Break for Books Community Read

If you've participated in Break for Books over the past several years (almost a decade now!) you know it's a great place to go to get reading recommendations from your reading community, near and far.

This fall, we're going to read a book together! Join us for a unique community read, as we tackle the classic gothic vampire tale Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and discuss virtually!

Copies of Carmilla are available in audiobook and ebook formats on Hoopla (free with your TCPL library card) and Libby (free with any Finger Lakes Library System card). Additional copies will be available for checkout!

While the classic text is available widely, we will also be discussing Machado's forward in Lanternfish Press's 2019 version of the story, so it is helpful but not required have read this specific edition.

The discussion will take place on Thursday, October 30 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm on Facebook!

From the publisher:

“I can’t think of a better guide through this ethereal, infuriating book than Carmen Machado—whose Borgesian imagination unearths for us the possibilities buried in its pages.”

—Jordan Hall, co-creator & writer of Carmilla: The Series

Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship – until a carriage accident brings another young woman into her life: the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla. As Carmilla’s actions become more puzzling and volatile, Laura develops bizarre symptoms, and as her health goes into decline, Laura and her father discover something monstrous.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s compelling tale of a young woman’s seduction by a female vampire was a source of influence for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which it predates by over a quarter century. Carmilla was originally serialized from 1871 to 1872 and went on to inspire adaptations in film, opera, and beyond, including the cult classic web series by the same name.

A Foreword INDIES Award Finalist for LGBTQ Fiction