Author Amanda Churchill is scheduled to bring her debut novel, “The Turtle House,” to the Bryan + College Station Public Library System’s 2026 Author Series. The free program is set for Sept. 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Clara B. Mounce Public Library, 201 E. 26th Street, in Bryan.
The event will feature a presentation by Churchill, a question-and-answer session and a book signing. The first 50 people who register will receive a complimentary copy of the novel, but recipients must attend the program to get the book.
“The Turtle House” received the 2025 Reading the West Award in debut fiction. Set in 1999, it centers on Lia Cope, a 25-year-old architect who returns to her Texas hometown of Curtain under unexplained circumstances, and her 73-year-old grandmother, Mineko, a Japanese war bride.
After a fire destroys the family ranch house, Mineko moves in with relatives and shares a bedroom with Lia. The novel follows their growing relationship as Mineko discusses her life in Japan, a lost love and a location known as the Turtle House. When Mineko’s children seek to move her into assisted living, she and Lia develop a plan connected to that memory.
Churchill is an Aggie who lives in Keller, Texas. The novel is her first.
