NEW DATE! Pod Picks Book Club! Amari's pick: Meet Me at the Crossroads by M

It's the powerful forces of White Whale staff picks and a community book club combined: the Pod Picks Book Club! Each month (usually on the last Thursday), a different bookseller gets to pick a book for the club to read, and they'll host the meeting, too. Book club picks will be 10% off 30 days in advance of the meeting day, to give you time to read it. And plan on grabbing a drink and a snack from the café when you come to the meeting!

Amari's Pod Pick: Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings

"What would you do if a bulletproof, fireproof, mesmerizing door stood in your hometown and swung open ever so often--enticing you with the calls of loved ones, your favorite scents, and glittering blue hills? Meet Me at the Crossroads is a captivating blend of the speculative with the grounding intimacy of close relationships. In this case, the relationship between twins, Ayanna and Olivia. Megan Giddings has a gift for characterization, defying genre, and writing equally humorous and moving stories. Let's read this book together and become Giddings fans, for life!" - Amari

AMARI (he/him) is a Black trans writer and artist. He is the Events Coordinator at White Whale and manages the Poetry, Memoir, and Essays sections. Amari's writing has appeared in in Black Warrior Review and is forthcoming in Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora and The Shade Journal. He is the founder and organizer of the local queer & trans reading series, meTamorphosis. Follow @metamorphosis.pgh to stay up to date for upcoming readings and community events. You can find his book reviews on instagram at @trustyourwings.books. Amari adores Black queer & trans poetics, queer night life, and film photography.

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A LIBRARY READS PICK

From the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of Lakewood and The Women Could Fly, a dazzling novel of speculative fiction about two brilliant sisters and what happens to their undeniable bond when a mysterious and possibly perilous new world beckons.

On an ordinary summer morning, the world is changed by the appearance of seven mysterious doors that seemingly lead to another world. People are, of course, mesmerized and intrigued: A new dimension filled with beauty and resources beckons them to step into an adventure. But, perhaps inevitably, people soon learn that what looks like a portal fantasy paradise may very well be filled with danger.

Ayanna and Olivia, two Black midwestern teens—and twin sisters—have different ideas of what may lie in the world beyond. But will their personal bond endure such wanton exploration? And when one of them goes missing, will the other find solace on her own? And will she uncover the circumstances of what truly happened to her once constant companion and best friend?

Megan Giddings brings her customarily brilliant and eye-opening powers of storytelling to give us a narrative that dazzles the senses and bewitches the mind. Meet Me at the Crossroads is an unforgettable novel about faith, love, and family from one of today’s most exciting and surprising young writers.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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