Join us as we chat with New York Times bestselling author, Douglas Brunt, about instant bestselling debut non-fiction work The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I. This book reveals the hidden history of Rudolf Diesel, one of the world’s greatest inventors, and his mysterious disappearance on the eve of World War I. 

September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the most famous men in the world, Rudolf Diesel, whose new internal combustion engine is on the verge of revolutionizing global industry forever. But Diesel never arrives at his destination. He vanishes during the night and headlines around the world wonder if it was an accident, suicide, or murder. 

After rising from an impoverished European childhood, Diesel had become a multi-millionaire with his powerful engine that does not require expensive petroleum-based fuel. In doing so, he became not only an international celebrity but also the enemy of two extremely powerful men -– Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and the richest man in the world. The Kaiser wanted the engine to power a fleet of submarines that would finally allow him to challenge Great Britain’s Royal Navy. But Diesel had intended for his engine to be used for the betterment of the world. 

Brunt reopens the case and provides a compelling new conclusion about Diesel’s fate. Register now to see how the mystery unfolds! 

About the Author: Douglas Brunt is the New York Times bestselling author of The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel and host of the top-rated SiriusXM author podcast Dedicated with Doug Brunt. A Philadelphia native, he lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children. Visit DouglasBrunt.com for more information.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

Hidden Valley Road, by Robert Kolker

Tells the heartrending story of a midcentury American family with 12 children, 6 of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.

You’re invited to join Nina Simon online as chats about her lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths, Mother-Daughter Murder Night. 

Mother-Daughter Murder Night follows high-powered business woman Lana Rubicon. She has a lot to be proud of with her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does. 

In a turn of events, when Jack happens upon a dead body while kayaking she quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power. With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other.

Harness your inner detective and sign up for the investigation. Register now!

About the Author: Nina Simon writes crime fiction about strong women. She is the New York Times-bestselling debut author of Mother-Daughter Murder Night. This big-hearted whodunnit is a Reese's Book Club pick and a "best of 2023" selection for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CrimeReads, and LibraryJournal.

Before turning to fiction, Nina wore many hats: NASA engineer, slam poet, game designer, museum director, and nonprofit CEO. Her work on community participation in museums, libraries, parks, and theaters has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NPR, and the TEDx stage.

Mother-Daughter Murder Night is Nina’s first novel. She wrote it as a love letter to her mother, as a way to entertain, comfort, and connect with her during a major health crisis. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nina now lives off-the-grid in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her family. More information can be found on her website, ninaksimon.com.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

Certified instructor Michelle Bouchard will lead this light and rejuvenating class. This class is for adults ages 18+ and all skill levels are welcome. Participants will explore breathing practices, mindfulness & meditation techniques, and a physical approach to sustainable exercise.

Please bring your own yoga mat and dress comfortably.

Registration is required and space is limited. Sponsored by the Wilbraham Friends of the Library

Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder

This masterful work of reporting and nonfiction storytelling takes us deep into the world of Dr. Jim O'Connell, a Harvard Medical School graduate, who, following his life's calling, serves Boston's homeless community, facing one of American society's most shameful problems, instead of looking away.

Request the book.

This monthly book discussion is facilitated by Assistant Director Mary Bell. Newcomers are always welcome!

Join us for an evening of Great Songs from Great Movies with David Polansky. Spanning several decades of film history, he will cover everything from Singin' in the Rain to Breakfast at Tiffany's and Star Wars.

An accomplished trumpet player, pianist, and vocalist, David is in constant demand throughout the New England area. Over the years he has worked with Arthur Fiedler, Sandler and Young, Phyllis Diller, Henny Youngman, Ray Bolger and others. Read more about him here. 

This program is sponsored by the Wilbraham Friends of the Library.

Those Angry Days by Lynn Olson

At the center of the debate over American intervention in World War II stood the two most famous men in America: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the interventionist cause, and aviator Charles Lindbergh, who as unofficial leader and spokesman for America's isolationists emerged as the president's most formidable adversary. Their contest of wills personified the divisions within the country at large, and Lynne Olson makes masterly use of their dramatic personal stories to create a poignant and riveting narrative.
The History Book Club is self-run by the members. Copies of the book are available at the Service Desk.

You’re welcome to register for a thrilling conversation with Rebecca F. Kuang (R.F. Kuang) as she chats with us about her New York Times bestselling novel, Yellowface. Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media.

In Yellowface, Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

White lies, dark humor, and deadly consequences await within the pages of Yellowface. With its totally immersive first-person voice, Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable. Register to join the conversation! 

About the Author: Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Chinese literature, and Asian American literature.

Tartuffe by Moliere.

Led by Jessica Magill.

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

Mars and its secrets have fascinated and mystified humans since ancient times. Due to its vivid color and visibility, geologic kinship with Earth, and potential as our best hope for settlement, Mars embodies everything that inspires us about space and exploration. For the Love of Mars surveys the red planet's place in the human imagination, beginning with ancient astrologers and skywatchers and ending in our present moment of exploration and virtual engagement.

You’re invited to come learn alongside Matt Shindell, National Air and Space Museum curator, as he introduces viewers to historical figures across eras and around the world who have made sense of this mysterious planet. Shindell will highlight historical figures such as: 

• Mayan astrologer priests who incorporated Mars into seasonal calendars and religious ceremonies; 
• Babylonian astrologers who discerned bad omens; 
• figures of the Scientific Revolution who struggled to comprehend it as a world; 
• Victorian astronomers who sought signs of intelligent life; and
• 20th- and 21st-century scientists who have established a technological presence on its surface. 

Along the way, we will encounter writers and artists from each period who take readers and viewers on imagined journeys to Mars.

 By focusing on the diverse human stories behind the telescopes and behind the robots we know and love, Shindell will show how Mars exploration has evolved in ways that have also expanded knowledge about other facets of the universe. Register now for this captivating voyage through time!

About the Author: Matthew Shindell, Ph.D., is a historian of science with a background in science studies. He is Curator of Earth and Planetary Science at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He is responsible for the Museum’s collection of spacecraft, instruments, and other artifacts related to the exploration and study of our Earth and solar system. He co-hosts the Museum’s podcast, AirSpace. He curated the Museum’s permanent exhibition, Exploring the Planets, and is leading a curatorial team developing the exhibition Futures in Space. Shindell is the author of For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet (2023) and The Life and Science of Harold C. Urey (2019), coauthor of Spaceships (2023), Our Future in Space (2023), and Discerning Experts (2019), and co-editor of Smithsonian American Women (2019).

Click here to register for this virtual program. 

More info to follow. 

Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret: she was born Belle Marion Greener, daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and well-known advocate for equality. Belle's alleged Portuguese heritage lets her pass as white, but she will go through great lengths to preserve her carefully crafted identity in a racist world.

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

This one is for readers everywhere! Join us as we chat with author Shannon Reed about her book, "Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One Page Before Lights Out".

Why DO we read? What compels us to? What holds our attention? How many of us remember reading by a flashlight after hours? Shannon will have the scoop and will be answering lots of our questions! Also, given her last name, we feel that Shannon is the perfect person to have written this book :).

Presented in partnership with the Ashland Public Library.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

Get your popcorn and take a seat as we pick the brain of the queen of twists herself, Freida McFadden! McFadden will join us to chat about writing psychological thrillers, her mega-bestselling hit The Housemaid series, in particular her forthcoming (June 11, 2024) third installment, The Housemaid Is Watching. 

The next installment is full of unbelievable twists and tension as it continues to follow Millie Calloway. She used to clean other people’s houses—now, she can’t believe this new home is actually hers. The charming kitchen, the quiet cul-de-sac, the huge yard where her kids can play. She and her husband saved for years to give their children the life they deserve.

Even though she’s wary of their new neighbor, Mrs. Lowell when she invites them over for dinner, it’s their chance to make friends, so they accept the invitation. Mrs. Lowell’s maid opens the door wearing a white apron, her hair in a tight bun. Millie knows exactly what it’s like to be in her shoes. But the maid’s cold stare gives her chills…

The Lowells’ maid isn’t the only strange thing on their street. Millie’s sure she sees a shadowy figure watching them. Her husband leaves the house late at night. And when she meets a woman who lives across the way, her words chill to the bone: Be careful of your neighbors.

Millie wonders: Did they make a terrible mistake moving their family here?

About the Author: #1 New York Times, Amazon Charts, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. Freida’s work has been selected as one of Amazon Editors’ best books of the year, she is the winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for best paperback, and she is a Goodreads Choice Award winner. Her novels have been translated into over 30 languages.

Freida lives with her family and black cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.

Click here to register for this virtual event.

More information to follow. 

Registration is required and space is limited. Sponsored by the Wilbraham Friends of the Library. 

DNA is a simple acronym to describe what can be seen as complex science. Well, it is "complex science." However, the basics of that science can be relatively easy to explain and understand. There are three basic types of DNA tests which we'll discuss in our session with Dave Robison. To make the evening interesting, there will be a raffle for two DNA kits for two lucky attendees!

Dave Robison is a professional genealogist and owner of Old Bones Genealogy of New England. He is the currently president of the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists and vice-president of the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society.

Sponsored by the Wilbraham Friends of the Library. 

Registration is required and space is limited.

Presented in partnership with the Ashland Public Library.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

Join us as #1 New York Times bestselling author Tiffany Jewell highlights the inequities Black and Brown students face from preschool through college as she presents lessons and knowledge from her new book Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School. 

From preschool to higher education and everything in between, Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School focuses on the experiences Black and Brown students face as a direct result of the racism built into schools across the United States.

The overarching nonfiction narrative follows author Tiffany Jewell from early elementary school through her time at college, unpacking the history of systemic racism in the American educational system along the way. Throughout the book, other writers of the global majority share a wide variety of personal narratives and stories based on their own school experiences.

Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School provides young folks with the context to think critically about and chart their own course through their current schooling—and any future schooling they may pursue. A true “don’t want to miss” event–so register now! 

About the Author: Tiffany Jewell is a Black biracial writer, twin sister, first-generation American, cisgender mama, anti-bias antiracist (ABAR) educator, and consultant. She is the author of the #1 New York Times and #1 Indie Bestseller, This Book Is Anti-Racist, a book for young folks and everyone to wake up, take action, and do the work of becoming antiracist as well as The Antiracist Kid: A Book About Identity, Justice, and Activism the recently released Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School (2024).

Tiffany has been working with children and families for nearly two decades and has worked as a Montessori educator for fifteen years. She enjoys exploring social justice with young folks, especially the history of racism and resistance, economic justice, and socially and personally constructed identities. Tiffany enjoys working with educators and supporting them building strong, authentic communities in which every child can be seen and valued. She is the co-founder, alongside Britt Hawthorne, of ABARatSchool, an organization that strives to support educators and caregivers in their anti-bias anti-racist journeys. She also served as the president of the founding board of the national organization Montessori for Social Justice- seeing it through to completing nonprofit status and creating a strong mission to support and amplify Montessorian of the Global Majority across the country. Tiffany lives on the homeland of the Pocumtuc and the Nipmuck with her two young storytellers, husband, and a turtle she’s had since she was nine years old. 

Click here to register for this virtual program.

An orientation for new volunteers with Assistant Director Mary Bell.

Interested in volunteering? Anyone age 14+ is welcome to turn in the form prior to the training with a photocopy of your government-issued photo ID. Any questions? Please contact Mary Bell.

Country of Vast Designs, by Robert Merry

Explores the one-term presidency of James K. Polk, during which the United States extended its territory across the continent by threatening England and manufacturing a controversial war with Mexico that Abraham Lincoln opposed.
The History Book Club is self-run by the members. Copies of the book are available at the Service Desk.

If you are a fan of true crime and want to dive deep into the psychology of a serial killer and his apprentice, this program is for you! Join authors Katherine Ramsland and Tracy Ullman as they discuss their most recent book, "The Serial Killer's Apprentice", a psychological examination of the blurred line between victim and accomplice—and how a killer can be created. We hope you can join us for this fascinating conversation!

Presented in partnership with the Ashland Public Library.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

Ah, the nineties. Movies were something in those days. We’re talking about a decade that began with GoodFellas and ended with Magnolia, with such films as Malcolm X, Before Sunrise, and Clueless arriving somewhere in between. Stories, characters, and writing were king. If you're a fan, a movie buff, or just a child of the 90s, please join us in conversation with author Scott Ryan as we discuss what made them classics and why they could never be produced in today’s film culture.

Presented in partnership with the Ashland Public Library.

Click here to register for this virtual program.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

Led by Jessica Magill.

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout

With her trademark spare, crystalline prose-a voice infused with "intimate, fragile, desperate humanness" (The Washington Post)-Elizabeth Strout once again turns her exquisitely-tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, this time following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William! through the early days of the pandemic. As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and longtime friend, William. For the next several months, it's just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea. They will not emerge unscathed

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

More information to follow. 

Sponsored by the Wilbraham Friends of the Library.

Led by Jessica Magill

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

Israel, by Noa Tishby

While everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Tishby creates an accessible and dynamic portrait of a tiny country of outsized relevance. Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, she chronicles her homeland’s evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel's creation to the real disputes dividing the country today. Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, she offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel. -- adapted from jacket
The History Book Club is self-run by the members. Copies of the book are available at the Service Desk.

In the Unlikely Event, by Judy Blume

In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, she paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place -- Nat King Cole singing "Unforgettable," Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on.

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

More info to follow.

Founding Mothers, by Cokie Roberts

Explores the lives of women who helped shape the United States, profiling such key figures as Abigail Adams, Eliza Pinkney, Dolley Payne Madison, Deborah Read Franklin, and Catherine Littlefield Greene.
The History Book Club is self-run by the members. Copies of the book are available at the Service Desk.

Led by Jessica Magill

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave

When her husband of a year disappears, Hannah quickly learns he is not who he said he was and is left to sort out the truth with just one ally- her husband's teenage daughter, who hates her.

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

The warmth of other suns by Isabel Wilkerson

An epic history covering the period from the end of World War I through the 1970s chronicles the decades-long migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West through the stories of three individuals and their families.

Request the book.

This monthly book discussion is facilitated by Assistant Director Mary Bell. Newcomers are always welcome!

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.
The History Book Club is self-run by the members. Copies of the book are available at the Service Desk.

Led by Jessica Magill

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

Campbell Harmon presentation

No Two Persons, by Erika Bauermeister

When a devastating event breaks her heart open, aspiring writer Alice creates a stunning debut novel in which her words find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness to a widower rent by grief, who, due to her book, find new paths forward.

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

The Paris daughter by Kristin Harmel

As WWII ends, Elise returns to Paris to reunite with her daughter only to find her friend Juliette, the woman she entrusted her daughter with, has seemingly vanished without a trace, which leads Elise on a desperate search to New York -- and to Juliette -- one final, fateful time.

Request the book.

This monthly book discussion is facilitated by Assistant Director Mary Bell. Newcomers are always welcome!

Led by Jessica Magill

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, by Kashid Khalidi

A history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict told from the Palestinian perspective, arguing the period since the Balfour Declaration of 1917 has amounted to a hundred years of colonial war against the Palestinians.
The History Book Club is self-run by the members. Copies of the book are available at the Service Desk.

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

Set in 1960s California, this blockbuster debut is the hilarious, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is constantly derailed by the idea that a woman's place is in the home, only to find herself starring as the host of America's most beloved TV cooking show. Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the 1960s and despite the fact that she is a scientist, her peers are very unscientific when it comes to equality. The only good thing to happen to her on the road to professional fulfillment is a run-in with her super-star colleague Calvin Evans (well, she stole his beakers.) The only man who ever treated her-and her ideas-as equal, Calvin is already a legend and Nobel nominee. He's also awkward, kind and tenacious. Theirs is true chemistry. But as events are never as predictable as chemical reactions, three years later Elizabeth Zott is an unwed, single mother (did we mention it's the early 60s??) and the star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's singular approach to cooking ('take one pint of H2O and add a pinch of sodium chloride') and independent example are proving revolutionary. Because Elizabeth isn't just teaching women how to cook, she's teaching them how to change the status quo. Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrantas its protagonist

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

The soloist: a lost dream, an unlikely friendship, and the redemptive power of music by Steve Lopez

An intimate portrait of gifted violinist Nathaniel Ayers traces his promising education at Juilliard, his struggles with schizophrenia, and the factors that led to his homelessness in Los Angeles, circumstances that prompted their friendship and the author's efforts to improve the musician's life in spite of numerous setbacks.

Request the book.

This monthly book discussion is facilitated by Assistant Director Mary Bell. Newcomers are always welcome!

Led by Jessica Magill

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com

Discussion is facilitated by Library Director Karen Ball. Copies of the books are available to check out from the Service Desk. New members are always welcome.

The first ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women's rights and the power of education, civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt fight together for justice and equality, holding each other's hands through tragedy and triumph.

Request the book.

This monthly book discussion is facilitated by Assistant Director Mary Bell. Newcomers are always welcome!

Led by Jessica Magill

For questions, contact Jessica: jessicammagill@hotmail.com