Author Talk

It's going to be a busy January here at the Library! Whether you're resolving to read more, challenging yourself to (finally) write that novel that's been kicking around in the back of your head for years, or just continuing your pursuit of lifelong learning: We've got a great lineup of adult programs this month! Improve your day-to-day life with one of ten Life Lit workshops, get inspired with a Writer's Lab workshop and Lit Chat Interview featuring bestselling author Jami Attenberg, come together as a community for a thought-provoking Forward Thinking panel discussion, or check out a brand new Library Book Club.

We're closing out the year with some very cool programs and a ton of great book clubs! Get caught up in a good book with "Tangled Webb," a brand new Book Club meeting at Webb Wesconnett Regional Library. If you're interested in local history and memoirs, don't miss the Lit Chat Interview with Nat Glover.  At seventeen, he unknowingly headed into an angry white mob and the Ku Klux Klan attacking young black protestors staging a sit-in at a downtown whites-only lunch counter. Known as “Ax Handle Saturday,” this harrowing encounter with racism would commit him to a lifetime of fighting for justice. December is also the last month to check off 12 books and win a cool prize for the 2023 Jax Stacks Reading Challenge. A new challenge (and new categories) start January 1, 2024!

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Have you been planning and plotting your first novel? Or maybe you've been hoping to craft the next great American novel by the seat of your pants? Whether you're a plotter or pantser starting your first draft or you have a completed manuscript ready to go, the Library has some great workshops coming up that can help you cross the finish line to publication!

We start out the month with a Lit Chat Interview with local author, Tim Gilmore. He's written 22 books and even cofounded the Jax-by-Jax Literary Arts Festival. There are also free Writer's Lab workshops starting in November and continuing into early December that are focused on revising your first draft and then self-publishing the polished final product through Kindle Vella and Amazon KDP.

The Library Foundation of Jacksonville invites you to spend a special evening with author Steve Berry in the Conference Center at the Main Library on Wednesday, November 15, at 6:30 p.m. Included in the price of your ticket: delicious food from Fred Cotten's Landmark BBQ, desserts from bb's restaurant, and a bar featuring Manifest Distilling products, beer and wine. Proceeds from the event benefit JaxKids Book Club and help ensure that every new Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten student in Duval County gets a backpack of free books!

It's October... which means you have just three months left to finish the 2023 Jax Stacks Reading Challenge. But don't worry. You've got this! There are three Lit Chats Interviews coming up soon. Besides the obvious ("A book by a 2023 Lit Chat author"), their books could fit a few different categories. Plus, there are thirteen Library Book Clubs meeting and discussing their recommendations this month! There's even a book club dedicated solely to recommending and discussing books that meet the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge categories. We also have a new community partner offering free workshops for budding entrepreneurs!

Dan Santat is the author and illustrator of over a hundred books for young people including the New York Times–bestselling book After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again). Though he's probably best known for The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, the magical story of a would-be imaginary friend who sets off on a journey looking for the child he's destined to befriend!

It's September, which means we're that much closer to Halloween... and the return of Jax Book Fest to the Main Library! This year, our headliner is none other than Joe Hill, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Horns, Heart-Shaped Box, and The Fireman. Hill is also the co-creator of the Eisner Award-winning series Locke & Key, now streaming on Netflix!

Not a horror fan? There will be DOZENS of local authors at the Main Library on Saturday, September 23. So, you're bound to find something to add to your TBR pile. We also have Life Lit workshops with fall gardening tips, book clubs to join, and a ton of writing and publishing workshops!  

It's never easy when your magic goes wonky. For Nory, this means that instead of being able to turn into a dragon or a kitten, she turns into both of them at the same time -- a dritten! A two-time Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor winner and recipient of the Sydney Taylor Book Award, author Emily Jenkins is a favorite with children for her humor and sensitivity. Join the Junior Lit Chat Tuesday, September 5 from 6-6:30 p.m. at Southeast Library (intended for kids ages 5-12). A limited number of copies of Harry Versus the First One Hundred Days of School will be given away to participants, first come, first served.

Earning a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction, We Were Liars was the "sophisticated" suspense novel that took the world by storm in 2014. Now, after nine years, E. Lockhart returns to her New York Times bestselling phenomenon with a thrilling prequel that's just as scandalous and riddled with lies as the first! The Family of Liars takes readers back to the story of another summer, another generation, and the secrets that will haunt them for decades to come.

Meet the author and score your own, free copy of the brand-new book!

Library U is a collection of programs and classes for adults as well as free email newsletters that keep you connected, sharing ideas and learning. Meet and learn from published authors, master gardeners, small business experts and other curious people, just like you!