What If We Get It Right? “Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side. This provocative and joyous book maps an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures.

Through clear-eyed essays and vibrant conversations, infused with data, poetry, and art, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. Visionary farmers and financiers, architects and advocates, help us conjure a flourishing future, one worth the effort it will take—from every one of us, with whatever we have to offer—to create.”

Grab your copy here and contact bedford2030.org for information on their upcoming book club.

Join Christine on August 30th at 2pm for our sci-fi/horror book club: The Third Rule of Time Travel.

“Scientist Beth Darlow has discovered the unimaginable. She's built a machine that allows human consciousness to travel through time--to any point in the traveler's lifetime--and relive moments of their life. An impossible breakthrough, but it's not perfect: the traveler has no way to interact with the past. They can only observe.

After Beth's husband, Colson, the co-creator of the machine, dies in a tragic car accident, Beth is left to raise Isabella--their only daughter--and continue the work they started. Mired in grief and threatened by her ruthless CEO, Beth pushes herself to the limit to prove the value of her technology.

Then the impossible happens. Simply viewing personal history should not alter the present, but with each new observation she makes, her own timeline begins to warp.

As her reality constantly shifts, Beth must solve the puzzles of her past, even if it means forsaking her future.”

Join Ava for her favorite: Shakespeare! This month she explores The Taming of the Shrew. Never read it? Jump in with us using the No Fear Shakespeare series. August 23 at 3pm.

Join Spenser in a discussion of The Passion According to G.H. August 16th.

“The Passion According to G.H., Clarice Lispector's mystical novel of 1964, concerns a well-to-do Rio sculptress, G.H., who enters her maid's room, sees a cockroach crawling out of the wardrobe, and, panicking, slams the door--crushing the cockroach--and then watches it die. At the end of the novel, at the height of a spiritual crisis, comes the most famous and most genuinely shocking scene in Brazilian literature...”

Join Penny and her foodie book crew for a discussion of The Last Sweet Bite, August 19th at 1pm. Due to the timely nature of this pick, the Reading Room will be donating 25% of any purchases of this title to the World Central Kitchen.

August 23 at 3pm, join Spenser for his non-fiction book club discussion of Doppelganger by Naomi Klein.

Save the date for a day filled with authors and book talks and signings and bookish wonder. We are helping to plan the Westchester Book Festival right here in Katonah this year! November 8, 2025. Author talks at the Katonah library, workshops at Oak & Oil Gallery and Chroma, and authors ALL day here at the Katonah Reading Room for author chats and book signings. We can’t wait. Tickets on sale in September. Be sure to stay tuned.

Penny has been reading up a storm this summer. Come check out her picks for your next read.

If you haven’t sat on a rock or a beach or in a meadow painting yet this summer, what are you waiting for? The ultimate summer happy can be found traveling with Beam paints in your pocket, ready to create at any moment. Come see what travel sized happy we have waiting for you.

Want a milkshake without the milk? Try our alternate milk frappe: Oat or Almond milk, ice, caramel (whipped cream add on).

Sour patch kids and a book. Is there anything better on a summer day? Whiling away the time in some shade, finding a new story, catching a moment to yourself. Don’t forget to read with your kids this summer and join our book bingo. The sour patch kids help the process.

A rag tag group of employees at a fast food restaurant come together in this beautiful tale of life. Family histories and traumas coming together in a mess of humanity, pulling together people with different backgrounds, different experiences into a sweet team of support.

“William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him…

Giving up your coffee and turning to matcha? We have the perfect mix, whisked and crafted into delicious combinations.

The perfect hostess gift, we love these old fashioned games. Shut the box is a great dice game which also keeps the kids’ math skills honed. Fun and practical!

Next up: Cinnamon Rolls & Villainy July 26th at 12:30pm with special guests Emily and Jimmie hosting. A kind-hearted baker with a dark secret.

This summer, set a goal to read WITH your kids, AROUND your kids, and TO your kids.

Children who see their parents reading are shown to develop a habit of reading and an enjoyment of reading in the future, plus what better excuse to sit around reading a book — you’re a ROLE MODEL, have to do it! AND children whose parents read to them develop stronger language skills, emotional literacy, and academic skills!

SO we invite you to FAMILY Book Bingo! ANY family member can add their finished title to the bingo card and earn PRIZES when they come in to tell us about it. Bring a “completed” card (be able to put a title in each category) and pull from our prize jar. Prizes include free ice cream, book discounts, candy, gift cards and more!

If you’d like a printable form to bring: click here. Family Book Bingo prizes end September 1, 2025, so get reading!

July 19 at 2:30pm with Christine, come discuss this horror, sci-fi masterpiece. “A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Sámano Córdova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigor. Told in four acts that span the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.”

July 26th at 2pm with Spenser. Non-fiction Bookclub “Culture Creep” Notes on the Pop Apocalypse. “From the critically acclaimed author of Dead Girls comes a sharp, engrossing collection of essays that explore the strange career of popular feminism and the steady creep of cults and cult-think into our daily lives.”

We LOVE these retro toys. It’ll take you back to the time wasting summers of your youth in an instant. Get the kids off their phones and into unplugged summer fun with bouncy balls and magic tricks and gag gifts.