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Which of this year’s Oscar-nominated films that are based on books have you seen or do you plan to see? Please check all that apply.

January 31, 2025, 633 voters

January 31, 2025 - February 14, 2025

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of January 31 - February 14.

What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange

January 2025

Tracey Lange is known for writing about families. These working-class individuals deal with issues that people come across every day. The way Tracey handles her characters is what makes her books so special.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE McCRAYS? opens with Kyle McCray seated in a restaurant in Spokane, Washington, where he is pondering heading back home to Potsdam, New York. He has been gone for two-and-a-half years, moseying his way across the country and taking a variety of jobs. His dad has had a stroke and needs his help, which is the only reason he is considering a return to Potsdam.

January 31, 2025

At the beginning of each year, I have lots of ideas about what I want to take on personally and professionally. Now, 31 days later, I think of everything I have done. I got the Christmas ornaments back to the attic, redid my bedroom closet, and celebrated my two sons’ birthdays. We did three big “Bookaccino Live” events, I conducted five “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews, we hosted four Winter Reading contests and two Word of Mouth giveaways, we packed up 80 books for our year-end Bets On contest, we got two sets of “Bookaccino Live” prizes out, and we did five weekly updates.

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction 2025

The American Library Association (ALA) has selected JAMES by Percival Everett as the winner of the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and A WALK IN THE PARK: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko as the winner of the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Lisa Wingate Event Signup

Lisa Wingate Event Signup

Kira Jane Buxton, author of Tartufo

After nearly losing the election to a geriatric donkey, newly installed Mayor Delizia Miccuci can’t help but feel like the sun has finally set on the rural Italian village of Lazzarini Boscarino. All that’s left is Bar Celebrità, a rustic establishment where weary locals gather to quibble over decades-long disputes, submit their poor stomachs to bartender Giuseppina’s volcanic espresso, and wonder what will become of the place where together they’ve spent their entire lives. Little do the villagers know that local truffle hunter Giovanni Scarpazza has just happened upon something that could change everything. A truffle --- un tartufo, that is --- sits beneath the soil with the power to either be the greatest gift or the foulest curse the village has ever seen.

Jessie Garcia, author of The Business Trip

Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don’t know each other but are on the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip, and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man --- the messages becoming stranger and more erratic. And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, the red flags go up, and the panic sets in. When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the questions: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women --- or what did they do to him?

Layne Fargo, author of The Favorites

Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating --- and each other --- to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers. Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the 10-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha, claiming to uncover the “real story.” Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy. So after a decade of silence, she’s telling her story.