Today's Featured Books— Events

Free online: Transformational Stories...for writing your own journal and aspiring authors. Gather in a supportive space to write your book, poems, or journal. Tuesday, July 15, 2:30 - 4:00 PM CDT. 

"I don't know what I think until I write it down." ~Joan Didion

Free online: The Back Room’s Super Beach Reads!—an author conversation and chat with bestselling writers Nikki Cloke, Kyra Davis Lurie, Dwyer Murphy & Liza Tully. Sunday, July 13, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CDT.

“One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by.” ~Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

Free online: Poetry Lit! Explore the world of poetry from the comfort of your favorite chair via Poetry Lit's monthly online reading series. This month: poets Kate Hendry & Nalini Paul. Friday, July 11, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. CDT. 

"Like a piece of ice on a hot stove, the poem must ride on its own melting." ~Robert Frost

Free online: Smithsonian Folklife Festival, July 2-7. This free festival takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., July 2-7. If you happen to be in the area, you can attend in person. If you are not in the area, you can catch some fun events online via YouTube: Prom in the Park, Saturday, July 5, 2025, 5:30 – 8 PM EDT, and Next-Gen Music Ensembles, Sunday, July 6, 2025, 5:30 – 7:30 PM EDT. 

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." ~Albert Camus

Free online: Larksong First Friday Book Talk & Reading with Cliff Taylor, author of The Shining Hands of My Ponca Ancestors. Friday, July 4, 12 pm CDT. 

“It does not require many words to speak the truth.” ~Chief Joseph

Free online: Speaking Crow. Brought to you by the Winnipeg (Canada) Public Library and Plume Winnipeg (formerly known as the Winnipeg International Writers Festival), Speaking Crow is Winnipeg's longest-running poetry open mic. Each poet will have 3 minutes to share new poetry. Tuesday, July 1, 7-8 PM CDT. 

“Poetry is like a bird, it ignores all frontiers.” ~Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Greetings! Today's Featured Books include 12 indie titles (4 freebies!). See all of our Featured Books at LitNuts.com. 

Like Sci-Fi? Then you might be interested in the Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction 1780-1910 online exhibit at the Smithsonian Library. This free virtual exhibit includes nine chapters on topics like "The Age of the Aeronaut" and "Rise of the Machines," as well as a digital library of 85 manuscripts related to early works of science fiction. 

"If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others." ~Philip K. Dick

Free online: Get the Word Out Poetry Reading. Hosted by Poets & Writers, this is a celebratory reading by the current poetry cohort of Get the Word Out, a publicity incubator for early-career authors. Thursday, June 26, 7 PM CDT.

"As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." ~Rumi

Free online: "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg. Join staff of the New York Public Library on the third Saturday of each month for an online-only discussion of a wide range of poetry from classics to contemporary. This month: "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg. Saturday, June 21, 10 AM EDT. 

"In my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America." ~Allen Ginsberg, "Howl"

Free online: The Writers' Room After Hours. Join The Writer's Room of Boston for an interview with Mable Chan, journalist, writer, producer, and founder of One in a Billion Productions, a film-focused multi-media nonprofit. Her current writing projects include a memoir and a TV pilot. Wednesday, June 18, 7:30 - 8:30 EDT.

"Productivity is a trap. There will always be too much to do." ~Mable Chan

Free online: Rogue Reads - A Crime Spree, a fun online event where authors discuss not just their latest crime novels, but also share recipes for their favorite drinks and snacks. Tonight's line-up includes Christina Dodd, author of Thus With a Kiss I Die; Vaseem Khan, The Girl in Cell A; Delia Pitts, Death of an Ex; and Ryan Pote, Blood and Treasure. Monday, June 16, 6 PM CDT. 

"Life is about working out who the bad guy is." ~Sophie Hannah

Free online: Speculative Sunday Poetry Reading Series Juneteenth and the Black Fantastic. Join for a virtual poetry reading series celebrating Juneteenth and exploring the Black Fantastic in speculative poetry. Sunday, June 15, 6:00 - 7:15 PM CDT. 

"Discomfort is always a necessary part of enlightenment." ~Pearl Cleage

Free online: Art & Spirit Forum, a weekly forum that focuses on art and related spiritual forces, including inspiration, intuition, beauty, intent, perfection, and meaning. Each session begins with an informal sharing of inspirational writings, then the group explores a specific aspect of art or an individual artist’s work. Participants are welcome to observe, but everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and views. Thursdays, 5:30 - 7:00 PM CDT. 

“A creative life is an amplified life.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

Free online: Join the staff of the New York Public Library Grand Concourse Branch for a discussion of "A Pair of Silk Stockings" by Kate Chopin. Wednesday, June 11, from 11:00 AM to 12 PM ET or from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET. 

“She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment.” ~Kate Chopin, The Awakening

Free online Sunday: What's New in Historical Fiction, a panel series celebrating bold new voices and fresh perspectives in historical storytelling. Featuring Hazel Gaynor, author of Before Dorothy; Kristina McMorris, The Girls of Good Fortune; Kelli Estes, Smoke on the Wind; and Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls. Sunday, June 8, 1 - 2 PM CDT. 

“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” ~David McCullough, American historian

Free online Friday: Larksong Writers Place First Friday Book Talk & Reading with spoken work poet Jewel Rodgers, 2025 - 2029 State Poet of Nebraska. Friday, June 6, 12 PM CDT. 

"Be revolutionary." ~Jewel Rodgers

Free online: Austin Public Library Book & Movie Club. This month, the club will be reading The Hours, a 1998 Virginia Woolf tribute novel written by Michael Cunningham, and watching the 2002 film adaptation of the same title. Tuesday, June 3, 7 PM CDT. 

"Absorbing, mysterious, of infinite richness, this life." ~Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

Free online: Poetry for National Creativity Day. Join some of the most creative voices in contemporary poetry for a burst of imagination and invention! Featuring: Julie Stevens, Mark Antony Owen, Sarah Reeson, Beth Brooke, Maggie Mackay, Nina Parmenter, Sarah Doyle, Martin Kennedy Yates, and Corinna Board. Saturday, May 31, 1:00 - 2:30 PM CDT. 

"The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it." ~Dylan Thomas

Free online: Join the Academy of American Poets for the 2025 Blaney Lecture on "Poetry and Spirituality" delivered by acclaimed poet Kaveh Akbar, author Pilgrim Bell (Graywolf Press, 2021) and Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice James, 2017). He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine. His first novel, Martyr! (Knopf, 2024), was a New York Times Bestseller. Thursday, May 29, 6-7 PM CDT. 

“Bewilderment is at the core of every great poem.” ~Kaveh Akbar

Free online: What's New in Historical Fiction. This special event features four powerful authors whose novels uncover hidden histories, challenge the status quo, and illuminate the human experience across time and place. Join for conversation with Alina Adams (author of Go On Pretending), Kyra Davis Lurie (The Great Mann), C.W. Towarnicki (Notes from a Deserter), and Marie Bostwick (The Book Club for Troublesome Women). 

"Events are as much the parents of the future as they were the children of the past." ~John Galsworthy

Free online: Scribente Maternum (Write Like a Mother), a reading that celebrates the works of writer-moms who have new or forthcoming works. Thursday, May 22, 1:00 - 2:30 PM EDT. 

“A mother is the one who fills your heart in the first place.” ~Amy Tan, Saving Fish from Drowning

Giveaway: Teen & YA Books. Hosted by CraveBooks, there are 19 books to be won in this Teen & Young Adult Giveaway. First prize is ALL of the books, in either print or ebook format. Second and third prize winners get an e-book. Deadline for entry is June 2, 2025. 

"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs." ~Charlotte Bronte

Free online: Artful Dodgers Poetry Saturday. Join online or in person for a poetry open mic at the new Brooklyn Heights Public Library. Saturday, May 17, 1 PM CDT. 

"The most important thing in life is to stop saying 'I wish' and start saying 'I will.'" ~Charles Dickens

Free online: Strong Women, Strange Worlds. Join for a tasting menu of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories from six authors who will each have 8 minutes to tempt and tantalizing you with their reading. Thursday, May 15, 6 PM CDT. 

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Free online: Pen Parentis Salon, an open discussion about writing while parenting and the creative practice of our featured authors Susanna Sonnenberg, Sonja Curry-Johnson, Miranda Schmidt, and Annie Wenstrup. Tuesday, May 13, 6 PM CDT.

“Don’t worry that children never listen to you: worry that they are always watching you.” ~Robert Fulghum