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Reading Recommendations

What We’re Reading – March

Are you looking for your next great read? We can help! Visit us in person, explore reading recommendations online, join an in-person or online book discussion, get recommendations on Facebook, tune in to our televised book club segments, and more. Get started here!

Sunday Nights on Facebook
Join us on Sunday nights at 8:30pm on Facebook for Currently Reading. Enjoy this hour during which book enthusiasts share favorite books and offer suggestion about what to read next. Find out about the books that have everyone talking.

Indy Now Book Club
Catch book recommendations and IndyPL program highlights from your own local librarians once a month on the Indy Now Morning Show with Ryan and Jillian on Fox59. The show airs at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays. Browse our past appearances.

In-Person & Online Book Discussions
Do you love talking about books? Join one of our book discussions or book clubs available both in-person and online.

Online Reading Recommendations
NovelList and NovelList K-8 are online services that offer reading recommendations. Browse both fiction and nonfiction, read-alike suggestions, series information, reviews, and lists of recommended and award-winning books for adults, teens and kids. Learn how to start on this video tutorial. Also try Book Connections which includes a “find the right book for you” feature.

Would you prefer one-on-one help? Call or ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email ask-a- librarian.

Make a selection from one of the book lists below created by our staff of avid readers. You can also follow our staff’s most recently published lists on the library catalog home page. Don’t miss our If You Like… suggestions that cover all the favorite genres like science fiction, graphic novels, romance, and more. Finally, don’t miss What We’re Reading Teens and What We’re Reading Kids.

Literary Fiction featuring Strong Women

I love a great book with a strong female character! These are the best of the best from my read pile to celebrate Women’s History Month. Learn more about Women’s History and browse additional staff reading recommendations.

Title - MigrationsTitle - The MerciesTitle - Rules of CivilityTitle - When Women Were Dragons

What to Read Next Based on Your Favorite Timothy Egan Book

Timothy Egan is a prolific nonfiction writer who has tackled a wide variety of subjects including the KKK in Indiana, the history of the West and Pacific North West, and a moving portrait of the Dust Bowl. In this list, each of Timothy Egan’s sweeping and well-researched books is paired with a nonfiction book and a fiction book that capture some of the same themes.

Whether you’re a first time reader of Egan or have devoured everything he has to offer, you should be able to find your next book here!

Join us March 20 at the Madam Walker Legacy Center for the 46th Annual Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture featuring a special discussion with acclaimed historian Timothy Egan, acclaimed writer and veteran chronicler of the American experience, and author of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.

Tickets are free but extremely limited and will be available to the public beginningFriday, March 7 at 5 p.m., while supplies last. Sign up for a reminder to secure your free ticket.

Learn more about this year’s Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture.

Title - A Fever in the HeartlandTitle - Black KlansmanTitle - Ring ShoutTitle - A Pilgrimage to Eternity

Waiting for Onyx Storm?

The third book in the Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros following “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame” comes out on January 21st. While you what for it to come out (or for your hold to come through), try one of the following!

Pro Tip- Put multiple formats on hold! Sometimes the e-book will come in before the physical book. Just don’t forget to cancel your extra holds when you’re done reading so it can go to the next person!

Title - Onyx StormTitle - Fourth WingTitle - The Dragonriders of PernTitle - His Majesty

Love and Women in Basketball

If you’re feeling a March Madness vibe, you might find something to enjoy among this mix of narrative books and films featuring female characters who know how to play the game! Learn more about Women’s History and browse additional staff reading recommendations.

Title - No Stopping Us NowTitle - Love & BasketballTitle - The Avant-GuardsTitle - One on One

Oh, Sweetie!

Books about Sweet Potatoes… Growing them, eating them, and even a bit of humor about them. Browse our complete listing of 2025 Gardening Workshops.

Title - Encyclopedia of GardeningTitle - PotatoTitle - Buried TreasuresTitle - The Potatopia Cookbook

Kaiju Survival Guide: What To Do If Giant Monsters Attack

I spend a lot of time contemplating what I would do if a giant rampaging monster, also known as a kaiju, attacked. If you also worry about what to do, I’ve compiled a list of tips and accompanying media to provide guidance. Disclaimer: this list is strictly meant for entertainment and not meant to help in the event of an actual kaiju attack. Even if these tips aren’t genuine, you can still use this list to find genuinely entertaining kaiju-related books, graphic novels, and films.

Title - GodzillaTitle - Kaiju UnleashedTitle - Godzilla minus oneTitle - Kaiju No. 8

You Had Me at "Hello"

Sometimes you fall for a book from the very first lines. In this list you’ll find some of my favorite books whose opening has stuck with me. Perhaps one of these titles will intrigue and entice you!

Title - The Thief of AlwaysTitle - UgliesTitle - The Haunting of Hill HouseTitle - Butcher & Blackbird

Waiting for Everything is Tuberculosis?

John Green’s new book, Everything is Tuberculosis, combines Green’s trademark empathy and wit with science, history, and storytelling. Check out these other books on disease history that all have unique ways of making us understand how disease has shaped our stories, cultures, and lives.

Title - Everything Is TuberculosisTitle - RabidTitle - PathogenesisTitle - A Cure for Darkness

Culinary Book Club – Cookbooks about Retro Recipes

It is fun to look back at recipes our friends and relatives created for us for many of our family and friend events. Take a look back at another era and see what you may find.

Title - Retro Recipes From the Title - The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Sixties CookbookTitle - Taste of Home Vintage Recipes Made EasyTitle - Retro Cakes and Cookies

Indiana Geology & Geography

Indiana’s geology and geography is as fascinating as its people. From secluded waterfalls, to limestone caves, to fossil evidence of ancient seas, Indiana has plenty of wonders to explore.

Title - The Complete Guide to Indiana State ParksTitle - Wild & Scenic IndianaTitle - Indiana Rocks!Title - A Guide to Caves and Karst of Indiana

Women in Art

March is Women’s History Month. Learn more about these amazing female artists. Learn more about Women’s History and browse additional staff reading recommendations.

Title - The Female GazeTitle - The Passion of ArtemesiaTitle - Faith RinggoldTitle - Augusta Savage

The Revolution Will Be Type-written

A collection of odes to the Typewriter. Green Machine. Anti-AI. Object d’Art. Write your novel! Type a letter! Bang the keys! They make a wonderful clickety clackety sound, to bringing your thoughts alive.

Title - The Typewriter RevolutionTitle - OlivettiTitle - California TypewriterTitle - Smoking Typewriters

Poetry in Translation

Translating poetry from one language to another is an art form all its own. In this list you’ll find works representing many languages from around the world and across time—ancient to modern. Many of the poems in these collections are shared in their original languages in addition to their English translations. Enjoy!

Title - ÆdnanTitle - Bedouin Poets of the Nafūd DesertTitle - The Blue HouseTitle - Catullus

Writing Suspense

John F. Allen was at the East 38th Street branch last week, offering a workshop on Writing Suspense. Here are a number of titles to go along with the workshop. There aren’t any more on the schedule at the moment, but Mr. Allen presents at the Library often. If you get the chance to attend, you’ll be glad you did!

Title - HowdunitTitle - How to Write A Page TurnerTitle - Elements of Fiction Writing--conflict and SuspenseTitle - Thrill Me

Information Literacy for the Digital Age

Find a self-guided course from Northstar Digital Literacy on Information Literacy and other computer and smartphone topics. Information Literacy is more important than ever with an ever-increasing number of sources for information. Learn the skills and attitudes that will help you use and communicate information effectively. The skills are also necessary to keep yourself safe when communicating and researching online.

Title - Title - MLA Guide to Digital LiteracyTitle - Learning in A Time of AbundanceTitle - Metaliteracy