September/October/November 2025

Fort Bend County Libraries invites the public to join in this year’s “Community Reads” initiative, a county-wide reading program encouraging communities to read and discuss a particular book together September through November. The 2025 selection for “Community Reads” is Amanda Churchill’s debut novel, The Turtle House.

Book discussions on The Turtle House will take place at different locations throughout the library system on various dates and times during the months of September, October, and November. The “Community Reads” initiative will conclude at FBCL’s annual Book Festival on November 15, with a keynote presentation by Amanda Churchill.

Moving between a Texas ranching community in the 1990s and pre-World War II Japan and occupied Tokyo, The Turtle House is an emotionally engaging saga about a grandmother and granddaughter who connect over a beloved lost place and the secrets they both carry.

Lia Cope is a 25-year-old aspiring architect who abandons a promising career in Austin to move back home, where she finds herself sharing a bedroom with her prickly 73-year-old grandmother, Mineko. Long widowed, Mineko began her life in Texas as a Japanese war bride.

Both struggling with their own secrets, the two begin to bond while sharing many late-night conversations. Mineko tells stories of her early life in Japan, of the war that changed everything, and of her two great loves – a man named Akio Sato and an abandoned Japanese country estate they called the Turtle House.

When Mineko’s adult children decide – against her wishes – to move her into an assisted-living community, she and Lia devise a plan to bring a beloved long-lost place back to life, hoping to find a sense of purpose and belonging they have both been searching for.

A resident of Keller, Texas, Churchill was a Writer’s League of Texas 2021 Fellow, received support from Tin House and Community of Writers, and holds a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of North Texas.

The Turtle House is inspired by her own grandmother’s memories, lucky turtles, and discovering the true meaning of finding and defining oneself despite what society thinks.

Book Discussions

Book discussions on The Turtle House will take place at different locations throughout the library system. The schedule of upcoming book discussions is as follows:

• Monday, September 8, 3:00-4:00 pm – Sienna Branch Library (Missouri City)
• Tuesday, September 9, 11:00 am-12:00 noon – Fulshear Branch Library
• Thursday, September 18, 12:00-1:00 pm – George Memorial Library (Richmond)
• Saturday, September 27, 11:00 am-12:00 noon – Missouri City Branch Library
• Wednesday, October 1, 12:00 noon-1:00 pm – Cinco Ranch Branch Library (Katy)
• Wednesday, October 8, 7:00-8:00 pm – Mission Bend Branch Library
• Saturday, November 1, 11:00 am-12:00 noon – University Branch Library (Sugar Land)
• Saturday, November 8, 11:00 am-12:00 noon – Missouri City Branch Library
• Thursday, November 13, 1:00-2:00 pm – Sugar Land Branch Library
• Thursday, November 13, 1:30-2:30 pm – First Colony Branch Library (Sugar Land)

The Turtle House is available at the libraries in print and digitally as an ebook and e-audiobook on OverDrive/Libby and as an e-audiobook on hoopla. Readers are encouraged to call the libraries to check the availability of additional print copies for the book clubs.