Programs for Adults

Writer’s Workshop meets monthly and is a FREE event. Watch below for dates and times.

Writers at any level of writing are invited to participate. Activities include group submissions, critiquing, sharing publishing possibilities as well as writing mechanics and more.

If you are interested in finding support fueled by inspiration or being that support to someone, come join us!

For more information, call the library at 715-545-2887

 Workshop Schedule

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 12:30pm 

Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 12:30pm

Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 12:30pm

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 12:30pm

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 12:30pm

Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 12:30pm

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 12:30pm 

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 12:30pm

Meeting Dates and Times are varied, so watch here for the information or call the library…

Book choices are recommended and voted on by the whole group. The library will have copies of the monthly book choice available. Click on the title of each book below and you will see a link to our online catalog. Call if you prefer special formatting such as Large Print or Audio. 715-545-2887 We will have various facilitators each month.

Come join us for a relaxing and engaging discussion.

2024 Schedule: 

Wednesday, July 24th – 6pm – Agatha Christie’s Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by various authors. Discussion facilitated by Pat Lamon.

“Jane Marple is an elderly lady from St Mary Mead who possesses an uncanny knack for solving even the most perplexing puzzles. Now, for the first time in 45 years, Agatha Christie’s beloved character returns to the page for a globe-trotting tour of crime and detection.

Join Marple as she travels through her sleepy English village and around the world. In St Mary Mead, a Christmas dinner is interrupted by unexpected guests; the Broadway stage in New York City is set for a dangerous improvisation; bad omens surround an untimely death aboard a cruise ship to Hong Kong; and a bestselling writer on holiday in Italy is caught in a nefarious plot. These and other crimes committed in the name of love, jealousy, blackmail, and revenge are ones that only the indomitable Jane Marple can solve.

Bringing a fresh twist to the hallmarks of a classic Agatha Christie mystery, these twelve esteemed writers have captured the sharp wit, unique voice, and droll ingenuity of the deceptively demure detective. A triumphant celebration of Christie’s legacy and essential reading for crime lovers, Marple is a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains one of the most famous detectives of all time.” ~ Amazon

Wednesday, August 21st – 6pm –  Crispin; The Cross Of Lead, Book 1 by Avi . Discussion Facilitated by Linda Tucker

Winner of the Newbery Medal, Crispin: The Cross of Lead is an action-packed mystery and adventure from master storyteller Avi.

Sometimes I ran, sometimes all I could do was walk. All I knew was that if the steward overtook me, I’d not survive for long….

Crispin is a poor thirteen-year-old peasant in medieval England. Accused of a crime he did not commit, he has been declared a “wolf’s head,” meaning he may be killed on sight, by anyone. He flees his tiny village with nothing but his mother’s cross of lead.

In the English countryside, Crispin meets a man named Bear, who forces Crispin to become his servant yet encourages him to think for himself. But as Crispin’s enemies draw ever closer, he is pulled right into the fortress of his foes, where he must find a way to save their very lives.

A master of breathtaking plot twists and vivid characters, award-winning author Avi brings the full force of his storytelling powers to the world of medieval England. ~ Amazon

Wednesday, September 18th – 6pm – The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee. Discussion facilitated by Karla Larson

A Reese’s Book Club YA Pick and New York Times Bestseller

From the critically acclaimed author of Luck of the Titanic, Under a Painted Sky, and Outrun the Moon comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.

“This vividly rendered historic novel will keep readers riveted as witty, observant Jo deals with the dangers of questioning power.” —The Washington Post

“Holds a mirror to our present issues while giving us a detailed and vibrant picture of life in the past.” —The New York Times

“A joyful read . . . The Downstairs Girl, for all its serious and timely content, is a jolly good time.” —NPR ~ Amazon

Wednesday, October 16th – 10am – Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss and Vengance by Paulette Jiles. Discussion facilitated by Linda Tucker

Consumed with grief, driven by vengeance, a man undertakes an unrelenting odyssey across the lawless post–Civil War frontier seeking redemption in this fearless novel from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of News of the World. 

Union soldier John Chenneville suffered a traumatic head wound in battle. His recovery took the better part of a year as he struggled to regain his senses and mobility. By the time he returned home, the Civil War was over, but tragedy awaited. John’s beloved sister and her family had been brutally murdered.

Their killer goes by many names. He fought for the North in the late unpleasantness, and wore a badge in the name of the law. But the man John knows as A. J. Dodd is little more than a rabid animal, slaughtering without reason or remorse, needing to be put down.

Traveling through the unforgiving landscape of a shattered nation in the midst of Reconstruction, John braves winter storms and confronts desperate people in pursuit of his quarry. Untethered, single-minded in purpose, he will not be deterred. Not by the U.S. Marshal who threatens to arrest him for murder should he succeed. And not by Victoria Reavis, the telegraphist aiding him in his death-driven quest, yet hoping he’ll choose to embrace a life with her instead.

And as he trails Dodd deep into Texas, John accepts that this final reckoning between them may cost him more than all he’s already lost… ~ Amazon

Wednesday, November 20th – 10am –  The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel, Discussion facilitated by Diane Blank

The “beautifully complex” (Woman’s Day) classic that made Kristin Harmel a superstar follows a woman who must travel from Cape Cod to Paris to uncover a family secret for her dying grandmother that could change everything. Updated with a new author’s note and recipes for this 10th anniversary edition!

At thirty-six, Hope McKenna-Smith is no stranger to bad news. She lost her mother to cancer, her husband left her, and her bank account is nearly depleted. Her own dreams of becoming a lawyer long gone, she’s running a failing family bakery on Cape Cod and raising a troubled preteen.

Now, Hope’s beloved French-born grandmother Mamie is drifting away in a haze of Alzheimer’s. But in a rare moment of clarity, Mamie realizes that unless she tells Hope about the past, the secrets she has held on to for so many years will soon be lost forever. Tantalizingly, she reveals mysterious snippets of a tragic history in WWII Paris. Armed with a scrawled list of names, Hope heads to France to uncover a seventy-year-old mystery.

What follows is “an immersive and evocative tale of generations struggling to survive” (Publishers Weekly) as Hope pieces together her grandmother’s past bit by bit. Uncovering horrific tales of the Holocaust, she realizes the astonishing will of her grandmother to endure in a world gone mad. And to reunite two lovers torn apart by terror, all she’ll need is a dash of courage, and the belief that God exists everywhere, even in cake.

“Kristin Harmel is a powerful and dazzling voice in historical fiction.” —Patti Callahan, New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah ~ Amazon

Wednesday, December 11th, 10:00am – The Inspector and Mrs Jeffries by Emily Brightwell. Discussion facilitated by Pat Lamon

This charming series of Victorian murder mysteries features mild-mannered Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard and, more importantly, Mrs Jeffries, his housekeeper. A policeman’s widow herself, her quick wits allow her to nudge the Inspector in the right direction to solve the crime.

When a doctor is discovered dead in his own office, Mrs Jeffries is on the look-out for a prescription for murder, determined to discover the culprit, despite how her employer feels about interviewing suspects . . . “He hated questioning people. He could never tell whether or not someone was actually lying to him, and he knew, shocking as it was, that there were some people who lied to the police on a regular basis.”

Wednesday, January 15th, 10am –  West with Giraffes by Linda Rutledge. Discussion facilitated by Michele Shaw