AWM Staff Picks: July 2025

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

From the publisher: “In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections. Racing on the swollen river towards what may be safety, they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they’ve saved.”

—Cristina, Development & Membership Associate

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

From the publisher: “A young escape artist and budding magician named Joe Kavalier arrives on the doorstep of his cousin, Sammy Clay. While the long shadow of Hitler falls across Europe, America is happily in thrall to the Golden Age of comic books, and in a distant corner of Brooklyn, Sammy is looking for a way to cash in on the craze. He finds the ideal partner in the aloof, artistically gifted Joe, and together they embark on an adventure that takes them deep into the heart of Manhattan, and the heart of old-fashioned American ambition. From the shared fears, dreams, and desires of two teenage boys, they spin comic book tales of the heroic, fascist-fighting Escapist and the beautiful, mysterious Luna Moth, otherworldly mistress of the night. Climbing from the streets of Brooklyn to the top of the Empire State Building, Joe and Sammy carve out lives, and careers, as vivid as cyan and magenta ink.”

—Nate, Content & Exhibits Manager

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang

From the publisher: “From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.”

I read this in preparation for her most recent book coming out in August, Katabasis, and I am very much looking forward to it!

—Andrea, Education Program Coordinator

The Bear created by Christopher Storer

From Rotten Tomatoes: “A young chef from the fine dining world comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he’s used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, his strong-willed and recalcitrant kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother’s suicide. As Carmy fights to transform both the shop and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges kitchen crew that ultimately reveals itself as his chosen family.”

—Annie, Education Associate

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

From the publisher: “July 1962. Following in the tradition of Indigenous workers from Nova Scotia, a Mi’kmaq family arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.”

—Annie, Education Associate

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

From the publisher: “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'”

—Carol, Assistant Director of Development

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

From the publisher: “For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are…But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. [Foster mother] Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?”

—Annie, Education Associate

Death Becomes Her, Original Broadway Cast Recording, music and lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey

From the publisher: “Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp have always been the best of frenemies—until Madeline steals Helen’s fiance. After sipping a magical potion, Madeline and Helen begin a new era with their youth and beauty restored…and a grudge to last eternity. Starring Tony nominees Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard and Christopher Sieber, and GRAMMY-winner Michelle Williams, Death Becomes Her, based on the 1992 film, is a drop-dead hilarious new musical about burying the hatchet…again, and again, and again.”

—Matt, Community Engagement Manager

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

From the publisher: “Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink.”

—Christopher, Director of Operations

Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin

If the average person has heard of Frederick Law Olmsted, it’s because of his groundbreaking work in the field of landscape architecture, designing both Central Park and the fairgrounds of the 1893 Chicago World’s fair. It’s difficult for a modern person to conceive of how profoundly visionary his plan for Central Park was when he created it in the 1850s. This alone would have placed him among the most brilliant of historical figures. But he accomplished so much more than that in his life. Olmsted was a true polymath who was as influential in creating the field of landscape architecture as he was as an anti-slavery journalist and health and sanitation reformer. Readers who are familiar with him from Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City will be shocked at the importance of his work with the United States Sanitary Commission, which saved thousands of lives during the Civil War. Martin’s biography of Olmsted is compelling and continually surprising.

—Hunter, Storyteller

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel

From the publisher: “In the mid-19th century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or ‘human computers,’ to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. At the outset this group included the wives, sisters, and daughters of the resident astronomers, but soon the female corps included graduates of the new women’s colleges—Vassar, Wellesley, and Smith. As photography transformed the practice of astronomy, the ladies turned from computation to studying the stars captured nightly on glass photographic plates. The ‘glass universe’ of half a million plates that Harvard amassed over the ensuing decades…enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim. They helped discern what stars were made of, divided the stars into meaningful categories for further research, and found a way to measure distances across space by starlight.”

—Cristina, Development & Membership Associate

Hearts of Oak by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

From Wikipedia: “Hearts of Oak garnered universal acclaim from music critics highlighting Leo’s musicianship in terms of lyrical content, instrumentation and vocal performance. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 17 reviews.”

—Andrew, Institutional Giving Manager

Hey You Assholes by Kyle Seibel

From the publisher: “Kyle Seibel’s debut short story collection is a bracing look into the lives of society’s misfits. From a junkyard worker haunted by the death of a special cat to dinosaurs that materialize to dispense life advice-these stories explore the thin line between the mundane and the surreal. Hilarious, poignant, gritty and bizarre, Hey You Assholes heralds the arrival of a bold new voice in American fiction.

—Andrew, Institutional Giving Manager

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

From the publisher: “Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.”

—Courtney, Co-Assistant Director of Education

Icarus by K. Ancrum

From the publisher: “This suspenseful queer YA romance from critically acclaimed author K. Ancrum reimagines the tale of Icarus as a star-crossed love story between a young art thief and the son of the man he’s been stealing from…As reluctance and distrust become closeness and something more, they uncover the gilded cage that has trapped both their families for years. One Icarus is determined to escape. But his father’s thirst for revenge shows no sign of fading, and soon it may force Icarus to choose: the escape he’s dreamed of, or the boy he’s come to love. Reaching for both could be his greatest triumph—or it could be his downfall.”

—Matt, Community Engagement Manager

Life Behind Bars by Vandoliers

This is the first album since the band’s singer came out as a trans woman while entrenched in the world of Texas country and punk rock.

—Annie, Education Associate

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

From the publisher: “Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions.”

—Annie, Education Associate

Phineas and Ferb created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh

I want to highlight my childhood favorite television show, Phineas and Ferb, as a new season came out in June after a decade-long hiatus. Though this show is made primarily for middle schoolers who watch the Disney Channel, I still belly-laugh watching it as an adult. The humor transcends nostalgia—it was one of my dad’s favorite shows during its original airtime! Despite following a strict but interconnected formula in its episodes (Phineas and Ferb invent something unique, Candace tries to “bust” them, secret agent and family pet Perry the Platypus battles the “evil” but often well-intentioned Dr. Doofenshmirtz), Phineas and Ferb remains fresh with quick-witted humor and quirky, imaginative plotlines.

—Sydney, Intern

Resident Alien created by Chris Sheridan

From Rotten Tomatoes: “An alien crashes on Earth and hides in a remote Colorado mountain town. After assuming the identity of the town doctor, Harry Vanderspeigle, his nefarious mission to kill all humans is threatened when he realizes one of the townspeople, a 9-year-old boy, can see his true alien form. Harry starts off living a simple life, but things get a bit rocky when he’s roped into solving a local murder and realizes he needs to assimilate into his new world and slowly begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his secret mission on Earth.”

—Cristina, Development & Membership Associate

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

Kate Folk’s debut novel from April 2025 is a perfect addition to one of my personal favorite genres—weird girl fiction. Protagonist Linda feels a romantic attraction to airplanes and feels it is her fate to “marry” her soulmate aircraft by going down with it in a plane crash. Despite the dismal and slightly alarming premise, I found this book hilarious and heartfelt. It is a well-written exploration of friendship, where our interests and obsessions stem from, and womanhood.

—Sydney, Intern

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

From the publisher: “Rhys Kinnick has gone off the grid…Now Kinnick’s old life is about to land right back on his crumbling doorstep. Can this failed husband and father, a man with no internet and a car that barely runs, reemerge into a broken world to track down his missing daughter and save his sweet, precocious grandchildren from the members of a dangerous militia? With the help of his caustic ex-girlfriend, a bipolar retired detective, and his only friend (who happens to be furious with him), Kinnick heads off on a wild journey through cultural lunacy and the rubble of a life he thought he’d left behind. So Far Gone is a rollicking, razor-sharp, and moving road trip through a fractured nation.”

—Linda, Director of Development

Station Eleven created by Patrick Somerville

The second watch was even more satisfying, as I realized how everything was connected, and how they hinted at events from the very first episode.

From Rotten Tomatoes: “A post-apocalyptic saga spanning multiple timelines, this limited drama series tells the stories of survivors of a devastating flu as they attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world anew while holding on to the best of what’s been lost.”

—Andrea, Education Program Coordinator

Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F-ck by Thug Kitchen

From the publisher: “Yeah, plenty of blogs and cookbooks preach about how to eat more kale, why ginger fights inflammation, and how to cook with microgreens and nettles. But they are dull or pretentious as hell—and most people can’t afford the hype. Thug Kitchen lives in the real world. In their first cookbook, they’re throwing down more than 100 recipes for their best-loved meals, snacks and sides for beginning cooks to home chefs. (Roasted Beer and Lime Cauliflower Tacos? Pumpkin Chili? Grilled Peach Salsa? Believe that sh*t.) Plus they’re going to arm you with all the info and techniques you need to shop on a budget and go and kick a bunch of ass on your own.”

—Annie, Education Associate

Tom at the Farm by Michel Marc Bouchard, translated by Linda Gaboriau

From the publisher: “Following the accidental death of his lover, and in the throes of his grief, urban ad executive Tom travels to the country to attend the funeral and to meet his mother-in-law, Agatha, and her son, Francis—neither of whom know Tom even exists. Arriving at the remote rural farm, and immediately drawn into the dysfunction of the family’s relationships, Tom is blindsided by his lost partner’s legacy of untruth. With the mother expecting a chainsmoking girlfriend, and the older brother hellbent on preserving a facade of normalcy, Tom is coerced into joining the duplicity until, at last, he confronts the torment that drove his lover to live in the shadows of deceit…In a play that unfolds with progressively blurred boundaries between lust and brutality, between truth and elaborate fiction, Bouchard dramatizes how gay men often must learn to lie before they learn how to love.”

—Matt, Community Engagement Manager

Valleyesque by Fernando A. Flores

We had a program featuring Fernando A. Flores and Sandra Cisneros back in 2019, shortly after the release of his first novel, Tears of the Trufflepig. I bought the book based on what I heard at the program and became a fan pretty much right away. There’s a je ne sais quois to his style and subject matter that I really appreciate. I’d somehow missed this newest short story collection of his when it was released in 2022, but I’m happy to be reading it now—and, for those interested, his newest novel Brother Brontë came out earlier this year.

—Cassidy, Guest Services Manager

The Vourdalak screenply by Adrien Beau and Hadrien Bouvier

From Rotten Tomatoes: “When the Marquis d’Urfé, a noble emissary of the King of France, is attacked and abandoned in the remote countryside, he finds refuge at an eerie, isolated manor. The resident family, reluctant to take him in, exhibits strange behavior as they await the imminent return of their father, Gorcha. But what begins simply as strange quickly devolves into a full-fledged nightmare when Gorcha returns, seemingly no longer himself. Adapted from a novella that predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by over half a century, The Vourdalak is an atmospheric, unexpected, sensorial experience that will leave you reeling and giddy in equal measure.”

—Maya, Marketing & Creative Associate