability

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Set in the ethnic neighborhoods of Seattle during World War II and Japanese American internment camps of the era, this debut novel tells the heartwarming story of widower Henry Lee, his father, and his first love Keiko Okabe. Check Availability 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Genre: YA Fiction

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter  witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. Check Availability 

Station Eleven: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel

Genre: Science Fiction

Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. (Goodreads) Check Availability 

Science Fiction – Check Availability

We Hear Voices by Evie Green | Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde | Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson | Ready Player One by Ernest Cline | Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

Romance – Check Availability

The Proposal by Jamine Guillory | Vision in White by Nora Roberts | The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang | A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende | The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Mystery / Thriller – Check Availability 

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie | In the Woods by Tana French | The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón | Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier | The Sanatorium by Pearse Sarah

LGBTIA+ Fiction – Check Availability

Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon | Never Anyone but Y0u by Rupert Thomson | Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg | Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann | Vow of Celibacy by Erin Judge