Staff Selections for July 2025 by AWM

Staff Selections for July 2025 by AWM

The American Writers Museum, located in Chicago, regularly shares a diverse range of entertainment recommendations each month. Although the July 2022 list was not found in the provided search results, the museum's monthly picks typically include books, films, shows, plays, albums, and games.

One notable example from a more recent date, July 2025, features the book All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall. This post-apocalyptic novel follows a family living in an almost deserted New York City after the glaciers melt, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The family must escape north on the Hudson when a superstorm breaches the city's flood walls.

For those interested in July 2022 recommendations, it's recommended to check archived posts on the museum's website or social media channels.

In the meantime, let's delve into some of the exciting entertainment options from the American Writers Museum's previous recommendations:

Books

• "The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took Measure of the Stars" by Dava Sobel is a fascinating book about the women who worked at the Harvard College Observatory in the mid-19th century, interpreting observations and studying the stars captured on glass photographic plates.
• "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamott is a book about the importance of taking things one step at a time, "bird by bird."
• "Darling Girls" by Sally Hepworth is a book about three foster sisters who find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in.
• "All the Water in the World" by Eiren Caffall, as previously mentioned, is a post-apocalyptic novel about survival and preserving human history in New York City after glaciers melt.
• "How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water" by Angie Cruz is a book about a woman named Cara who recounts her life during twelve job counseling sessions.
• "Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted" by Justin Martin is a biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, a groundbreaking landscape architect who designed Central Park and the fairgrounds of the 1893 Chicago World's fair.
• "Valleyesque" by Fernando A. Flores is a short story collection by an author whose style and subject matter I appreciate.

Novels

• "Icarus" by K. Ancrum is a queer YA romance about a young art thief and the son of the man he's been stealing from.
• "So Far Gone" by Jess Walter is a novel about a failed husband and father who, after going off the grid, must reemerge into a broken world to track down his missing daughter and save his grandchildren from a dangerous militia.
• "The Emperor of Gladness" by Ocean Vuong is a novel about a young man named Hai who becomes the caretaker of an elderly widow, Grazina, and develops a life-altering bond with her.

Television Series

• "Resident Alien" is a television series about an alien who crashes on Earth and hides in a remote Colorado mountain town.
• "Station Eleven" tells the stories of survivors of a devastating flu as they attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world anew while holding on to the best of what's been lost.
• "The Bear" is a TV show created by Christopher Storer about a young chef from the fine dining world who comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop after a heartbreaking death in his family.
• "Tom at the Farm" is a play about an urban ad executive who travels to the country to attend the funeral of his lover and is drawn into the dysfunction of the family's relationships.

Cookbook

• "Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F-ck" offers over 100 recipes for healthier meals and snacks.

Musicals and Original Broadway Cast Recordings

• "Death Becomes Her", the Original Broadway Cast Recording, is a musical about two friends who become immortal enemies after drinking a magical potion.

Album

• "Hearts of Oak" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists is an album that received universal acclaim from music critics.
• "Life Behind Bars" by Vandoliers is an album by a band whose singer came out as a trans woman while entrenched in the world of Texas country and punk rock.

Support for local bookstores is encouraged, and many of the July book recommendations are available on Bookshop.org, which benefits independent bookstores.

In addition, "The Magnolia Palace" by Fiona Davis is a novel about secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City's most impressive Gilded Age mansions, and "Sky Daddy" by Kate Folk is a novel about a woman who feels a romantic attraction to airplanes and believes it is her fate to "marry" her soulmate aircraft by going down with it in a plane crash.

Lastly, "Phineas and Ferb" is a television show that follows the adventures of two boys who invent unique things, while their sister tries to expose them. The "Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" by Michael Chabon is a book about a young escape artist and budding magician named Joe Kavalier and his cousin Sammy Clay, who embark on an adventure that takes them deep into the heart of Manhattan, and the heart of old-fashioned American ambition.

Stay tuned for the American Writers Museum's July 2022 entertainment recommendations!

Books, such as "The Glass Universe" and "Bird by Bird," are a part of the American Writers Museum's monthly recommendations for readers seeking diverse and engaging reads. Entertainment options also include captivating novels, like "All the Water in the World" and "Darling Girls."

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