Miss Christine from Little Bee Yoga Co. is excited to share the magic of yoga with John Curtis Library families!! Partner with your little yogi in super fun poses, games, music, stories, breathing exercises, meditation, and guided relaxations that help to strengthen their bodies, minds and souls... We'll bark in downward dog, meow in cat pose and roar in lion pose while we take a yoga journey that you and your child will never forget! This fun class provides a beautiful bonding experience between the adult and child. Each class is 45 minutes. The class is geared toward children ages three to six years, but all ages are welcome to participate.

 

Please bring a yoga mat or towel.

 

Simple picture books, big books, finger plays, songs and movement for children 18-35 months with a parent/caregiver.

 

Drop-in; no registration needed.

 

Join author Doreen Lang for an intimate and inspiring talk about her book, Embracing Venus: Achieve a Life Lit Up for Highly Sensitive People. Discover how sensitivity, often seen as a challenge, can become a superpower for happiness, resilience, and authentic living.

 

Doreen will share personal stories, insights from her research, and practical strategies for thriving in a world that can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re an HSP or simply curious about this empowering journey, this event will leave you feeling seen, inspired, and ready to embrace your unique path.  You can find out more at www.blossomhealingstudio.com.

 

 Book signing and sale to follow the talk!

 

 

Join us for the Out of This World Science Fiction / Fantasy Book Club! We meet on the last Monday of the month, and alternate between science fiction and fantasy titles.

 

The title for January is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

We are so thrilled to be chatting with author Alka Joshi, one of our very favorite novelists! We love her books The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and The Perfumist of Paris.  Alka will speak to this trilogy and (maybe!) her upcoming release, Six Days in Bombay (coming out on Feb 25th). 

 

Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Pick and was Long Listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It has been translated into 29 languages and is currently in development at Netflix as a tv series. In 2023, Forbes selected Joshi as one of 50 over 50 women empowering other women. Joshi was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. She lives in California.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

If you can’t open your drawers, if clutter topples out of closets and paperwork covers your tabletops, then log on for this de-cluttering comedy show! New year, fresh start: join Organizing Humorist and bestselling author Jamie Novak as she shares her laugh-out-loud funny approach for what to do with all the stuff – without getting overwhelmed. Wondering what to keep? What to toss? What to share or sell? And how to let it all go?

Then join us for this interactive virtual workshop, where Jamie guides you through a tiny tidy-up live to jump-start your "get organized" New Year's resolution!

 

About the presenter: You may have seen her on morning TV or read her newest bestseller, Keep This, Toss That. Jamie Novak hosts a 10 Minute Podcast and has a popular YouTube show. She spends most days presenting virtual programs on how to de-clutter, with a humorous twist. When not on the computer Jamie is drinking iced tea while clipping out recipes she’ll never prepare.

 

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Newton Free Library for sharing this program!

Bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz will discuss her latest Romantic Suspense (with a dollop of the paranormal) book, Shattering Dawn, in conversation with bestselling author Annelise Ryan, author of the upcoming mystery Beast of the North Woods. We hope you can join us for this special discussion.

 

Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She lives in Seattle.

 

Annelise Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of multiple mystery series, including the Mattie Winston Mysteries. A retired ER nurse, she now writes full time from her Wisconsin home.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

Erica Cirino, author of Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis, joins us once again to help new parents (and all concerned!) with reducing plastic in their lives as they also welcome new life into their homes. As a new mom, herself, Erica will not only be sharing the knowledge she has of the plastic crisis in general, but her own personal story of how she found ways to reduce plastic in this new phase of her life.

 

Plastic items and pollution are especially harmful to unborn babies, children, infants, and pregnant people due to their sensitive hormones and immune systems, and developing bodies. Unfortunately, plastic is everywhere. With the usual plastic bottles, toys, clothing, diapers, and more, this material can feel particularly unavoidable when pregnant and parenting. Yet there are many simple steps you can take to minimize your family's exposure to plastics to better protect their health.  Erica Cirino is a science writer and artist exploring the intersection of the human and nonhuman worlds. Her photojournalistic works depict the numerous ways people connect to nature—wild creatures in particular—and shape planet Earth.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

Expand your bird knowledge with this gorgeous encyclopedia of over 400 bird species around the world, unique for its inclusion of both their physical and mythological characteristics.

 

If you're a nature lover who thrives on bird videos and photography, go beyond the scope of standard field guides with this comprehensive reference. Each entry of The Complete Language of Birds provides not only the bird's name and physical qualities, but also its history, symbolic meanings, and hidden properties from mythology, legends, and folklore.

 

Born and raised in Rochester, NY, Randi Minetor discovered the backcountry wonders of America's national parks in 1992 with her husband, photographer/lighting designer Nic Minetor. By 2000, the Minetors had pledged to see all 391 (now 429) national parks in their lifetimes. They found a way to subsidize this passion in 2006, when they began writing and photographing books on the parks for The Globe Pequot Press (now Rowman & Littlefield). The Minetors live in Rochester, NY.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

 

Love Historical Fiction but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Jane Healey (and Ashland fave!), monthly for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations - the best of historical fiction out there! We're sure you'll find something to like from Jane's many enthusiastic reviews.

 

Jane Healey is the author of The Beantown Girls, a Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller, The Secret Stealers, which was an Amazon First Reads Editor’s Pick and a Historical Novel Society’s Editors’ Choice, and her debut, The Saturday Evening Girls Club. Goodnight from Paris is her newly released novel from Lake Union Publishing. Jane is also the host of Historical Happy Hour, a monthly webinar and podcast featuring interviews with premier historical fiction authors and their latest novels. She and her family lives outside Boston. We can't wait to hear what Jane will be recommending - be ready for your TBR pile to fall over!

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

Not sure what to read next? Join Jody (aka @RedReadReviews) for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations - every genre and interest! We're sure you'll find something to like from Jody's many enthusiastic reviews.

 

Jody is an Instagram reviewer and Book Club leader. Lover of all books! We know that Jody will travel far and wide to meet the authors she loves, reads voraciously, and talks about books as if they are her best friends. We can't wait to hear what she'll be recommending - be ready for your TBR pile to fall over! We'll send out a list of all recommendations for those who register. 

 

Please register

 

Love Women's Fiction but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Kristan Higgins, quarterly for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations - the best of women's fiction out there! We're sure you'll find something to like from Kristan's many enthusiastic reviews.

 

Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, which have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her books have received dozens of awards and accolades, including starred reviews from Entertainment Weekly, People, Kirkus, The New York Journal of Books, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Booklist.   She lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband and a variety of rescued pets.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

We are so looking forward to chatting with author and historical sleuth, Philippa Langley, about her book "The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case" and her discovery of the grave of King Richard III in 2012. Join us as she discusses her research methods, her team, her findings, and how solving this cold case affects our understanding of the royal monarchy (in the 1500s, of course).

 

 

Philippa Langley MBE is an historian and award-winning producer, best known for her discovery of Richard III in 2012. She is co-author of the bestselling The Lost King with Michael Jones (first published as The King's Grave, John Murray 2013), and Finding Richard III, the official account of her Looking For Richard Project. On the ten-year anniversary of discovering Richard III, her extraordinary story was released as the internationally acclaimed major feature film, The Lost King, directed by Sir Stephen Frears and starring Sally Hawkins.

 

In November 2023, Philippa once again rewrote the history books in her new work: The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case (The History Press, UK; Pegasus, USA). Based on her remarkable new research initiative The Missing Princes Project its now seven-year investigation revealed the Princes survived to challenge Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, for the throne of England. It has been made into a feature-length Factual Special TV documentary by Channel 4, PBS in America and SBS in Australia.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

Dr. Katherine Ramsland recounts her most memorable interactions with serial killers over the course of her life, describing how it shaped her career in forensic psychology. A Pied Piper, two Coed Killers, a Candy Man’s handyman, and BTK, among others, have left their marks on her research and writing, both fiction and nonfiction.

 

Dr. Katherine Ramsland taught forensic psychology and criminology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where she was the Assistant Provost. She has appeared as an expert in criminal psychology on more than 250 crime documentaries and magazine shows, is an executive producer of Murder House Flip, and has consulted for CSI, Bones, and The Alienist.

 

The author of more than 1,800 articles and 73 books, including The Forensic Science of CSI, The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds, How to Catch a Killer, The Psychology of Death Investigations, The Serial Killer’s Apprentice, and Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, The BTK Killer, she was co-executive producer for the Wolf Entertainment/A&E four-part documentary based on the years she spent talking with Rader. Ramsland consults on death investigations, pens a blog for Psychology Today, and is currently writing a fiction series based on a female forensic psychologist who manages a private investigation agency. Dead-handed is book #3.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!

Judith Lindbergh’s new novel, Akmaral, is about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppes. Her debut novel, The Thrall’s Tale, about three women in the first Viking Age settlement in Greenland, was an IndieBound Pick, a Borders Original Voices Selection, and praised by Pulitzer Prize winners Geraldine Brooks and Robert Olen Butler.

 

Her work has appeared in numerous publications including in Newsweek, Zibby Magazine, Next Avenue, Writer’s Digest, Edible Jersey, Literary Mama, Archaeology Magazine, Other Voices, and UP HERE: The North at the Center of the World published by University of Washington Press. She has spoken at and published with the Smithsonian Institution and provided expert commentary in two documentary series for The History Channel. Judith received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the Founder/Director of The Writers Circle, a creative writing center based in New Jersey.

 

Please register

 

Thanks to the Ashland Public Library for sharing this program!