OystHERS Summer Book Club 2026
Growing up in Midcoast Maine, we could find our Nana sitting in the driver's seat of her truck: heat cranked, lit cigarette on her lips, eyeing down a mystery novel. We could find our Mum curled upstairs in her bed breezing through a historical fiction piece, or our Aunt introducing us to cult-classics like Carrie by Stephen King, or better yet– his wife Tabitha King’s works One on One & Pearl. With the influence of strong women in our life being life-long readers, we have also become life-long readers. By starting our Summer Book Club, we hope that we can influence others to find peace and escape the world with a good read. Our 2026 Summer Book Club is unique because it features four different literary works by four different Maine women.
HOW TO GET YOUR BOOKS:
Option 1: You buy the books on your own! We recommend supporting your independent book store, but most books are available on authors websites. Independent bookstore in Bath: Mockingbird Book Shop offers 20% off if you purchase your books through them!
Option 2: Your local library! Books are available at Patten Free Library in Bath and Laura E. Richards Library in Georgetown.
You may participate in the Summer Book Club even if you are not local, live far away, or are only in Maine for a couple days/weeks. If you are local, feel free to attend OystHERS Raw Bar & Bubbly once a month for Last-Tuesday of the Month Evening Meet-Ups. On the last Tuesday of each month, we will have themed cocktails/mocktails + possible author visits or related events from 5:30-7pm. No sign up is required or necessary, come as you are and as you please! Each book club participant receives one complimentary glass of bubbly to celebrate!
June 30th: The Making of a Mechanical Heart: The Making of a Mechanical Heart: Self-discovery, joy, and forgiveness on the road to dying by Joanne Felice Boucher at 5:30pm
July 28th: Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein at 5:30pm
August 25th: Summerland Cove by Ellen Baker (releases June 2nd, 2026) at 5:30pm
September 29th: Candlemas Bay by Ruth Moore at 5:30pm
YOU MAY PICK AND CHOOSE THE BOOKS YOU READ. If you have already read a certain book, if you are a late comer, or if you feel like life can only allow you time for a couple books, you may pick and choose throughout the summer and attend when you wish! You can also participate by not attending anything at all by reading the books on your own accord. If you have already read a book prior, you can still come to the meet-ups!
THE BOOKS:
June: The Making of a Mechanical Heart: The Making of a Mechanical Heart: Self-discovery, joy, and forgiveness on the road to dying by Joanne Felice Boucher (Memoir)
https://www.feliceboucherphotography.com/book
A riveting read from one of Maine’s most significant photographers. J. Felice Boucher is a masterful storyteller who pulls us through a series of captivating scenes, from her tough—and at times hilarious—upbringing in 1950s and 60s Lewiston, Maine, to her days as a single mom and art student in Portland, to portraits of lovers along the way. Then cancer arrives and a chance meeting with Buddhist teachings that begins to heal her heart.
July: Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein (Fiction)
https://reesesbookclub.com/book/spectacular-things/
Mia and Cricket have always been close. The gifted daughters of a young single mother, the “Lowe girls” are well-known in the small Maine town they call home. Each sister has a role to fill: The responsible and academically minded Mia assumes the position of caregiver far too young, while Cricket, a bouncing ball of energy and talent, seems born for soccer stardom. But the cost of achieving athletic greatness comes at a steep price.
August: Summerland Cove by Ellen Baker (releases June 2nd, 2026, Fiction)
https://www.ellenbakernovels.com/summerlandcove
Lindy has the summer of a lifetime planned at her family’s beloved cottage in Summerland Cove, Maine, where she’s spent summers all her life and where she and her husband David met as teenagers. She’s slated big events three weekends in a row: David’s fiftieth birthday party, her parents’ fiftieth anniversary party, and her oldest daughter Hailey’s wedding. But when David doesn’t show up for his own party, everything about the life they’ve created together is thrown into question…
September: Candlemas Bay by Ruth Moore (Fiction)
Candlemas Bay (1950) focuses on the daily struggles of the Ellis family, a family that has successfully fished local waters for two hundred years, but now the current generations—from Grampie Jebron to widowed daughter-in-law Jen to grandson Jebby—struggle with change and hard times.