Today's Featured Books— Events

Free online: B&N Midday Mystery. Join Barnes & Noble for a discussion with Colin Walsh, author of Kala, a Book of the Year for NPR, The Guardian, GQ, and others. In this gripping literary page-turner, former friends estranged for twenty years reckon with the terrifying events of the summer that changed their lives. Tuesday, July 9, 2 PM CDT.

“It takes strength to be open to life, to the possibility things will change for the better.” ~Colin Walsh, Kala

Free online: SORTES 18 READING. Presented by SORTES Magazine, this event will feature readings from SORTES contributors Charles Albert, Daniel Rabuzzi, Dipti Anand, Greg Beckman, Jake Sheff, Julia Yong, Mark Russ, Marte Carlock, Michael Thériault, and/or Robert Pope. Sunday, July 7, 7 PM ET.

"Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August." ~Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty

Free online: Larksong Writers Place First Friday Book Talk & Reading with with Daniel Simon, author of Under a Gathering Sky, a quest narrative that examines the essence of questing itself. Friday, July 5, 12 PM CDT.

"It is a quest of literature throughout the ages to describe the human condition." ~Werner Herzog

Free online: Speaking Crow is an open mic poetry event sponsored by by the Winnipeg International Writers Festival. Tuesday, July 2, 8:30 PM CDT. 

"Poetry is a sword of lightning, ever unsheathed, which consumes the scabbard that would contain it." ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Free online: Sunday Salon Chicago. Hosted by Roscoe Books, Sunday Salon Chicago is an in-person and online event. This Sunday, join authors Luisa A. Igloria, Felice Neals, Patricia Q. Bidar, and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki as they read from recent writings and published works. Sunday, June 30, 6 PM CDT.

"Big-shot town, small-shot town, jet-propelled old-fashioned town, by old-world hands with new-world tools built into a place whose heartbeat carries farther than its shout." ~Nelson Algren, Chicago: City on the Make

Free online: Voices at Larksong, a monthly reading series hosted by Larksong Writers Place featuring writers of all genres, plus the occasional musician. This month: authors J.V. Brummels and Chad Christensen will be on hand. Thursday, June 27, 6 PM CDT. (If you happen to be in area, you can attend in person at 1600 N. Cotner Blvd, Lincoln, NE 68505.)

“It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.” ~S.I. Hayakawa

Free online: Summer Solstice Meditation. The summer solstice is a time of new beginnings, a time to embrace the new and let go of the old. This free 30-minute meditation session will give you an opportunity to pause and reflect on what you want to celebrate and invite into your life as the summer begins. Saturday, June 22, 1 – 1:30 PM EDT. 

Speaking of free: Today's Featured Books include three freebies and three ebooks priced at only 99 cents! See all of our Featured Books at LitNuts.com.

"This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year's threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future, the place of caught breath." ~Margaret Atwood

Free online: Touring a Black culture museum is a great way to celebrate Juneteenth. Here are five museums you can visit free via virtual tours:

• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington DC)
• Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site at Moton Field (Tuskegee, Alabama)
• Dance Theater of Harlem (New York, New York)
• The British Museum (London, England)
• The Black Archives of Mid-America (Kansas City, Missouri)

"The more I wonder, the more I love." ~Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Free online: The Book-Makers. Join Professor Adam Smyth of Oxford University for this free discussion of the history of books. Tuesday, June 18, 9 AM CDT.

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” ~Annie Dillard, The Living

Free online: Intense Summer Reads at The Back Room. Join the authors of four new thrillers for readings, conversation, and cocktails. Featured authors include Kate White, author of The Last Time She Saw Him; Charlie Donlea, author of Long Time Gone; Meg Gardiner, author of Shadowheart; and Walter Mosley, author of Farewell, Amethystine. Sunday, June 16, 7 PM ET.

“Mysteries abound where most we seek for answers.” ~Ray Bradbury

Free online: Poetry Masters Party & Poetry Slam! Get ready for a virtual party filled with top-notch poetry performances and an epic poetry slam competition. Thursday, June 13, 6:30 - 8 PM CDT. 

"There’s no money in poetry, but then there’s no poetry in money either." ~Robert Graves

Free online: Poetry and the Art of Giving Attention. In this virtual class, participants will use creative writing to articulate our wonder, care, and astonishment at the world. All experience levels are welcome—for this class, a poet is defined simply be a person who pays attention. All you need is a pen and notebook or paper. Tuesday, June 11, 2 - 3 PM CDT. 

"Be brief, be buoyant, and be brilliant." ~Brander Matthews on poetry

Free online: Book Buzz. Join the librarians of the New York Public Library for a special presentation about forthcoming books to spark your reading curiosity. Saturday, June 8, 11 AM - 12 PM EDT.

"You build a thousand castles, a thousand sanctuaries, you are nothing; you build a library, you are everything!" ~Mehmet Murat ildan

Free online: First Friday Book Talk & Reading. Hosted by Larksong Writers Place, LeeAnn Roripaugh will read from Reveal Codes, her collection of short stories that won the Moon City Short Fiction Award. Roripaugh is Professor of English at the University of South Dakota, where she also serves as Director of Creative Writing and Editor-in-Chief of South Dakota Review. Friday, May 7, 12 PM CDT.

“When you read a short story, you come out a little more aware and a little more in love with the world around you.” ~George Saunders

Free online: Coffee and a Short Story. Join the New York Public Library for a free online discussion of "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemmingway. You can read the short story for free ahead of time via the NYPL website.  Tuesday, June 4, 12 - 1 PM EDT.

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” ~Ernest Hemingway

Free online tonight: That's Absurd! Join for a wild and wacky online live reading event to hear from a collection of authors from the upcoming That's Absurd! anthology. Friday, May 31, 6:30 PM CDT. 

“In tragedy every moment is eternity; in comedy, eternity is a moment.” ~Christopher Fry

Free online tonight: 2024 Anne Halley Poetry Prize Reading. Hosted by The Massachusetts Review, tonight's event honors 2024 Anne Halley Prize winner Michael Lavers, who will read his prize-winning poem "Sun, Birds, and Leaves" and other works. Wednesday, May 29, 7 PM EDT. 

"If the next is better, I’ll still miss this world." ~Michael Lavers, "Coda"

Free online: Literary event at Malaprop's Bookstore, Asheville, NC, Join Mesha Maren, author of the new novel Shae, and Ellen Birkett Morris, author of the award-winning debut novel Beware the Tall Grass, for a reading and conversation. Monday, May 28, 6-7 PM EDT.

"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Free online: The Back Room. Enjoy an evening of cocktails and conversation with four authors, including Janie Chang, Sally Hepworth, Vanessa Miller, and Sara Paretsky, creator of the V.I. Warshawski novels and recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers Association. Sunday, May 26, 6-8 PM CDT. 

"Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman." ~Sara Paretsky

Free online tonight: Friends & Fiction. Join the hosts of Friends & Fiction for interviews with bestselling authors on a show that airs live on Facebook and YouTube. Bonus: More than 200 back episodes are available for replay on YouTube! Every Wednesday at 7 PM ET.

“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.” ~A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Free online: Rogue Reads. Presented by Rogue Women Writers, tune in for a lively conversation and Q&A with authors Meg Gardiner, Kellye Garrett, Omar Tyree, and Nolan Chase. Monday, May 20, 7 PM EST. 

“Where does it all lead? What will become of us? These were our young questions, and young answers were revealed. It leads to each other. We become ourselves.” ~Patti Smith, Just Kids

Free online: Jazz Poetry 2024. Jazz Poetry Month is an annual celebration of experimentation, collaboration, and connection between art forms and between artist and audience. This year, 50+ artists are joining the celebration. This weekend, Juno Award–winning pianist Andy Milne will perform with poets Noah Arhm Choi, Jonathan Moody, Justin Perez, and Monica Sok. Sunday, May 19, 6:00 - 7:30 EDT. 

“Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.” ~Art Blakey

Free online: Third Thursday Quick Read. Sponsored by Strong Women, Strange Worlds, this reading series offers a "tasting menu" of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. Six authors will each have 8 minutes to tempt and tantalizing you with their reading. Thursday, May 16, 6 - 7 PM CDT. 

“Miracles surround us at every turn, if we but sharpen our perceptions to them.” ~Willa Cather

Free online: Coffee and a Short Story. Hosted online by the New York Public Library, this series invites booklovers to join an online discussion of a selected short story. This week, the NYPL staff will discuss "A Report for an Academy" by Franz Kafka. Tuesday, May 14, 12-1 PM EDT. 

"We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes." ~Franz Kafka

Free online: The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Sante Fe, New Mexico, is dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe and her contributions to American Modernism. The museum website offers creative activities, stories, and education about Georgia O’Keeffe’s life, along with several virtual exhibits available through Google Arts and Culture. 

"My painting is what I have to give back to the world for what the world gives to me." ~Georgia O'Keeffe