That's a wrap on our One Book, One Chicago season!

Last Thursday, CPL held its OBOC keynote at Harold Washington Library Center, featuring Xochitl Gonzalez, author of this year's selection, "Olga Dies Dreaming." Missed it? Watch it here: chi.gov/2025obockeynote

Applications are open for CPL’s Renaissance Project $4,000 microgrants to support new scholarship and storytelling around Black history and culture. Each of the 10 grants is funded by @mellon.org.

Applications close Friday, January 7, 2026.

chi.gov/mellonmicrogrants

Attention all writers! CPL is excited to announce its Write at CPL Celebration happening at Harold Washington Library Center on December 1, 2025.

Visitors can expect local writing organizations, workshops, activities and more!

Register here: chi.gov/writingcelebration

Join us for an OBOC season finale keynote event featuring Xochitl Gonzalez, author of this year's selection, "Olga Dies Dreaming."

Gonzalez will be in conversation with
@ala-booklist.bsky.social's Donna Seaman
at Harold Washington Library Center this Thursday.

Learn more: chi.gov/obockeynote📚

Woodworking by @emilystjams.bsky.social

Erica Skyberg is a teacher in rural South Dakota. Recently divorced from her best friend, she is growing weary from the cognitive dissonance of maintaining the facade of being a man.

Place a hold: chi.gov/woodworkingbook

@zandoprojects.bsky.social

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

McConaghy has a knack for penning lyrical, suspenseful novels featuring natural world settings that center human grief and a changing world.

Place a hold: chi.gov/wilddarkshore

@flatironbooks.bsky.social

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

Roy's difficult mother memoir is on par with both her fiction and her journalism, which is to say, it's spectacular.

Place a hold: chi.gov/mothermarycomestome

@scribnerbooks.bsky.social

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

One morning in March 1973, drifting in the Pacific on their beloved yacht, Maralyn and Maurice Bailey discover that a dying whale has struck the ship, creating a lethal hole.

Place a hold: chi.gov/marriageatsea

@riverheadbooks.bsky.social

Is a River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social

Nature writer MacFarlane, drawing inspiration from his local springs near Oxford, sets off on three journeys around the world to explore the question posed by the book's title.

Place a hold: chi.gov/isariveralive

W.W. Norton

A Flower Traveled in My Blood by @hco96.bsky.social

The incredible true story of the grandmothers who fought to find a stolen generation of children.

Place a hold: chi.gov/aflowertraveledinmyblood

@avidreaderpress.bsky.social

Flesh by David Szalay

Teenager István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and new in town, he is a stranger to the social rituals practiced by his classmates and soon becomes isolated.

Place a hold: chi.gov/davidszalaybook

@scribnerbooks.bsky.social

Flashlight by Susan Choi

Spanning continents and decades, this haunting, evocative family saga will linger in your memory well after reading it.

Place a hold: chi.gov/flashlightchoi

@fsgbooks.bsky.social

The Buffalo Hunter by @sgj.bsky.social

A manuscript from 1912 uncovered by construction workers ends up in the hands of Professor Etsy Beaucarne, who thinks the history within it may finally earn her tenure.

Place a hold: chi.gov/thebuffalohunterhunter

@sagapressbooks.bsky.social

Black in Blues by @imaniperry.bsky.social

Perry's collection of interconnected essays delves into the complex relationship between the color blue and the Black experience.

Place a hold: chi.gov/blackinblues

@harpercollins.bsky.social

It's that special time of the year... CPL's 2025 Best of Best lists are here! Best of Best compiles 2025's top reads for kids, teens and adults.

Check the thread below to see CPL staff's top 10 favorite books. #CPLBest📚🏆

View the rest of the lists: chipublib.org/bestofthebest