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North Carolina Reads

North Carolina Reads is North Carolina Humanities’ award-winning, virtual, statewide book club! North Carolina Reads annually features five books that explore issues of racial, social, and gender equity and the history and culture of North Carolina. All featured books pose critical questions about how North Carolinians view their personal roles in helping to promote and form a more just and inclusive society. 

From February to June 2025, NC Humanities is hosting virtual monthly book club discussion events where participants will hear from book authors and topic experts. Libraries, community groups, and individuals across North Carolina are encouraged to read along with NC Humanities, attend North Carolina Reads book club discussion events, and then host their own local book discussions to further conversation, camaraderie, and community.

Books, reading, literacy, and literary history are important parts of NC Humanities’ mission. At the heart of North Carolina Reads is NC Humanities’ desire to connect communities through shared reading experiences. Reading with others develops critical-thinking skills; strengthens minds, vocabulary, and mental health; and creates opportunities to empathize with others by hearing and relating to their experiences and stories.

In 2023 North Carolina Reads received a national Schwartz Prize from the Federation of State Humanities Councils for its outstanding statewide impact. Since 2022, North Carolina Humanities has distributed nearly 11,000 free North Carolina Reads books and resources across the state to help increase equitable access to books.

North Carolina Reads 2025 Overview

Fiction. Meet the queen of Happy Land. Transformative and breathtakingly honest, The American Queen is based on actual events that occurred between 1865 – 1889 and shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built a kingdom in Appalachia as a refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of life. When the honorable Reverend William finally listens to Louella’s pleas and leads the formerly enslaved people out of their plantation, Louella begins to feel hope. Soon, William and Louella become the appointed king and queen of their self-proclaimed Kingdom of the Happy Land. And though they are still surrounded by opposition, they continue to share a message of joy and goodness–and fight for the freedom and dignity of all.

From publisher description.

Nonfiction. Environmental scientist Ryan E. Emanuel, a member of the Lumbee tribe, shares stories from North Carolina about Indigenous survival and resilience in the face of radical environmental changes. Addressing issues from the loss of wetlands to the arrival of gas pipelines, these stories connect the dots between historic patterns of Indigenous oppression and present-day efforts to promote environmental justice and Indigenous rights on the swamp. Emanuel’s scientific insight and deeply personal connections to his home blend together in a book that is both a heartfelt and an analytical call to acknowledge and protect sacred places.

From publisher description.

Nonfiction. Depictions of Appalachian food culture and practices often romanticize people in the region as good, simple, and, often, white. These stereotypes are harmful to the actual people they are meant to describe as well as to those they exclude. In Hungry Roots: How Food Communicates Appalachia’s Search for Resilience, Ashli Quesinberry Stokes and Wendy Atkins-Sayre tell a more complicated story. The authors embark on a cultural tour through food and drinking establishments to investigate regional resilience in and through the plurality of traditions and communities that form the foodways of Southern Appalachia.

From publisher description. 

Fiction. It’s the 1960s and Lorraine Delford has it all – an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and a white picket fence home in North Carolina. Yet every time she looks through her father’s telescope, she dreams of the stars. But when this darling girl-next-door gets pregnant, she’s forced to learn firsthand the realities that keep women grounded. o hide their daughter’s secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven – it’s a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she has the power to fight for the future she wants or if she must submit to the rules of a society she once admired.

From publisher description.

Nonfiction. A musician’s musician, Doc grew up on a subsistence farm in the North Carolina mountains during the Depression, soaking up traditional music and learning to play guitar even though he was blind. Rising to fame in the 1960s as part of the burgeoning folk revival scene, Doc became the face of traditional music for many listeners, racking up multiple Grammys and releasing dozens of albums over the course of his long career. Eddie Huffman tells the story of Doc’s life and legacy, drawing on extensive interviews and hundreds of hours of archival research. Full of fascinating stories—from Doc’s first banjo made from his grandmother’s cat to the founding of MerleFest—this promises to be the definitive biography of the man and how he came to be synonymous with roots music in America and shows how his influence is still felt in music today.

From publisher description.

Join the Club

  • Get the books you want to read from your local library,  bookstore or other format. 
  • To expand accessibility to books in underserved communities across North Carolina, NC Humanities will once again offer a limited number of North Carolina Reads book boxes to readers. These boxes will include a selection of the five book titles, unique swag, bookmarks, curated program and discussion guides, and more. Discussion guides and program planning guides will also be available for free download in winter 2025 at nchumanities.org. Details on how to request a book box will be released before the end of 2024 at nchumanities.org. If you have questions or concerns about how resource delivery to you or your community may be impacted due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, please contact us at nch@nchumanities.org. To receive updates about North Carolina Reads, please sign up for our e-newsletter at nchumanities.org.

  • Read at your own pace! 
  • Our curated Reading Schedule and Discussion Guide will available soon!
  • Our curated Program Planning Guide will be available soon! You can use this guide so you and your community group can talk about the books and themes together!
  • Join thousands of other North Carolinians at one of the five virtual book club discussion events hosted by NC Humanities. Event details will be available soon. 
  • All North Carolina Reads book club discussions are recorded and available on YouTube.

In the News

Past Selections and FAQs

  • Are North Carolina Reads book discussions free to attend?
    • Yes! Discussions are free with registration and will be recorded and available to re-watch on NC Humanities’ YouTube channel.
  • Does North Carolina Humanities provide free North Carolina Reads books?
    • To make participation in North Carolina Reads possible and ensure equitable access to materials, NC Humanities provides free book resources to groups and individuals in communities where participation would otherwise be limited. Because North Carolina Reads is a statewide initiative, NC Humanities prioritizes giving free books and resources to groups and individuals in underserved and/or under resourced communities*. 
    • NC Humanities takes requests from groups and individuals for a limited supply of free books (dates announced in fall/winter). Books are sent in “book boxes” which include a reading schedule and discussion guide, bookmarks, and more.
    • NC Humanities encourages everyone to contact their local library or bookstore for North Carolina Reads books.
    • Please note: you do not need to receive books from NC Humanities to participate in North Carolina Reads.
  • Who selects the North Carolina Reads featured books?
    • Using its expertise and resources as the North Carolina Center for the Book, NC Humanities selects the books with input and feedback from our volunteer book selection group and the public. Annually, NC Humanities convenes a group of rotating members to provide feedback on selections for that year’s five featured books. Group members may include past participating North Carolina Reads group coordinators, authors, content experts, moderators, and the State Library of North Carolina to inform selection. NC Humanities conducts an annual public survey (available in spring/summer)  to see what books most interest you!

*Rural communities; low-income communities (including those located in Tier 1 Counties); African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian American, Arab American, Native and Indigenous populations; older adult populations; persons with disabilities; first-time program participants.

A North Carolina Reads book may be fiction or non-fiction, and should meet the following criteria:

  • Prominently features a story, event, and/or characters and individuals from North Carolina history and culture.
  • Addresses one or more of the themes of racial, social, and/or gender equity and promotes community discussion on these themes.
  • Appeals to a wide range of adult (18+) readers of different backgrounds in the state of North Carolina.
  • Is of manageable length to read in one month (up to 400 pages).
  • Is contemporary and published within 10 years of the current North Carolina Reads program.
  • Is in print and readily available from the publisher. If possible, the book is available in audio, electronic and/or other accessible formats. Please note self-published books are ineligible for consideration.
  • Written by an author residing in or from North Carolina is a consideration for selection, but not a requirement.
  • Written by a living author is a consideration for selection, but not a requirement.
  • Written by an author not previously featured in a North Carolina Center for the Book program is a consideration for selection, but not a requirement.
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  • If you have a book that you would like to share with us that meets the selection criteria, please complete this short form
  • We are currently accepting requests for potential North Carolina Reads 2026 titles now through May 1, 2025. 

Please note submission of a title does not guarantee selection.