July is Disability Pride Month! Learn more about the history, experiences, and contributions of the disabled community by reading books by authors with disabilities.

On this episode, we also introduce the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.

Teens and adults, from now through December 30, 2024, keep track of books you read or listen to by writing the title and author in the matching square. Complete all 25 squares for a chance to win a $100 Joseph-Beth gift card or an Amazon Kindle. You’ll also earn an enamel pin (while supplies last).

Carrie's Pick

In How to Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir, Lexington resident Shayla Lawson explores what it means to travel the world as a Black, nonbinary, and disabled person. 

The reader accompanies Lawson (who uses they/them pronouns) on journeys that span from young adulthood to early middle age, from New York City to Tokyo to Zimbabwe and many other places.

Pairing: Banana Pie, a recipe found in the Bermuda entry of library database AtoZ World Food. (To log in, enter your library card number.)

Michael's Pick

When Chuck Tingle's Bury Your Gays opens, Misha Byrne, a writer for the famed Harold Brothers’ Studios, is on top of the world. 

His short film has been nominated for an Oscar and his popular television series, Travelers, is about to wrap its third season with a grand finale where the two agents finally confess their feelings for each other.

Except now, the studio higher-ups want him to axe that part and have one of his agents tragically die “for the algorithm.” 

This satirical horror novel about creating stories is layered yet fast-paced and compelling, using unease and disorientation to ratchet up the tension. 

Pairing: A flute of California 75.

Jacqueline's Pick

Storm and Fury is a paranormal YA novel set in a supernatural world full of gargoyles, demons, and a girl, Trinity, who must be protected at all costs. 

Trinity is lonely because she lives in a gargoyle compound. Only her Protector, Misha, and her father figures, Matthew and Thierry, know the truth about her past and what she is. 

Though Trinity is actually more powerful than any of the gargoyles, she must learn to compensate for her vision losses as she prepares for a supernatural battle.

Pairing: Homemade vanilla ice cream.