Thanks for reading!
Thank you for following along with the High Country News summer reading challenge this year. I hope you had fun dreaming up books to meet this year’s prompts, submitting your favorites, seeing what other HCNers were reading and catching some of our favorite authors live talking about their latest work.
All of this year’s book submissions are still available below. Let me know if you enjoyed this summer’s reading challenge and what you’re looking forward to next year at dearfriends@hcn.org.
— Michael Schrantz
Your book picks for summer 2023
Browse the books submitted by HCN readers for this year’s summer reading challenge! If you use the links below to purchase a book at Bookshop.org, High Country News may receive a small commission. Or, you can choose to support your local bookstore with your Bookshop.org purchase. There are also links to WorldCat, which can help you find that title in a library near you.
Events
Gloria Dickie, Eight Bears
Gloria Dickie is an award-winning journalist who’s currently a global climate and environment correspondent at Reuters News Agency — as well as a former High Country News intern! In Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future, she embarks on a globe-trotting journey to examine the stories of the eight remaining bear species.
Ben Goldfarb, Crossings
HCN Correspondent Ben Goldfarb’s latest book, Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, looks at the ways roads have impacted wildlife — far beyond harms like roadkill. Roads interrupt migrations, contaminate waterways, spread invasive species and even chase away songbirds through traffic noise, but the new science of road ecology is also researching solutions.
Vauhini Vara, This Is Salvaged
Vauhini Vara — author of The Immortal King Rao, a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction — explores the intricacies of relationships in her latest story collection: This is Salvaged. A young girl reads the encyclopedia to her elderly neighbor, who is descending into dementia. A pair of teenagers seek intimacy as phone-sex operators. A competitive sibling tries to rise above the drunken mess of her own life to become a loving aunt. One sister consumes the ashes of another.
Leaderboard
Jane Cates from Littleton Colorado has submitted 9 picks.
Chris Seeholzer from Sedona, AZ has submitted 9 picks.
Georgeanne Hanna from Prescott Valley, AZ has submitted 9 picks.
Karin Edwards from Estes Park has submitted 9 picks.
Madison Fowler-Niblock from Eugene, OR has submitted 6 picks.
Steve Bremner from Manitou Springs Colorado has submitted 6 picks.
Zoë Plakias from Bellingham, WA has submitted 5 picks.
Amy Brunvand from Salt Lake City, Utah has submitted 5 picks.
Sara Amish from Golden, CO has submitted 4 picks.
Gretchen King from Gunnison, Colorado has submitted 3 picks.
Bookshop
Browse books that High Country News has covered recently.