O/U Nature & More Book Club - January 2026
Outside/Underground Book Club is a bi-monthly reading group for those who want to learn more about the fascinating world around us . O/U explores topics around science and nature through memoir, poetry, non-fiction & more. We meet every other LAST Thursday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.
This month’s O/U Book Club selection is Genius of Trees: How They Mastered the Elements and Shaped the World by Harriet Rix. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in January to discuss.
*****
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
For a supposedly stationary life-form, trees have demonstrated an astonishing mastery over the environment around them. In The Genius of Trees, tree scientist Harriet Rix reveals the inventive ways trees sculpt their environment and explains the science of how they achieve these incredible feats. Taking us on an awe-inspiring journey through deep history and unseen biochemistry across the globe, Rix restores trees to their rightful station, not as victims of our negligence but as ingenious, stunningly inventive agents in a grand ecological narrative. Trees manipulate fundamental elements, plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, and even humankind to achieve their ends, as seen with oaks in Devon, England, shaping ecosystems through root networks and fungi, and in Amedi, Iraq, changing sexes as they age; laurel rainforests in the Canary Islands regulating water cycles; and metasequoias in California influencing microclimates.
Some tree species have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure their fruits reach large primates, who can spread their seeds over vast distances, while poisoning smaller and less useful mammals. Others can split solid rock and create fertile ground in barren landscapes, effectively building entire ecosystems from scratch. And new discoveries are constantly coming to light: research has shown that trees have an even greater role in preventing global warming than we thought--trees, at one time thought to produce methane actually consume it. We share one world with trees and one need for survival.
This eye-opening journey into the inner lives of nature’s most powerful plant is a profoundly new and original way of understanding both the miracles trees perform and the glories of our natural world.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Rotating Reads Book Club - February 2026
Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.
Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!
For the month of January, Rotating Reads Book Club is on the Fiction round! Join your hosts to discuss Nia Sioux’s Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life.
*****
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Sioux's harrowing reality TV ordeal cuts deep, and her subsequent self-assurance is endearing and infectious. It adds up to an inspiring account of reclaiming artistic agency." - Publisher's Weekly
When you've been told over and over that you belong at the bottom, how do you come out on top? Dance Moms star and triple threat Nia Sioux shows the way via her story of resilience, triumph, and defining success for herself.
Young dancer Nia Sioux was only nine years old when she stepped into stardom as one of the original cast members of Lifetime's reality TV show Dance Moms. Nia learned new choreography week after week and competed against dancers from across the country as well as at her own studio. Perhaps her greatest obstacle was suffering through her dance teacher's ranking of the girls against each other in her infamous pyramid, where Nia spent the majority of her time on the bottom--all in front of an audience of millions.
But there was much that viewers didn't see. How her experiences in the studio went far beyond what made it into the show. How she was ostracized for not fitting into an aesthetic that wasn't designed for girls like her. How her friendships and her mental health crumbled under the strain of the show. How she lost control of her story and her voice.
But don't be fooled--this is a story about resilience. Nia is not looking for pity, sympathy, or validation as she reflects on her experiences. Instead, she is choosing to use her story as a celebration of triumph. Nia finally gets to tell her story in her own way and in her own words. In this captivating memoir, Nia reclaims both the spotlight and her narrative.
In addition to going behind the scenes of the seven seasons of Dance Moms, she shows how she fought against the negative perceptions that dominated her tween and teen years and emerged as a confident young woman secure in her talents and her direction. Anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, overlooked, or stuck at the bottom of the pyramid will be inspired by Nia's story of overcoming. "Despite barriers and constant naysayers, assumptions and criticisms, only you know who you are inside and out," Nia says. "And you have the power to create your own narrative, your own level of success."
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
First Fridays OPEN MIC
Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.
Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)
Dragon Dreams: A Romantasy Book Club - February 2026
Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
February’s Dragon Dreams selection is The Ascended by Greenwich and Lennox. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in January to discuss!
*****
Revenge demands the ultimate sacrifice. When twins Thais and Thatcher are thrust into the deadly Trials of Ascension, they'll navigate brutal competitions andforbidden desires, discovering some secrets are worth dying for-and others are worth killing for.
In a world where divine power bleeds into the mortal realm, Thais Morvaren has mastered the art of deception. To her seaside village, she's just a fisherman's daughter,serving oysters to summer tourists. In secret, she hides her ability to forge starlight-apower that would force her into the deadly Trials of Ascension.
But when a priest's ritual exposes her powers, Thais is seized and conscripted into thetrials against her will. Now trapped in a competition she never wanted to enter, she transforms her fear into purpose: to kill the King of the Gods.
To take down one of the Aesymar, she must become one, even if it costs her everything.
What she doesn't expect is her twin brother's powers suddenly manifesting, forcing him into the trials alongside her-leaving Thais to protect more than just herself.
Worse still, the selection ceremony binds her to a mentor: Xül. A necromancer prince with blood-soaked hands, a sharp tongue, and dark secrets of his own. From the moment they meet, sparks fly. He's insufferably arrogant, she's stubborn to the bone,and neither has any intention of yielding to the other... or to the heat between them.
Each trial survived brings her closer to godhood, but beneath the spectacle of competition, something ancient and malevolent stalks the shadows of the divine realm-a darkness that threatens to unravel the heavens themselves.
The cost of godhood is rising.
Because some stars aren't meant to be weapons.
Some stars are meant to fall.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
The Epiloguers: Honest Talk About Death and Dying
Losing a loved one is difficult. Processing the many feelings about the loss is different for everyone.
Studies show that coming to terms with ones mortality can be achieved through a better understanding of end-of-life. As “epiloguers,” we strive to collaboratively create our concluding piece at the end of our journey, facing the reality of death, and embracing a positive approach to living each day.
The Epiloguers Book Club aims to create a safe space for people to gather and discuss death and dying.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. This group is facilitated by community member Karen Quasney, we’re happy to connect you with her. This group meets on the last Thursday of every other month.
February’s “The Epiloguers” selection is Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop. (Book club members take 10% off book club reads!) Join us in February to discuss!
*****
In this moving and compassionate classic, hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years’ experience tending the terminally ill—now updated with new material from the authors.
Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share.
Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-12pm EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Facing Change Book Club - March 2026
Join us for Facing Change Book Club, a group that examines todays events through non-fiction and helps address the question of “What is happening?!” Facing Change meets (loosely) every first Sunday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.
For the new year, Facing Change is reading The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in January to discuss!
*****
The bestselling author of No Logo shows how the global "free market" has exploited crises and shock for three decades, from Chile to Iraq
In her groundbreaking reporting, Naomi Klein introduced the term "disaster capitalism." Whether covering Baghdad after the U.S. occupation, Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, or New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this time with economic "shock treatment," losing their land and homes to rapid-fire corporate makeovers.
The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence in order to implement its economic policies in so many parts of the world from Latin America and Eastern Europe to South Africa, Russia, and Iraq.
At the core of disaster capitalism is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization combined with the privatization of the disaster response itself. Klein argues that by capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, the disaster capitalism complex now exists as a booming new economy, and is the violent culmination of a radical economic project that has been incubating for fifty years.
Rotating Reads Book Club - March 2026
Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.
Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!
For the month of January, Rotating Reads Book Club is on the Fiction round! Join your hosts to discuss Jaws by Peter Benchley, the book-turned-movie that keeps you on your toes while seeing who wins the battle between man and shark.
*****
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The shark-versus-man classic that inspired the blockbuster Steven Spielberg movie—now in a fiftieth anniversary edition with an exclusive foreword from the author’s wife, renowned ocean conservation advocate Wendy Benchley
“A tightly written, tautly paced study of terror.”—The Washington Post
A great white shark terrorizes the beautiful summer getaway of Amity Island, and a motley group of men take to the water to do battle with the beast. A heart-pounding novel of suspense and a brilliant meditation on the nature of humanity, Jaws is one of the most iconic thrillers ever written.
In addition to Wendy Benchley’s foreword, this edition features bonus content from Peter Benchley’s archives, including the manuscript’s original typed title page, a brainstorming list of possible titles, a letter from Benchley to film producer David Brown with candid feedback on the movie adaptation, and excerpts from Benchley’s book Shark Trouble,highlighting his firsthand account of writing Jaws, selling it to Universal Studios, and working with Steven Spielberg.
After writing Jaws in the early 1970s, Peter Benchley was actively engaged with scientists and filmmakers, and over the ensuing decades, joined many expeditions around the world as they expanded their knowledge of sharks and shark behavior. He encouraged each new generation of Jaws fans to enjoy his riveting tale and to channel their excitement into support and protection of these magnificent prehistoric apex predators.
First Fridays OPEN MIC
Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.
Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)
O/U Nature & More Book Club - March 2026
Outside/Underground Book Club is a bi-monthly reading group for those who want to learn more about the fascinating world around us . O/U explores topics around science and nature through memoir, poetry, non-fiction & more. We meet every other LAST Thursday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.
This month’s O/U Book Club selection is The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in January to discuss.
*****
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit—a fascinating display of plant behavior and sensory abilities, to name just a few remarkable talents.
The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In this captivating exploration of plant intelligence, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.
What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how insights into plant communication influence our understanding of what a plant is.
We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world, tackling the enthralling question of plant consciousness along the way.
Praised as “a masterpiece of science writing,” The Light Eaters uncovers a world of botanical wonders, including:
Plant Senses: Can a pea seedling hear running water? Does a flower know when a bee is approaching? A deep dive into the astonishing sensory abilities of the plant kingdom.
The Great Debate: Go inside the labs and heated arguments of a scientific field in turmoil as researchers grapple with the evidence for plant intelligence and what it means for the future of botany.
A New View of Life: From vines that mimic other plants to trees that recognize their own kin, discover a parallel system of life that challenges our very definition of agency and being.
Groundbreaking Botanical Science: Journey across the globe with author Zoë Schlanger as she joins the researchers uncovering the latest epiphanies about the drama, complexity, and rich social lives of the green world.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Dragon Dreams: A Romantasy Book Club - January 2026
Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
January’s Dragon Dreams selection is Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow! Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in January to discuss!
*****
Instant New York Times bestseller • USA Today bestseller • National Indie bestseller
From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart.
Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters—but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.
Centuries later, Owen Mallory—failed soldier, struggling scholar—falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives—and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.
But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend—if they want to tell a different story--they’ll have to rewrite history itself.
Facing Change Book Club - January 2026
Join us for Facing Change Book Club, a group that examines todays events through non-fiction and helps address the question of “What is happening?!” Facing Change meets (loosely) every first Sunday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.
For the new year, Facing Change is reading Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison . Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in January to discuss!
*****
#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Neoliberalism is the dominant ideology of our time. It shapes us in countless ways, yet most of us struggle to articulate what it is. Worse, we have been persuaded to accept this extreme creed as a kind of natural law. In Invisible Doctrine, journalist George Monbiot and filmmaker Peter Hutchison shatter this myth. They show how a fringe philosophy in the 1930s—championing competition as the defining feature of humankind—was systematically hijacked by a group of wealthy elites, determined to guard their fortunes and power. Think tanks, corporations, the media, university departments and politicians were all deployed to promote the idea that people are consumers, rather than citizens.
One of the most pernicious effects has been to make our various crises—from climate disasters to economic crashes, from the degradation of public services to rampant child poverty—seem unrelated. In fact, they have all been exacerbated by the “invisible doctrine,” which subordinates democracy to the power of money. Monbiot and Hutchison connect the dots—and trace a direct line from neoliberalism to fascism, which preys on people’s hopelessness and desperation.
Speaking out against the fairy tale of capitalism and populist conspiracy theories, Monbiot and Hutchison lay the groundwork for a new politics, one based on truly participatory democracy and “private sufficiency, public luxury”: an inspiring vision that could help bring the neoliberal era to an end.
First Fridays OPEN MIC
Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.
Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)
Rotating Reads Book Club - January 2026
Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.
Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!
For the month of January, Rotating Reads Book Club is on the Fiction round! Join your hosts, Melanie and Erin, to discuss Claire Dederer’s Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, an exploration on readers’ relationship to authors such as Virginia Woolf and artists like Michael Jackson.
*****
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From the author of the New York Times best seller Poser and the acclaimed memoir Love and Trouble, Monsters is “part memoir, part treatise, and all treat” (The New York Times). This unflinching, deeply personal book expands on Claire Dederer’s instantly viral Paris Review essay, "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?"
Can we love the work of artists such as Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Miles Davis, Polanski, or Picasso? Should we? Dederer explores the audience's relationship with artists from Michael Jackson to Virginia Woolf, asking: How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? And if an artist is also a mother, does one identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. Does genius deserve special dispensation? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss?
Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.
Spooky Book Club - December 2025
Spooky Book Club is a monthly reading group for the macabre-curious. The genres we explore are often horror, horror-adjacent literature, thriller, supernatural, gothic & more. We meet every LAST Friday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Spooky Book Club also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
December’s Spooky Book Club selection is The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in December to discuss!
*****
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
The long-awaited new novel from the author of global sensation Tender Is the Flesh: a thrilling work of literary horror about a woman cloistered in a secretive, violent religious order, while outside the world has fallen into chaos.
From her cell in a mysterious convent, a woman writes the story of her life in whatever she can find—discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood. A lower member of the Sacred Sisterhood, deemed an unworthy, she dreams of ascending to the ranks of the Enlightened at the center of the convent and of pleasing the foreboding Superior Sister. Outside, the world is plagued by catastrophe—cities are submerged underwater, electricity and the internet are nonexistent, and bands of survivors fight and forage in a cruel, barren landscape. Inside, the narrator is controlled, punished, but safe.
But when a stranger makes her way past the convent walls, joining the ranks of the unworthy, she forces the narrator to consider her long-buried past—and what she may be overlooking about the Enlightened. As the two women grow closer, the narrator is increasingly haunted by questions about her own past, the environmental future, and her present life inside the convent. How did she get to the Sacred Sisterhood? Why can’t she remember her life before? And what really happens when a woman is chosen as one of the Enlightened?
A searing, dystopian tale about climate crisis, ideological extremism, and the tidal pull of our most violent, exploitative instincts, this is another unforgettable novel from a master of feminist horror. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-unworthy-agustina-bazterrica/21530471?ean=9781668051887&next=t
Author Book Signing, Gabrielle Robinson
We’re happy to welcome back South Bend resident Gabrielle Robinson for a chat and a book-signing. Api’s Berlin Diaries is a haunting story of personal survival during the fall of Berlin at the end of WW2—and an unflinching coming to terms with a family’s Nazi past.
Buchanan for the Holidays + Small Business Saturday + OUR BIRTHDAY!
It’s more important than ever to support local independent businesses and Small Business Saturday is the perfect occasion! Come in to celebrate Buchanan for the Holidays! We will be boasting holiday-themed and best-of-the-year books as well as so many gifts and surprises you’ll love.
AND this year we’ve entered the window decorating contest for the first time. Come by to take a look and wish us luck!
PLUS it’s our BIRTHDAY, we’ll be two years old TODAY! We’ll have treats and drinks all day, help us raise a glass and wish for many more years as part of our beautiful community!
Spooky Book Club - November 2025
Spooky Book Club is a monthly reading group for the macabre-curious. The genres we explore are often horror, horror-adjacent literature, thriller, supernatural, gothic & more. We meet every LAST Friday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Spooky Book Club also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
November’s Spooky Book Club selection is Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in November to discuss!
*****
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL • NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
“Defiantly populated with living women . . . beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . . Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling.” —Katie Kitamura, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Editors' Choice)
"A searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. . . . Compassionate and thought-provoking." –BRIT BENNETT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half
Recommended by New York Times Book Review • Los Angeles Times • Washington Post • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • Good Housekeeping • USA Today • Buzzfeed • Goodreads • Real Simple • Marie Claire • Rolling Stone • Business Insider • Bustle • PopSugar • The Millions • The Guardian • and many more!
In the tradition of Long Bright River and The Mars Room, a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life—from the bestselling author of Girl in Snow.
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood.
Through a kaleidoscope of women—a mother, a sister, a homicide detective—we learn the story of Ansel’s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all; and finally, Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.
Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men.
"Poetic and mesmerizing . . . Powerful, important, intensely human, and filled with a unique examination of tragedy, one where the reader is left with a curious emotion: hope." —USA TODAY
“A profound and staggering experience of empathy that challenges us to confront what it means to be human in our darkest moments. . . . I relished every page of this brilliant and gripping masterpiece."—ASHLEY AUDRAIN, New York Times bestselling author of The Push https://bookshop.org/p/books/notes-on-an-execution-danya-kukafka/16909648?ean=9780063052741&next=t
South Bend Silent Book Club
Come join on-the-move South Bend Silent Book Club for a cozy evening of reading at Glendora Bookshop! SBSBC is the perfect place to unwind, meet fellow book lovers, and enjoy some quiet reading time. Bring your favorite book and immerse yourself in a relaxing atmosphere. No assigned reading, no pressure - just pure bookish bliss. See you there!
Eventbrite info here.
Dragon Dreams: A Romantasy Book Club - November 2025
Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
November’s Dragon Dreams selection is Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in November to discuss!
*****
The breakout romantasy sensation by Rachel Schneider that has taken the Internet by storm – bursting with suspense, romance, and breathtaking twists, this heart-stopping debut now has an embossed cover, silver foiling, and bonus scene from the highly anticipated sequel, LIGHT WIELDER.
Even though she's not one of them, Brynn has spent her life among the Alaha, training to be a guard and waiting for the chance to attend the annual market hosted by the Kenta–the very same people who exiled her adopted community to a life at sea. Going to the market is a rite of passage eagerly anticipated by all young guards, but Brynn does not anticipate breaking a century-long peace treaty while there. Nor does she plan for the intense encounter with an enemy soldier that now threatens to unwind the fragile coexistence between their people–and everything Brynn once believed about herself to be true.
Brynn's loyalty to the Alaha is tested when the truth of her identity is brought to light by this soldier who's taken an oath to bring her back to where she belongs. Narrowly escaping death on the violent high seas, Brynn's connection to the Alaha is further tested when she learns about the world of magic she's been denied. She was once certain of her fate and where she belonged, but the dark, knowing eyes of this stranger have her questioning everything, including her heart.
Packed with knife fights and seafaring adventure, METAL SLINGER is the smash-hit start to the romantic fantasy duology, the Fire & Metal series.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/metal-slinger-fire-metal-book-one-rachel-schneider/51f488530693a051?ean=9781250419088&next=t
Author Event with Jan Wiezorek
Join us in welcoming poet and book friend Jan Wiezorek for our November Author Event and celebrate his latest work, Prayer’s Prairie. Along with his poetry, Jan will be sharing his process with us and we’ll open the floor to questions and signings after the reading. Enjoy refreshments while you’re here and get your book signed in person! Copies of Jan’s book Prayer’s Prairie are on sale at the shop now and available for purchase day of event as well.
If you’re looking for a way to meet new people (or just find something fun & different to do!) mark your calendars for one of our monthly Author Events!
*****
Prayer's Prairie digs into a terrain and its people, past and present, to upturn and preserve artifacts of the mind.
Artfully composed and immersive, set among the fires and grasses from the Great Lakes to the Northern Plains, these poems revere the prairie-scape and the Prayer's complexities of lives and deaths on its soils. Its people show a compassion "that still salves, still stings."
The rough loveliness of the habitat emerges from the soil-the "wild onion, clover, stinging nettles, husks and rasps" are "entitled to be prairie." And its inhabitants are called to higher standards. A speaker calls out destruction in the name of progress, posing questions such as
"If the / machine is dominant, what and who / are submissive, and why?"
Yet, much remains. The poems are a recognition of the beautiful permanence of this land and the generations who lived there. https://bookshop.org/p/books/prayer-s-prairie-jan-wiezorek/22699712?ean=9781950744237&next=t
First Fridays OPEN MIC
Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.
Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Rotating Reads Book Club - November 2025
Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.
Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!
For the month of November, Rotating Reads Book Club will conduct their second Book Report round! It’s a literary free-for-all, just be prepared to share what you’re reading with your book club cohort. Sell someone on whatever you just read? Feel free to book-swap with friends! This is a great way to learn about genres you’re less familiar with and to build community over books. The best part… these reports will NOT be graded!
Here’s a preview of the Book Report Discussion Format for those of you who like to come prepared!
Title & Author
Genre & Vibe (Is it a tearjerker? A page-turner? A slog worth finishing?)
Why You Chose It
Quick Summary (No spoilers)
Favorite Line or Moment
Rating (Out of 5 Stars)
Would You Recommend It (And to Whom?)
One Thing It Made You Think About
*****
Facing Change Book Group - November 2025
Join us for Facing Change Book Club, a group that examines todays events through non-fiction and helps address the question of “What is happening?!” Facing Change meets (loosely) every first Sunday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.
For November, Facing Change is reading Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in November to discuss!
*****
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.
Spooky Book Club - October 2025
Spooky Book Club is a monthly reading group for the macabre-curious. The genres we explore are often horror, horror-adjacent literature, thriller, supernatural, gothic & more. We meet every LAST Friday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Spooky Book Club also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
October’s Spooky Book Club selection is The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in October to discuss!
*****
Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber—which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan’s 1984 movie The Company of Wolves—she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-bloody-chamber/17744851?ean=9780143107613&next=t
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Spooky Adult (& Kids!) Book Fair
We’re teaming up with River Saint Joe again for a Spooky Adult Book Fair! Bring your book club friends & fam for a night of thrills, chills & ALES at Frightfully Good Reads Halloween Book Fair! We’ll have a selection of specially curated reads for all ages, stickers, and (for the adventurous ghouls and goblins out there) surprise books! It’s always a fun time when we collaborate with RSJ, and we hope to see you out there.
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Autumn Refresh Book Sale
Autumn means warm socks, apple orchards, spiced everything and - oh! This is new… BOOK SALES! That’s right, stock up on cozy reads before the year ends at our Autumn Refresh Book Sale! Starting Thursday October 23rd and going through Sunday October 26th, we’ll have titles from all genres on sale from 25-40% off! We’ll be opening our Used Book Drop Off all week as well if you have any seasonal refreshing to do yourself before we start nesting for chillier months ahead.
Wrangle your book club friends and bring the whole family down for the sale - see you then!
Author Event with Kristen Dobson
Join us for a late morning Author Event with mother and daughter duo, Children’s Author Kristen Dobson and Illustrator Sophie Dobson! Kristen will read from her book Lolly and the ‘Tudes and share some of the inspiration for her writing. Sophie will share her artistic process with us as well. We will have copies of Kristen and Sophie’s book in house before and during the event, so be sure to grab a copy while we have them. Bring the kids by - this is a family affair!
*****
"A refreshing story centered and grounded in the love of a grandmother for her grandchildren. . . . deep yet whimsical and lovingly real. . . . My heart is full." --Dr. Nancy P. Nekvasil, Professor Emerita and former President of Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN
Watch out for Opal and Arlie! Giggles may erupt. Tears may flow. Feet may dance or fists might fly. You just never know what emotions may be whirling around. These two are full of attitude. Does this make them less lovable? In this beautifully illustrated children's book, little boys and girls will see their own emotions reflected and be assured of their gramma's love no matter whether (or should we say "weather") they're happy or sad, silly or mad.
"'Lolly and the 'Tudes' is a brilliant reminder of the timeless love between a grandmother and her grandchildren--no matter the circumstances. Just like seasons, moods change, but Lolly's devotion to her grandchildren weathers all." --Dr. Becky Thompson, English Professor, North Greenville University
"A beautiful story that reassures children of a grandmother's unwavering love through every up and down of their emotions. A sweet tale to share with my grandchildren!"-Tricia Goyer, author of over 90 books, including Wonders of the Ocean Realm, and co-host of The Daily Bible Podcast. https://bookshop.org/p/books/lolly-and-the-tudes-kristen-n-dobson/22073183?ean=9798385035427&next=t
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Rotating Reads Book Club - Oct 2025
Join us for Rotating Reads Book Club, a reading group that explores fiction, non-fiction, memoir/biography and classics every first Thursday of the month. For a fun twist, one of these months will also be a freestyle "book report" where everyone reads something different, and shares what they read with the group.
Every month, a different volunteer will serve as the “host”. Their role will be to select the book, guide the discussion, and bring any fun insights or background about the author or genre.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire!
October’s Rotating Read is classic (and winner of the Pulitzer in Memoir!) Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in October to discuss!
*****
The cherished classic featuring everyone's favorite red-headed orphan, now in a lush hardcover edition with beautiful cover illustrations by Anna Bond, the artist behind world-renowned stationery brand Rifle Paper Co.
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.https://bookshop.org/p/books/anne-of-green-gables-l-m-montgomery/15792264?ean=9780147514004&next=t
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.
Dragon Dreams: A Romantasy Book Club - October 2025
Calling all Romantasy lovers! Glendora Bookshop is excited to host our very first Romantasy Book Club, Dragon Dreams! Co-led by book friends and community members Lauryn & Michaela, Dragon Dreams meets every second Wednesday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire. Dragon Dreams also mingles on FB so be sure to join our group to keep in touch.
October’s Dragon Dreams selection is A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in October to discuss!
*****
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
A warm, spellbinding tale about a witch and the secrets her coven has been keeping from her, with echoes of the classic Hades and Persephone story, in the tradition of Practical Magic and Witch of Wild Things.
Hecate Goodwin, Kate to her friends, has curated the perfect life as a hedge witch, living in a secluded cottage with only a black cat for company. She spends her days foraging herbs from the Ipswich forest, gardening, and creating tinctures to sell at the apothecary she owns. Most evenings pass without her speaking to another human being, an arrangement she quite prefers.
Kate’s solitude is thrown into disarray when her older sister, Miranda, reaches out and asks her to host their coven’s annual Halloween gathering. The day marks the beginning of the new year for witches and is also Kate’s birthday. The pressure from her coven to make the evening memorable mounts as the event draws near. To complicate things further, a handsome man from Kate’s past turns up at her cottage, asking for sanctuary. It is Kate’s duty as a hedge witch to honor this request, much to her dismay. Matthew Cypher is no ordinary lost soul–he’s a practitioner of forbidden magic who’s tricked Kate once before, and her guard is up.
As she juggles Matthew’s arrival and the preparations for Halloween, Kate comes across an old tome shrouded in dark magic. She is horrified when she realizes the blood-red inscription is written in familiar handwriting: her recently deceased mother’s. Afraid to even touch the dark magic her mother secretly studied, Kate can turn only to Matthew for help. Her idealized memory of her mother begins to distort, and as she and Matthew grow closer, Kate has to reevaluate whom she can really trust.
A Dark and Secret Magic is a celebration of the Halloween season and a love letter to anyone who drinks pumpkin spice in August and carries the spirit of a witch inside their heart all year long. https://bookshop.org/p/books/this-book-is-for-october-wallis-kinney/21095019?ean=9781639109890&next=t
Facing Change Book Club - Oct 2025
Join us for Facing Change Book Club, a group that examines todays events through non-fiction and helps address the question of “What is happening?!” Facing Change meets (loosely) every first Sunday of the month.
Sign up for book clubs at Glendora Bookshop by email, call/text, or just stop in and inquire.
For October, Facing Change is reading Blood Red Lines: How Nativism Fuels the Right by Brendan O’Connor. Be sure to snag your copy at Glendora Bookshop (book club members take 10% off book club reads!) and join us in September to discuss!
*****
"An important contribution to the political debate over immigration." --The New Republic
In Blood Red Lines, journalist Brendan O'Connor investigates the recent history and politics of U.S. nativism, from the dark money-funded think tanks to the militant reactionaries doing battle with antifascists in the streets. As O'Connor argues, a new ideology is emerging, "border fascism," one that any movement for working class liberation will need to reckon with in the struggles to come. https://bookshop.org/p/books/blood-red-lines-how-nativism-fuels-the-right-brendan-o-connor/17013781?ean=9781642599190&next=t
First Fridays OPEN MIC
Have a poem you want to share? A short story you want to workshop? What about reciting some gorgeous writing from a book you love? Join us for our monthly OPEN MIC as we gather to celebrate and support our collective creativity, risk-taking, and generosity.
Come in a few minutes before start time to sign-up if you wish to read - time slots are usually 5-8 mins long depending on participation. 18+ as some material may be challenging for youthful ears (stay tuned, though, as we’re planning to host quarterly family open mics for the younger writers among us!)
Family Story Time
We are excited to welcome back Family Story Time as a mainstay here at Glendora Bookshop! Every Friday morning from 11-11:30am EST we will hold a themed Story Time for you and your little ones to enjoy, so be sure to come on down to the shop!
Help us spread the word for this fun-filled family event, and thank you as always for supporting your local, independent bookshop.