The Reading List

CLICK HERE to see or download the Colorado Resistance Reads – The List (PDF)

Ansible: Rasha’s Letter
by Stant Litore

rashasletter_1000Genre: Science fiction
Length: 51 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book, audiobook
Age group: Mainstream adult

Rasha is a Syrian refugee fleeing war with her infant son. Sahira is a time-traveling, shapeshifting, bisexual hijabi defender of humanity. In a distant future when all humanity flees a predatory and unexpected horror, Rasha’s choices at a critical moment could make the difference between extinction and refuge — if Sahira can get her safely to that day.

Both time-travel thriller and love story, this riveting addition to the Ansible saga takes you from the dust and despair of bombed-out cities and poisoned land to the weird apparitions that can transform a planet’s future. Ansible: Rasha’s Letter is the opening episode of Ansible: Season 3 but can also be read as a standalone.

Reviewers are saying of Ansible: Rasha’s Letter, “For those who are looking for the courage to seek peace, to glimpse the sacred through the mundane and horrific, and to catch your breath in moments of awe at humanity itself, this is for you.”

Litore will be donating 50% of profits from Ansible: Rasha’s Letter from 11/23-12/4 to Extended Hands for Hope, which offers safe housing and supportive services to domestic sex trafficking survivors. 

Purchase links:

Click to learn why Litore chose the Extended Hands for Hope and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

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Bury the Lead
by Cassondra Windwalker

Genre: Suspense
Length: 280 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book
Age group: Mainstream adult

Bury The Lead draws readers into the mind of a brilliant but highly unreliable narrator, forcing them to question their own perceptions of objective truth and the existence of a free press in a world where an unsubstantiated tweet can carry more power than an investigative report.

Reviewers are calling Bury the Lead “a darkly comic take on media in the Trump era” and saying, “Through the eyes of the newsman, we get to experience the disjointed feel of American news and the difficulty in deciding what is true and what is fake news.”

Windwalker will be donating 50% of profits (or a minimum of $50) from Bury the Lead from 11/23-12/4 to the Continental Divide Trail Coalition.

Purchase links:

  • Amazon: $14.99 paperback, $3.99 Kindle
  • All major retailers, including Barnes and Noble, Tattered Cover, Book Bar, Boulder Bookstore and more. If you don’t find it, ask for it!

Click to learn why Windwalker chose the Continental Trail Coalition and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

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Finding Life on Mars
by Jay Dias

Genre: Science fiction
Length: 306 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book
Age group: Mainstream adult

Finding Life on Mars visits a dilapidated Martian colony after the last outposts on Earth have failed. Suddenly alone in the universe but for one homicidal maniac with nuclear weapons, the last people in the universe have to figure out not just how to survive, but what to live for.

Reviewers say Life on Mars is “emotional and gripping and ultimately full of hope, and chock-full of the complications that arise when starting a new society on a new world while watching the world of old die before your eyes.”

Dias will be donating 50% of profits (minimum of $50) from Finding Life on Mars from 11/23-12/4 to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Purchase links:

  • Amazon: $14.99 paperback, $0.99 Kindle

Click to learn why Dias chose the ACLU and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

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The Hands We’re Given
By O.E. Tearmann

Genre: Science fiction
Length: 365 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book
Age group: Adult, NC-17 for cursing and explicit sex

This queer cyberpunk explores what it means to be American — and human — in a country that no longer finds democracy or civil rights valuable. In 2155, seven corporations run the City Grids for a profit and own their workers, body and soul. The Constitution has been relegated to a quaint document. Freedom is just a word in the news vids.

But off the Grids, there are people fighting for a change.

They fight for each other.
They fight for a better world.
Some things are worth fighting for.

Reviewers are saying, “If you’re under the rainbow or if you’re close to someone under the rainbow, this book is for you. Beautiful, well-rounded, deep LGBTQ+ characters, including the protagonist, populate a rich dystopian plausible future world.”

Tearmann will be donating 50% of profits from The Hands We’re Given from 11/23-12/4 to the Transgender Law Center. (Timing of donation may depend on receipt of royalty payments.) 

Purchase links:

Click to learn why Tearmann chose the Transgender Law Center and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

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Rectifier – The Electric Man
By Brian D. Howard

Genre: Science fiction
Length: 198 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book
Age group: Mainstream adult/YA crossover, PG-13

Life on the streets, homeless, is hard enough. Oliver Stuart’s life had fallen apart, and he just wanted to be left alone, surviving day by day. Until he was kidnapped by a secret lab, operated on, and dumped in a mass grave, left for dead as a failed experiment. Except it didn’t fail. Now he can control electricity, and the people around him want him to be the hero he never thought he could be.

The lab is still capturing the homeless — people most don’t notice, let alone miss these victims — for their often-fatal experiments. Now Oliver can’t stand back while the clock ticks down before they end up dead — or worse. Rectifier – The Electric Man is the second book in the After the Crash superhero series, but is a complete standalone story.

Howard will be donating 50% of profits from Rectifier – The Electric Man from 11/23-12/4 to ACCESS Housing.

Purchase links:

  • Amazon: $11.99 paperback, $2.99 e-book

Click to learn why Howard chose the ACCESS Housing and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

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Transference
By Kate Jonuska

Genre: Dark comedy
Length: 246 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book
Age group: Mainstream adult, R-rated for cursing and sexuality

This dark comedy stars Dr. Derek Verbenk, a disgraced Denver psychiatrist, and his new telepathic patient, Janet Buckman. Quite the #metoo nightmare, Verbenk has a dirty and inappropriately funny mind that poor Janet can read — the last thing she needs, because her new telepathy has wreaked havoc on her life as a Senator’s wife and philanthropist. Her main cause, both publicly and through her husband’s work, is refugee aid.

Reviewers are saying, “Kate Jonuska has a keen, witty, unique voice that will likely only get more incisive and vivid with time. In this case, you don’t even need superpowers to see that.”

Jonuska will be donating 50% of profits from Transference (or a minimum of $50) from 11/23-12/4 to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Denver, a refugee resettlement and aid organization.

Purchase links:

Click to learn why Jonuska chose IRC Denver and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

The Wing Collector
By Kristi Helvig

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Genre: Urban fantasy
Length: 256 pages
Formats: Paperback, e-book
Age group: Young adult, 12+

When a pair of faerie wings fetch big bucks online, Lila Kincade realizes her kind aren’t just oppressed; they’re hunted. Due to prejudice and hostility by humans, half-human/half-faerie Lila lives in a world where faeries are required to register with the government and bind their wings in order to look like everyone else.

When photos of dismembered wings appear in her school locker, Lila realizes that she is the killer’s prime target. As faerie corpses pile up around her, Lila must figure out who she can trust and stop the killer before she—and all faeries— are obliterated forever.

Reviewers are saying, “Lots of twists and turns kept me gripping my kindle tight, waiting for the next ball to drop. This book is a real page-turner.”

Helvig will be donating 50% of profits from The Wing Collector from 11/23-12/4 to CHARG Resource Center, which provides mental health services to underserved clients in the Denver area. 

Purchase links:

  • Amazon: $13.99 paperback, $2.99 Kindle

Click to learn why Helvig chose CHARG Resource Center and see a list of suggested discussion questions. 

CLICK HERE to see or download the CLICK HERE to see or download the Colorado Resistance Reads – The List (PDF)