Celebrate Georgia 250 with Library of Congress’ Roadmap to Reading

Every year, a list of books representing the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands is distributed by the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book during the National Book Festival. 

Each book is selected by a local Center for the Book or state library. Books may be written by authors from the state, take place in the state, or celebrate the state’s culture and heritage. This list began with mostly books for young readers, but an adult list was added in 2022, so each year, states pick both a Young Readers’ Selection and an Adult Readers’ Selection.

With the National Book Festival approaching in August, we are taking a look back on last year’s selections for Georgia.

Young Readers’ Selection 2025

The Peanut Man by Carmen Agra Deedy is a picture book that tells the story of a Cuban refugee and her joy in an unexpected encounter that connects her beloved home in Havana with her new home in Atlanta, based off of Carmen’s own life. 

With luminous illustrations by the award-winning artist Raúl Colón, this story of immigration, of being displaced and finding a connection to home, reminds us how much alike we humans are, regardless of culture, color, or creed.

Adult Readers’ Selection 2025

There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone is a nonfiction book telling the story of the working homeless. 

In this gripping and deeply reported book, Brian Goldstone plunges readers into the lives of five Atlanta families struggling to remain housed in a gentrifying, increasingly unequal city, illuminating the true magnitude, causes, and consequences of the new American homelessness–and shows that it won’t be solved until housing is treated as a fundamental human right.

Visit Georgia Center for the Book to see previous years’ honorees.

Jessica Dillard
Information Specialist
Denmark Library

Unreadable Podcast Transcript - July 2026

In this episode Ross speaks with Brandon Mull, bestselling author of the middle grade fantasy series Fablehaven. Brandon talks about his writing career, his many different novels and series, as well as his newest middle grade epic fantasy Forbidden Mountain which came out this year. Brandon Mull will be visiting the Forsyth Conference Center in person on July 25th at 3:00 pm. You can reserve your spot via our website.

Adult Fiction Staff Pick: Of Monsters and Mainframes

Of Monsters and Mainframes is an unexpectedly delightful serving of classic monsters, space, robots, horror, comedy, and a sweet side of found family. Once you pick up this book, you will have finished it and you won’t be able to determine if your stomach hurts from laughing or crying. 

On her maiden voyage the luxury cruise spaceship, Demeter, wakes up from a power down with all her passengers dead. The only survivor remaining is Dracula. When she reaches her destination, she is named a ghost ship by humanity and once her name is besmirched and it is hard to clear it. Not to mention all the succeeding voyages end in disaster one way or another. With the help of a slew of monsters and her fellow med-bay AI, Steward, Demeter must clear her name before she is decommissioned for good. 

As someone who is typically interested in horror and less so in science fiction this had everything I could want in a book! I have named this book to be my favorite of last year and recommend it to any horror, sci-fi, or comedy fan. It is also a fairly quick read despite the number of pages, due to the dialogue text sprinkled throughout as the AI characters interact with each other. 

Recommended for fans of: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, and All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Isa
Information Specialist
Cumming Library