This month we have reading recommendations about choices. What our choices say about us might not always be accurate. They might not be guided solely by our moral compass or our desires. Some are conscious choices we make while others are choices we have been forced to make because of circumstances beyond our control. How do you handle adversity or respond to opportunity when it comes along? Are your choices designed to make you a better person or simply survive? We’ve selected ten books featuring different kinds of choices. How would you respond if you were in their shoes?

1.       Do One Thing Every Day Together by Robie Rogge with Dian Smith (from the Do One Thing Every Day Series) – a variety of prompts are provided for couples or friends to help them unwind, unplug, and spend time together. You can use these prompts to create a time-capsule of your relationship, romance, or friendship.

2.       Central Places by Delia Cai – What’s it like to be a child of immigrants? Cai describes the subtle nuances of growing up in a different culture from the one your parents know, and the beautiful, but often difficult choices you must make to honor both cultures.

3.       Finding the Words by Colin Campbell – Campbell’s and his wife’s lives were forever changed when a drunk driver hit their car and killed their two teenaged children. Campbell delves into how society responds to tragedy and how many of its members expect survivors to respond. What choices must you make to heal from tragedy? How will other judge you for your choices?

4.       Every Summer After by Carley Fortune – Can you have a second chance at romance? Persephone Fraser made the wrong choice a decade ago. She chose the fast-paced life of the city and an exciting career over a simple life at the lake with the man of her dreams.  Can she return home to fix it? Six years and one weekend will determine her future life.

5.       True Biz by Sara Novic – This story about a residential school for deaf students will make you question how we as a society have failed people with disabilities. Can we make better, more inclusive choices in order to give people with disabilities more choices and opportunities?

6.       Happy Place by Emily Henry – Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college. Their relationship has both inspired and filled their friends with envy. But, what happens when the perfect relationship falls apart? How do they face their friends? Harriet and Wyn decide to fake it instead of being honest during their annual vacation in Maine with their college friends. Can they share a room in a cozy cottage and convince their friends everything is still perfect?

7.       Chain-Gang Allstars by Nanakwame Adjei-Brenyah – Enter a dystopian society where prisons are the new Coliseum and there’s a fortune to be made forcing inmates to fight for their freedom on teams where they are called links and treated as part of a chain. Are there weaker or stronger links? Can the links be separated to force an end to this cruelty, or must they do it together?

8.       The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue – This story about friends, lovers, and Ireland in chaos centers around Rachel, a young woman trying to manage all three.

9.       The Guest by Emily Cline – A young woman making the choice to pretend to be someone she is not. Everything seems to be going well, but a misstep at a cocktail party on Long Island ends with Rachel’s exile from her host’s home. Instead of leaving the island, Rachel wanders from host-to-host wreaking havoc wherever she goes. How polite must polite society be?

10.   The Twilight World by Werner Herzog – Filmmaker Werner Herzog tells the story of Hiroo Onoda, A Japanese soldier who defended a small island in the Philippines for decades after the end of World War Two because he hadn’t received news of Japan’s surrender. Onoda was left to defend the island when Japanese troops began evacuating  in 1945. He stayed to do his duty. Herzog met with Onoda many times, so he could learn why Onoda felt such a strong sense of duty.