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May 14, 2026
Discover overlooked literary gems from Brooklyn Public Library’s 250 for 250 booklist, from Gilead to Neuromancer, as Amber Chandler reflects on the books that shape identity, culture and curiosity.
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When I think about books, there are so many that I will never forget because they changed me (Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again) or reached me (Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) or simply overwhelmed me in the best possible way (Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man). Or, there are books that remind me of a time in my life so vividly that I can smell the cigarette smoke, patchouli and coffee—Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, Jack Kerouac's On the Road and, of course, Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. Or, yet another time when breast milk, burp cloths and Johnson’s baby lotion pervaded my bed at night, as I frantically thumbed What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff. There are innumerable TikToks and memes that bemoan the fact that no matter how much we read, there are always more books. Of course, the true question is should we buy them anyway and add them to our book piles? The answer, always, is yes. Here’s a sampling of books that somehow I have missed over the years with a snippet of why others would insist that I read ASAP, all from Brooklyn Public Library’s 250 for 250 list.
An Oprah's book club pick, written in an epistolary style, actress Constance Wu describes one of my favorite American literary forms and themes: Styled as a letter from a father to his son, Ames reflects on home, where the faith is quiet and the miracles are ordinary. In a time when “faith” seems so misaligned with actions, I’m curious to explore and consider the magical in the ordinary.
“MM,” the contributor who recommended Brokeback Mountain, is likely Marcia Mardis, who is described as having “deep expertise in how books shape educational and cultural narratives.” What a world, right? What a job! She writes: “The movie for Brokeback Mountain may in fact be better known than the short story it originated from.” Yet it cannot be denied that the ultimate way to consume an Annie Proulx story is in its original form. Confession: I’ve never watched the movie either; it seems like I really should have.
It's hard to find a novel that really encapsulates 2020 in all its darkness and isolation, and yet in just three sentences, Reynolds and Griffin do it, all while urging us to look up and change the story. Another MM pick, this is incredibly exciting. How I’ve missed this, I have no idea, but it is a picture book for teens, so it is in my cart right now! My Long Way Down and The Outsiders comparison and contrast combo unit has become my favorite, and adding this picture book will result in a blog all its own next year. (Here are the resources: “Finally, I’m Teaching Long Way Down,” “Teaching Long Way Down,” and "Comparison and Contrast with Jason Reynold’s Long Way Down and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.) Whatever you do, watch this, to get the feel of this book:
Recommended by Shel Silverstein, this book is of immediate interest to me because of this descriptor: This seminal work of the cyberpunk genre touches on themes of technology, artificial intelligence and corporate influence. As I realized that I’m wildly behind in the entire lore of William Gibson, I went down a very deep rabbit hole, and landed on a treasure trove of videos that made this book even more intriguing—William Gibson: The 80’s Revolution—Extra Sci-Fi and The Belonging Kind.
As you may have gleaned from my list, I’m a “typical” reader with a master’s degree in literature: Nonfiction, to me, is most often used to contextualize the fiction that I am immersed in. However, as a union president and a woman in 2026, it seems like a very good idea to get serious about my understanding of labor. This description by librarian Elisa Caporale, is a good reminder of why: “Kelly always brings the struggle back to the present contextualizing the history with the work that is still left to be done and the ongoing fight for equality in the labor movement.”
As we reflect on the 250th birthday of the United States, I think it is important to consider how our own impressions of what it means to be American, who we revere as quintessentially representative of all of us, and our own conceptions of life in these United States become central to our intellectual endeavors. Sometimes, when we are going about our lives, it is a good idea to not only ask what we see, but also what we don’t see. While these books were here all along, I am curious to read them to see what I have not trained my eyes upon.
For more book recommendations that are off the beaten path, check out:
This blog is part of a series on celebrating America’s 250th. Read Amber's first blog in the series here and read Sari Beth Rosenberg's blog here.
Explore this growing collection of classroom-ready lessons that center voices too often left out—Indigenous leaders, LGBTQ+ activists, immigrant communities, and more.
