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September First Thursday Book Discussion: Remarkably Bright Creatures

Posted on Thursday, August 20, 2026 by MaggieM

September will be full of events centered around this year’s Community One Read book, “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” by Shelby Van Pelt. You can kick off the month by joining us at noon on Thursday, September 3 at the Columbia Public Library to discuss this charming, thoughtful book, which features a giant Pacific octopus as one of the narrators.

This discussion will be led by special guest speaker, MU professor Dr. Morgan Murphy, an avid reader and veterinarian who has worked with octopuses!

“Remarkably Bright Creatures” was selected by a community vote after a committee of residents narrowed down nearly 200 nominations to just two titles: “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” and “Playground,” by Richard Powers. For those who wanted “Playground” to win, it will be the subject of the next First Thursday Book Discussion in October.

While both books have a marine theme, “Playground” has an epic conservation theme over a large span of time, while “Remarkably Bright Creatures” has a focused look at the people of a small seaside community. Van Pelt explores themes of found family, grief and healing in “Remarkably Bright Creatures.” Despite the serious subjects, the novel has a hopeful tone, showing how shared experience, community and relationships can be the difference between tragedy or triumph. Tova has been living with grief for many years, decades even. Marcellus, a giant pacific octopus at the aquarium where Tova cleans at night, narrates, “Darkness suits me.” Sometimes the people (or octopuses) that are able to venture into the dark with us are the ones to help us find our way out of the dark.

In addition to the First Thursday Book Discussion, you can further explore themes of what can be revealed in the dark by submitting an entry for the One Read Art Exhibit “Night Shift.” Or attend the exhibit reception on Friday, September 4 at Orr Street Studios.

Nonfiction Roundup: August 2026

Posted on Thursday, August 13, 2026 by Liz

Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in August. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s OverDrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.

Top Picks

“Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War” by James M. Scott (Aug 4)
At 9:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, an American bomber pierced the skies over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The single bomb it dropped unleashed an atomic hurricane that toppled homes, vaporized birds in flight and carbonized humans. Three days later, a second bomb flattened the port city of Nagasaki. In the span of a mere 75 hours, the United States — a nation once morally opposed to the bombing of civilians — killed 120,000 men, women and children, dooming tens of thousands more to agonizing death in the weeks and months ahead. “Empire of Ashes” explores the final brutal months of the war in the Pacific, featuring the voices of never-before-heard victims of the atomic bombs. Through interviews with survivors and accounts gleaned from Japanese sources, author James M. Scott combines the attacks’ heart-wrenching details with their causes and consequences, from debates within the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Oakridge, and Hanford to the fallout that would alter decades of life in Japan. Scott also delves into the political maneuvering in Washington and Tokyo between two seemingly unlikely leaders — President Harry S. Truman and Emperor Hirohito — that led to unprecedented violence and, eventually, surrender. Scott grapples with questions that still haunt the detonation of the atomic bomb to this day: What justified the first and only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict? And how does a nation reconcile the pride of liberating millions, with its own unprecedented violence? With startling immediacy, “Empire of Ashes” illuminates the moral dilemma at the center of America’s decision to inflict total war upon Japan. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: August 2026”

Book Vs. Screen: I Am Legend

Posted on Monday, August 10, 2026 by Hayden Veach

I Am Legend book and movie poster

The contenders:

Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel “I Am Legend” and Francis Lawrence’s 2007 film adaptation of the same name.

The premise:

Robert Neville is the last man on Earth after following a vampiric pandemic. He spends his time hunting vampires, providing for himself, fortifying his home and researching the plague. The story’s themes of loneliness, grief and existentialism climax in a twist ending that defines what it actually means to be a monster. Continue reading “Book Vs. Screen: I Am Legend”

Literary Links: Shelby Van Pelt’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures”

Posted on Sunday, August 9, 2026 by Seth

Shelby Van Pelt belongs to the same writing tradition as our previous year’s One Read author, Daniel Mason, who wrote most of his books while working as a doctor and professor at Stanford University. Before publishing her first novel, Van Pelt spent years in an entirely different career, mostly as a financial consultant working on litigation cases. The book also makes me think of Richard Adams’ “Watership Down,” another work about a world seen through animal eyes, but which he said in an interview was mainly written to “entertain his daughters.” 

It was an aquarium (or rather, a video of an octopus attempting a daring escape from one) that eventually pulled Van Pelt toward writing “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” her debut novel, which has also been turned into a movie (released on Netflix in 2026). Her story is one of the more unlikely publishing phenomena of the decade.

The novel centers on Tova Sullivan, a 70-year-old widow who takes a night job cleaning the Sowell Bay Aquarium on Puget Sound, partly to keep busy, but also partly to outrun a grief that has never fully resolved. Decades earlier, her teenage son Erik vanished without explanation, and Tova has spent the years since quietly waiting for an answer about his disappearance.  Continue reading “Literary Links: Shelby Van Pelt’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures””

Ad Astra: Optimistic Science Fiction

Posted on Thursday, August 6, 2026 by David Litherland

In recent times, the term “science fiction” has been nearly synonymous in popular culture with oppressive dystopias, apocalyptic end-times and struggles against technologically superior foes. From “The Hunger Games” and “1984” to “The Stand” and “The Last of Us,” our view of the future takes a turn for the grim when writers find the present wanting and imperfect.

Speculative fiction works as a mirror to our psyche: When things are looking up, there are often more optimistic views. When times are grim or uncertain, a certain pessimism works its way into our stories and media. Imagining a future means projecting out from the present, and when the present isn’t good (from the author’s point of view), well, the future can’t be much better.

However, to allow oneself to become embroiled in literary fatalism can have knock-on effects; we are what we read, after all. Even in times where things seem grim, and our stories follow suit, there are writers and books that refute, abjure, and offer alternatives to the downward spiral. Hope springs eternal, even in the face of nihilism. If you need a message that things won’t be so bad, an alternative worth working towards, or just the science fiction equivalent of a warm cup of cocoa to raise your spirits, try these books on for size, and imagine a better future for us all. Continue reading “Ad Astra: Optimistic Science Fiction”

Dinos Are For Adults, Too

Posted on Thursday, July 30, 2026 by MaggieM

Maybe you know a dino loving kid or maybe you were one. Maybe you never lost the Jurassic fever. I’m here to tell you that the adventure of digging up the ancient past, fantastic creatures, and distant worlds can be as exciting as it ever was.

Let’s start with “The Fossil Hunter,” by Shelley Emling, which recounts the life and discoveries of the young Mary Anning and the dawn of paleontology. In 1811 Mary Anning, at the age of 12, uncovered a skeleton of strange bones on England’s southern shores. The bones matched no known creatures and sparked a reckoning between science and religion throughout the Western world. Emling shares the Dickensonian tale of Anning’s start as an impoverished girl hunting trinkets (fossils) to sell to becoming the leading (if under-recognized) paleontologist of her time.

“Why Dinosaurs Matter, ” by paleontologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara is a small, charming book chocked full of wit, facts and humor. Nestled within its pleasing facade are insightful observations and reflections on what dinosaurs have to teach us. Continue reading “Dinos Are For Adults, Too”

Quintessential Comics: Unearth a Story!

Posted on Thursday, July 16, 2026 by Josh

It’s Summer Reading time! This year we are delving deep in an attempt to uncover the unknown. In the spirit of this, why not take a look at some of these graphic novel hidden gems? This list features comics that either relate to the theme of exploring the unseen or might showcase works that are more directly related to archeology-adjacent topics. With all of that in mind, let’s dig in! Continue reading “Quintessential Comics: Unearth a Story!”

Literary Links: America the Beautiful

Posted on Sunday, July 12, 2026 by David Litherland

From the redwood forest, to the Gulf Stream waters, the natural beauty and bounty of the United States has so much to offer. Since the first humans strode through its forests, deserts, valleys and mountains, we have marveled at the grandeur and majesty of its natural wonders. One of our great achievements as a country is our dedication to the conservation of nature through the National Park System, but it is not an untarnished record; it took many activists, movements and laws to keep these places pristine and open to the people of this country, and maintaining them requires constant vigilance and progress towards the ideals set by environmentalists before us. Read on to discover purple mountain majesties, amber waves of grain and what makes the United States naturally beautiful.

Book Cover: Guardians of the ValleyIf we were to choose one single person to thank for our national parks, it is John Muir. Aghast at the careless razing of forests and loose livestock left rampant in the Yosemite Valley, Muir began a grassroots effort to preserve our wondrous spaces that led him straight to the White House and into the heart of every environmentalist. “Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite” by Dean King traces Muir’s journey and activism that created the modern culture of natural conservation. Continue reading “Literary Links: America the Beautiful”

August First Thursday Book Discussion: “Atmosphere”

Posted on Thursday, July 9, 2026 by MaggieM

Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s 2025 novel, “Atmosphere,” (also available in digital formats) will be the subject of the First Thursday Book Discussion on August 6 at the Columbia Public Library. In her 2022 book, “Carrie Soto is Back,” Reid took a public subject — aging in the world of professional sports, particularly tennis — and gave it a personal dimension. The story of “Daisy Jones and the Six” brought the 60s and 70s culture and rock scene up close and personal.

This time around, Reid has tackled 1980s NASA space shuttle program. Protagonist Joan Goodwin is a straight-laced professor of astronomy and physics. She has a comfortable life with two loves, the stars and her niece. But a fire is lit under her when she sees an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join the NASA shuttle program.

Finding community, friendship, love and passion within NASA transforms Joan. She finds her voice and her place in the universe, only to have it all change in an instant during one mission in 1984.

Reid’s stories are always engaging and hard to put down. “Atmosphere,” is no exception. The story is gritty and gripping. The characters are complex, imperfect and loveable. One the surface “Atmosphere” is entertaining, but the plot rests upon deeper themes of feminism, sexuality and the human quest to know the universe.

Read “Atmosphere” this month and bring your questions on the meaning of life and our place in the universe to the Children’s Programming room in the Columbia Public Library at noon on August 6.

Nonfiction Roundup: July 2026

Posted on Monday, July 6, 2026 by Liz

Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in July. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s OverDrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.

Top Picks

“Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America’s Love for the Wild” by Heather Hansman (Jul 14)
Throughout the 20th century Georgie White, Anne LaBastille, and Dolores LaChapelle did more to inspire our love of the great outdoors than just about anyone. Georgie devoted her life to the Grand Canyon, kickstarting the river running craze in the 40s and igniting the recreation industry. Anne, a wilderness guide and bestselling author, protected endangered species and predicted the impacts of climate change from her isolated, off-grid cabin in the Adirondacks. And deep powder skier Dolores developed an environmental philosophy that shaped everything from the radical environmental movement of the ‘70s to modern conservation ethics. Now, for the first time, outdoor journalist and bestselling author Heather Hansman goes deep into multiple rugged American landscapes to bring three fascinating lives to the forefront of the outdoor movement, affirming their rightful place in the larger story of an evolving American wild.

“Biological War: A Scenario” by Annie Jacobsen (Jul 28)
A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential new book, based on dozens of new interviews with experts with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility, Annie Jacobsen examines this very scenario. It would be only a matter of days from such a global infection before the infrastructure built to handle this gravest of situations would be in a battle for human existence. The fallout: mass death, total societal breakdown, widespread insurrection, anarchy, and a plague-ravaged wasteland that no longer resembles modern civilization. In other words: dystopia. Following the gripping narrative style, Jacobsen looks deeply at a situation that is in some ways the opposite of a nuclear bomb: There is no mushroom cloud, no shock wave or blast. Instead, the scenario that could end the world as we know it begins with something so small, and something so malicious, that when used for evil, only evil can result. This is what could happen; a ticking-clock roadmap to the hours, days, and weeks following the release of a biological agent, that serves as the most essential, forward-looking journalism in preparation for urgent societal upheaval.

“The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness” by Cal Flyn (Jul 28)
From the blacksand beaches of Iceland, to river crossings deep in the Amazon jungle, to the barren beauty of Antarctica, wildernesses make up some of the world’s more alluring natural landscapes. But what is a wilderness, really? It is a powerful, ancient concept, lying at the intersection of landscape, philosophy, and ecology. And for thousands of years, people have sought out uncontrolled, unknown, or uncharted nature in search of religious epiphany, self-actualization, and an escape from modern life. More recently these “pristine” places have been seen as the subject of a last effort to repair a planet imperiled by humans. But as award-winning writer Cal Flyn traverses the most forbidding, untamed and inhospitable wild lands — the supposedly uninhabited wilds of the world—she finds that such truly untouched lands don’t exist: Nearly every wilderness has been or is actively inhabited by humans. Here we meet ascetics in search of theophany in the desert; lonely shepherds running off wolves under the stars; missionaries preaching from shacks deep in the jungle; wise lamas meditating under lofty mountain peaks. “The Savage Landscape” takes us into these breathtaking wilds — deep into dark forests, to the tops of mountains, and into the hearts of deserts — asking provocative questions about the nature of wilderness, its preservation, and its meaning.

More Notable Releases in July