Thrilling reads, haunting historical fiction... it sounds like spooky season is in full swing! If you're looking for a good scare, check out what library book clubs are reading in October. Or, read the award-winning novel by Tananarive Due that's shedding light on the tragedies of the infamous Dozier School for Boys.
#In this month's blog:
- Join a Book Club
- History Chat: Jacksonville's Gullah Geechee Heritage
- Writer's Lab: Flash Fiction
- Screening Room: Secrets of the Forest
- Lit Chat Author Talk with Dorsey Craft
- Lit Chat Interview with Tananarive Due
- Life Lab gardening and small business workshops
Be the first to know about upcoming events!
#Library Book Clubs
Looking for your next read? We have 15 book clubs providing great reading recommendations every month. Talk about our book picks and meet with other book lovers to swap recommendations and read-a-likes.
#History Chat: Jacksonville's Gullah Geechee Heritage
Guest presenters Ennis Davis and Adrienne Burke present a community-centered exploration of the people, places, and traditions that have shaped Jacksonville’s Black coastal communities from 2 - 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Main Library. Through historical research, oral histories, and cultural landscape storytelling, they invite you to witness, remember, and carry these stories forward. Note: This History Chat is centered around the presenters' book by the same title, Jacksonville's Gullah Geechee Heritage. A book sale and signing will follow the program.
This program is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
#Writer's Lab: Flash Fiction with Crissa-Jean Chappell
Write and polish a short piece of "flash fiction" with award-winning Florida author, Crissa-Jean Chappell from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Main Library. In this free 90-minute workshop, you'll get behind-the-scenes secrets of publication and a few editing tricks from the novelist behind Total Constant Order (a VOYA Perfect Ten and New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age), More Than Good Enough, which Kirkus calls “compelling and emotionally nuanced...” (a Florida Book Award medalist), Snowbirds (“...an engrossing mystery...” School Library Journal) and Never Leave Me Alone.
#Screening Room: Secrets of the Forest
Watch the documentary Secrets of the Forest (53 min.) at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Willow Branch Library, followed by a brief group conversation led by Shannon Sharpe, Lead Mycologist, Harmony Mushroom Co. A mycologist with an MS in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of North Florida, Sharpe has studied fungi for more than 15 years. Note: The program is sponsored by the Friends of Willow Branch Library.
About Secrets of the Forest: "Can forests help cool the planet? Follow scientists working in spectacular forest landscapes in Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia, and beyond as they try to untangle complex networks of trees, fungi, and creatures large and small--all in a quest to tackle the twin threats of climate change and species extinction."
#Lit Chat Author Talk with Dorsey Craft
Dorsey Craft is the author of two poetry collections and two chapbooks. Her latest collection, A Brief History of Accidental Inventions explores the emotionally fraught territory of pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood with "a voice both lyrical and brash." Her first poetry collection, Plunder, won the May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize. Learn more about her life and work from 6:30 - 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at San Marco Branch Library. Note: A book sale and signing will follow the program, with books for sale by the author.
#Lit Chat Interview with Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due is an American Book Award and NAACP Image Award–winning author and teaches Afrofuturism and Black Horror at UCLA. She is the author of several novels and two short story collections. Her award-winning historical fiction novel, The Reformatory, delves into the haunting and real tragedies of the infamous Dozier School for Boys. Catch the thrilling interview from 2 - 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Main Library. A book signing will follow the interview, with books available from The Literary Lounge. Books can be pre-ordered on their site and picked up at the program.
Note: This program is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
#Life Lab: Improve Your Day-to-Day Life
Life Lab is a series of free workshops offered by trained professionals and volunteers, aimed at improving your life. They cover a wide range of topics from gardening to financial literacy to small business needs. No need to bring anything but yourself to participate!
#Upcoming Workshops:
- You Can Be a Successful Gardener
- with UF/IFAS Extension Duval County
- 6 - 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Webb Wesconnett Regional
- Bats, Bees, Birds, and Butterflies
- with UF/IFAS Extension Duval County
- 6 - 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Murray Hill Branch
- Intro to Small Business Resources at the Library
- Garden Journaling Part I
- with UF/IFAS Extension Duval County
- 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at Mandarin Branch
- Note: Part II is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10
Search our events calendar for more workshops offered by our community partners at the Library.
