We are participating in the Read ME summer reading program offered by the Maine State Library and the Maine Writer’s & Publishers Alliance. Each year two titles by emerging Maine authors are selected to be read and discussed at local libraries. The series features author talks and discussions across the state.
This summer’s featured books are:
Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
“Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy. In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty–with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight–breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future. A boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, which sets into motion his family’s unraveling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s projects the past onto her grandson; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs. A collection that examines the consequences and merits of inheritance, Night of the Living Rez is an unforgettable portrayal of an Indigenous community and marks the arrival of a standout talent in contemporary fiction” – Provided by Publisher
Register for an online author talk with Morgan Talty on July 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Book discussion at The College of Professional Studies on August 16 at 12:00 p.m.
Lungfish by Meghan Gilliss.
“Tuck is slow to understand the circumstances that have driven her family to an uninhabited island off the coast of Maine, the former home of her deceased grandmother where she once spent her childhood summers. Squatting there now, she must care for her spirited young daughter and scrape together enough money to leave before winter arrives–or before they are found out. Relying on the island for sustenance and answers–bladderwrack, rosehips, tenacious little green crabs; smells held by the damp walls of the house, field guides and religious texts, a failed invention left behind by her missing father–Tuck lives moment-by-moment through the absurdity, beauty, paranoia, and hunger that shoots through her life, as her husband struggles to detox. Exquisitely written and formally daring, Lungfish tells the story of a woman grappling through the lies she has been told-and those she has told herself-to arrive at the truth of who she is and where she must go. Meghan Gilliss’s debut is a novel about addiction, doubt, marriage, motherhood, and learning to see in the dark” – Provided by Publisher
Register for an online author talk with Meghan Gilliss on Wednesday, August 9 at 6:30 p.m.
For more information about events on campus, contact Cadence Atchinson.
Book discussion at The College of Professional Studies on July 19 at 12:00 p.m.